Essay On Private Health Insurance

The United States is known as one of the greatest world powers: however it is held back by its weak healthcare system. As of 2010 the US healthcare system currently ranks the 37th best out of 190 countries (Murray). Before the introduction of the Affordable Care Ac in 2010, the United States had an individual insurance market. It was the responsibility of the individual or their employer to take care of their healthcare costs. On top of this, millions of people could be denied insurance by different agencies due to pre-existing claims. Healthcare was expensive, but the costs were nothing compared to the medical bills owed by an uninsured person. Universal healthcare is a basic right not a privilege. Everyone should be given the

Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection.

Even though free healthcare is negatively associated with U.S. debt, deficit, and higher tax pay, all Americans should have the absolute right to free healthcare because it can save lives.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This saying goes to show that investing in preventative care is the only way to effectively reform health care plans in America. It is no secret that there are many issues facing health care; however, the most important issue seems to be the lack of funding for preventative care. Redistributing health care related funds into areas like public health and preventative medicine can increase the overall quality of life for patients. If health care reform revolves around preventative medicine, then America’s standard of health will rise. A healthier society will lessen the demand for expensive life-saving surgeries, thus decreasing the overall cost of health care. The overall solution for this issue would be to set a realistic health care budget that correlates to the United States’ current standard of health, thus majority of the budget focuses on preventative medicine.

Citizens in America obtain healthcare either through an employer, Medicare, or ,for the forty-five million, out-of-pocket. The number one in healthcare, Japan, uses the Bismarck model system- healthcare through insurance. America is almost the same, except the Bismarck insurance insures everyone without making a profit. Japan has more privately owned hospitals than America. This model can be funded several different ways for cost-control. The reason we have not changed our healthcare system is because of federal debt. Half of the health care costs are paid by the government. This debt will be America's downfall, but also the healthcare reform it so desperately

Each state has their own policies for Medicaid eligibility, services and payments. Medicaid plans have three eligibility groups such as categorically needy, medically needy and special groups. Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a program that offers health insurance coverage for uninsured children under Medicaid. If Medicaid does not cover a service, the patient may be billed if the following conditions have been met such as the physician informed the patient before the service was performed that the procedure was not covered by Medicaid and if the patient has signed an Advance beneficiary Notice form. However, there are also conditions where the patient cannot be billed if necessary preauthorization was not obtained or service

US health care is one of the most talked about or controversial topics in last few years. We often come across debates, articles or columns relating to this topic. This is a hot topic of this generation. Why everyone should have insurance? Why people should have for something that might not use? These are some of the questions we found ourselves surrounding by. In my opinion US citizens should be required to have insurance. Both men and women have separate needs when it comes to health. More women are facing health issues because of teen pregnancies and child birth, it is important to for everyone to have a health care plan according to their needs. So when the time comes right treatment and medical attention can be provided. In this piece I will be presenting some ideas and arguments supporting my side and also looking at the flip side of the discussion.

A nation that does not provide the opportunity, for the flourishing of health among its citizens, is inherently flawed. A country like the U.S is no exception to this assertion. The United States government should implement a single payer universal health care system. The Modern U.S health care is allowing its citizens to rack up vast amounts of medical debt, in addition, large amounts of its population to remain uninsured. The U.S lags behind an idea, which, many other countries have accepted and that is health care is a human right. A plethora of positive reasons stand behind the notion of a single payer universal health care system, like the ones in other countries. However, the system in place now, has many systemic problems that are hurting citizens, particularly the lower and middle class.

For the past several months, the news feeds have been full of stories on Obamacare, more accurately described as The Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act is the largest mandated healthcare change in the United States since Medicare and Medicaid began in 1965 (Mayer, 2013). It was signed into Law in 2010 designed to give all Americans access to healthcare. Whether you are for or against The Affordable Care Act one thing is above dispute, it has caused a Nationwide uproar. Now that we are in a new Presidential era, steps are being taken to “Repeal and Replace” Obamacare.

This is another problem the United States faces by not having Universal healthcare. Formosa Post stated, “ It should be considered a basic human right, in which the nation ensures that every person is covered by equal healthcare, regardless of age, gender, or income.” When insurance companies determine what health care is covered, that can be very limiting to people who need the care or could die. Having Universal healthcare, the government would pay for the services, which would prevent medical bankruptcies, because the people are not paying. Procon.org states, “ About 62% of all US bankruptcies were related to medical expenses in 2007, and 78% of these were filed by people who already had medical insurance.” This is a huge problem that the government needs to

Before the ACA was enacted in 2010, many Americans were uninsured or underinsured. Health insurance was hard to obtain due to the high prices and lack of accessibility. Being able to have access to care is important because it protects citizens from health crisis, which can lead to poverty. The mandate included many elements that reshaped healthcare to be more affordable, while still offering quality care. For instances, the ACA allows people with pre-existing conditions to obtain health insurance and most importantly, 80% of the profits made by insurance companies from premiums must be spent on healthcare (Kaiser Foundation 3). The ACA is effective because it will protect American citizens from financial burden, increase access to care and

The U.S. is an industrialized nation that continues to be behind on providing health care coverage to all citizens. However, the German health care system came up with a plan that ensured all citizens are provided with some form of health care coverage; nevertheless, the U.S. continues to dispute health care reform and how to provide coverage to all citizens. “Health spending per capita in the United States is much higher than in other countries – at least $2,535 dollars, or 51%, higher than Norway, the next largest per capita spender. Furthermore, the United States spends nearly double the average $3,923 for the 15 countries ("Health Care Cost," 2011, table 1)”.

Everybody talks about how bad the US healthcare system is, which it might be a little bad, but it is not all bad. In the last one hundred years, the life expectancy went from 47 to 78, and 3.5 years in the last decade. That is a huge difference. Since 1960 heart disease went down 56 percent. Doctor visits used to be for when people knew they were going to die, but now they will not die when they go to the doctor. Even though all of those good things have happened, there is still a lot of bad things about the US healthcare. There is an average of 101,000 preventable deaths per year in the US. Most of those deaths happened because of the way the healthcare system is organized. Race, income, and environment influences who gets access to healthcare and who does not, which is just wrong. Even though the life expectancy rate went up, it is still significantly lower than other countries. Over half of people who do not have healthcare are African-American. There are more hospitals in wealthier area, and public hospitals are closing where they are most needed.

Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health and the prevention of sickness diagnosis, and treatment of disease, illness, and injury. Because of the need for healthcare is so important, the America government had to come up with a way to make sure people have healthcare and be able to pay for it. The government came up with a healthcare system that use insurance and premiums to make sure one has coverage when they go to the hospital for healthcare needs. If the government and hospitals really care about people’s health, then why do they make insurance and premiums so high that people cannot afford them? In 2005 there was an estimate 45 million Americans that lacked health insurance, and the numbers have been climbing since (Clemmitt, Universal Coverage 1). If the government says that they care about human life, then there should just be universal coverage so everyone can get their healthcare needs met no matter if that person is poor or rich.

Since the beginning of human civilization, our health and well-being has sustained a high level of importance, because one’s physical and mental condition are things that are necessary to care for. The issue however remains in how our governments should assist in this care and how involved they should be in the world of doctors, drugs and healthcare companies. Many have strong opinions on this complex issue, and governments have attempted many different strategies which have been met with a sweeping range of results, from the corrupt health care companies which can be seen in the US to systems which have been denounced as communism to everything in between. Personally, I believe that completely universal healthcare is the best for society as a healthy population increases economic productivity, the system allows you to contribute incrementally over time and your wealth should not influence your access to care.