The New Health Care System in America The United States is considered one of the most powerful nations in the World. It has some of the best technology, research, and business systems among the advanced nations around the globe. However, the truth is that our country is well behind other advanced nations in providing health care in an efficient, timely, and cost effective manner (New York Times, 2007). It is extremely disappointing to see that such a great nation has about 47 million people that are uninsured and do not have access to health care (Institute of Medicine, 2010). Many Americans have fooled themselves into thinking that we in fact have the best health care system in the world.
Thesis statement Even though in order for an organization or business to succeed there must be income or revenue, the importance of delivering health care along with the affordable cost of insurance and services to the population are and should be the most important factor. Delivering healthcare According to the following article “Healthcare and its associated cost and quality is one of the most discussed and debated issues of our time.” (Smith, Nachtmann, & Pohl, 2012, p. 3) In the past several years this has been a huge topic among politicians especially those running for offices. All of us regardless of our sex, age, gender, financial status or where we live will be affected by healthcare. “From developing new partnerships with physicians, payers, and purchasers to reengineering cost structures, achieving success in the post-reform era will require healthcare leadership that embraces change, sets strategic direction, and infuses staff with a sense of accountability.” (Reilly, 2012, para. 2) The cost of healthcare continues to
THE EFFECT OF NURSING SHORTAGE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM By the year 2014, America will be undergoing through one of its historical moments, the provision of health coverage to the nation’s 46 million uninsured people. The aim of the health care reform is to improve access to quality care for all Americans. This implies more Americans will require Healthcare services.” Nurses are the largest group of U.S professionals and constitute a major part of the infrastructure necessary to any health care reform agenda “(1). Unfortunately there is shortage of Nurses to meet the demands of the health care reform. HRSA projects that, absent aggressive intervention, in the year 2020 the shortage will grow to more than 1 million RNs-representing a shortage of 36% (2).
The United States is the only industrialized country that does not recognize the human right to health. Franklin Roosevelt in 1943 proposed a "Second Bill of Rights" in which he defined freedom to include "the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health" (Carmalt & Zaidi, 2004). Historically, Americans and their leaders have advocated for a higher standard of living for all yet have fallen short on this issue. When the government and the people of the United States recognize that health care is a right for everyone the citizens of this country will be healthier for it. Carmalt, J.
These people also say the American health care system is more aggressive and inventive in discovering new health care procedures and medicines than nations with government health care programs (Geyman, 2005). These people point out that Americans like the current health care system and do want government telling them which doctors and hospitals they need to see (Geyman, 2005). Studies, however, have shown that the United States is no longer leading the world in medical discoveries, that choice is available in government run health plans, and that services are equal to, and often better, than those available to the majority of Americans (Geyman,
Currently, in the Obama administration, several acts have been passed to overhaul the healthcare system today. President Obama has also put healthcare reform as his top domestic priority. Both administrations, past and current, have attempted to enact several different policies in terms of healthcare reform; this essay seeks to examine the differences and similarities between the two while analyzing the social, economic, and political environments for the times the policies were discussed and/or implemented. Due to the increasing numbers of the population without healthcare, this problem continues to be an intense area of debate. According to author Michelle Andrews, healthcare remains a top domestic issue…but the candidates are focusing on major reform, and, when referring to healthcare reform, they generally focus on two primary areas: accessibility and affordability (Andrews, p.32).
America has their reservations that a universal health may not work because of its lack of choices and freedoms. There are pros and cons to having a universal health care system. For one, a universal health care offers free health services to people that cannot afford health care the services they need. The cons, is that a universal health care system often results in long wait times for patients and not everyone may receive the type of care that they need. The rising cost of health care has cause the government to step in and control regulations and spending; thus creating a health care reform system.
History of U.S. Health Systems The need to supply quality health care for all U.S citizens has been a major concern for the people as well as the government from early on in our nation’s history. The ever increasing costs of health care led to many attempts to institute national health systems, but these attempts were defeated and the development of private health insurance was instituted. Although this has brought health care coverage to many citizens it has left many people without coverage, and has not affected the cost of health care as hoped. More attempts to institute a national health system have been attempted and met with defeat, but according to (Quadagno, 2004) "legislation was successfully passed in 1965 to provide governmental financing for health care services for the elderly and the indigent” this was the introduction of the government programs Medicare and Medicaid. Even with these government programs in place the cost of health care still rose at an astounding rate and other attempts to control costs were implemented.
It is the only industrialize nation that does not provide health coverage to all of its citizens. There is widespread opposition to providing universal health care because of the substantial cost that will be added to the country’s budget that is already heavily burdened. Indeed, while this is a valid and understandable concern, every citizen in the United States has the right to quality health care coverage. The cost of health care has been on a steady rise for the past several years. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, the average cost of family insurance coverage in the United States was $13,000.00 per year in 2009.
There is a great deal of controversy over the availability of health care in the United States. The year 2008 is a presidential-election year, and nearly every candidate for the presidency also has a platform that includes health care reform. The fact that, “The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide universal access to health care and that the United States has the most expensive health care system of any industrialized nation” (Marshner) should be a wake up call to every citizens. However, The United States government guarantees our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Constitution. The right to life is as fundamental as it gets.