The United States spends more money on health care per person than any other country in the world (Brink, 2017) however this does not necessarily translate to better health. Among the 35 developed nations that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States continually ranks near the bottom on most standard measures of health. Life expectancy in the United States is currently 78.8 years, which is several years lower than the average of 82 years reported in comparable countries. Although the U.S. spends more on health care than any other country and has the highest proportion of specialist physicians, survey findings indicate that from the patients’ perspective, and based on outcome indicators, the …show more content…
Regardless of how advanced our medical technology may be, it is no help to those who cannot afford it. The average wage for Americans is $7.25 to $10.00 per hour, this puts most households in a state of limbo because, if employed fulltime, they make too much for government assistance, yet too little to afford private health insurance. In most cases, private health insurance can easily cost over $13,000.00 a year for a family of four, when the typical family lives on a yearly salary of less than $25,000.00, there is no way to afford it. Sadly. most people must decide between paying bills or getting medical treatment, this leads to simple, easily treatable illnesses developing too much more serious …show more content…
For instance, the story of Tom J., a young father of two who is employed as a manager at a local restaurant from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. His employer does not offer health insurance and he can't afford to pay out of pocket for it. Tom's wife stays home with their children because they cannot pay for the high cost of daycare so their single income household lives paycheck to paycheck. One day after work, Tom dropped a piece of wood on his foot, there was a large cut that needed stitches and some serious bruising. Since the family doesn't have healthcare and Tom knows he can't afford an emergency room visit, his wife cleans the wound and closes it with the butterfly closures from their first aid kit. After a week the area is still not healed and has begun to get infected, Tom considers going to a doctor's office, but with an average cost of over $100.00 per visit, it isn't feasible. He continues to work regularly even though he is in extreme pain and starting to get very ill because his family needs the money for household bills and groceries. When his wife went to get him up for work one Tuesday, Tom was too sick to move so she called an ambulance to take him to the local hospital. It turns out that Tom had broken two bones in his foot, as well as needing stitches. What should have been a simple fix has now turned into a severe infection, that could result in the loss of Tom's foot.
United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010).
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.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
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.
Brian became aware of his testicular cancer five years ago. Despite insurance, Brian still owed thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. Over the course of three years, he built relationships with nurses, doctors, and the hospital staff during treatments and follow up appointments. Without warning or explanation, the insurance company no longer accepted his hospital as a provider under their plans. He doubted any other hospital staff could provide the physical and emotional support his previous providers gave and wondered how to replace the people who had been there during the toughest times of his life (Salmon). The current health care system in America affects people physically, emotionally, and financially. “Costs are enormous, yet Americans do not fare better, and often fare worse, than citizens in countries which spend substantially less on health care” (Cicconi).
Contrary to what many people believe, America’s health status is not quite “up-to-par,” to say the least. Over forty-seven million people in the United States lack health insurance; that is more than 15% of our nation’s population! At first this disturbing truth seems impossible to believe, being as America is one of the most technologically advanced and economically developed countries in the world. “We spend trillions of dollars per year on medical care. That’s nearly half of all the health dollars spent in the world. But we’ve seen our statistics. We live shorter, often sicker lives than almost every other industrialized nation. “We rank 30th in [global] life expectancy” (Adelman 2008). Knowing this brings rise to the question: why are
With the health care system the way it was structured it seemed, as the only way a person could get adequate health care is if you either did not get sick or made enough money to pay the costly medical bills if you did constantly visit the doctor. The number one reason for families in America to fall into bankruptcy was noted as being medical bills and cost, quite frankly any person facing a potential life threatening illness is going to seek medical help and is not going to worry about the cost if it means life or death. An when you are living with either no insurance of your condition causes you to be bumped from your insurance provider because you’ve become to expensive for them seems almost
burns through $2,797 more every individual consistently than other industrialized nations, despite the fact that 47 million of those individuals are uninsured so the U.S. spends more is that simply the value we pay for having the free decision of suppliers and driving the trends in therapeutic innovation. Not really because no less than 30 percent of all delivered human services administrations are thought to be pointless on the grounds that they do not make very sick individuals any healthier. As an illustration, we should consider Medicare spending. One study contrasted patients and comparable afflictions in high-spending Medicare areas and low-spending Medicare districts. Those patients in the high-spending ranges, who saw their specialist all the more regularly and spent more days in the health facilities, had an expanded risk of biting the dust when contrasted with patients in the lower-spending territories who had the same ailment. It's as though heading off to the specialist in this nation can make a man significantly more debilitated, maybe on the grounds that a patient runs the danger of experiencing unnecessary treatment that correct only the symptoms and not the disease (PBS,
Health, an issue that is timeless for any generation at any point in history. Some of great epidemics that have impacted history are the bubonic plague, ebola, the swine flu and the zika virus Here on United States soil, there many illnesses that affect our population, such as cancer, Hepatitis C, Shingles, Diabetes, tuberculosis, STDs, etc. Unfortunately, our government will intervene with other countries with medical aid, but they decide to make it harder for our citizens to receive the attention needed. Until 2010, when President Obama passed the affordable healthcare act(Obamacare). Majority of U.S. residents agree that, under this act; it has become more affordable to have health insurance. This has created lower prices for the care plans, and in turn lower income household are able to afford them. According to survey done by Gallup-Healthways Well-Being index, to show how many adults now have coverage, 90 percent of adults have received or been able to sign up for affordable healthcare act. In the
How many college students have extremely thought about health insurance? Attending college is a stressful time for any student. While many students are in college many should not have to worry about paying for their healthcare bills. The Affordable Care Act gives college students more options to find an inexpensive insurance. Many should consider these possible options if they are planning to attend college or seeking for an inexpensive coverage.
When it comes to our health, a good healthcare plan is a very important subject for all individuals. Some even argue that it is a basic right to have one. Bernie Sanders stated, “Healthcare must be recognized as a right, not a privilege. Every man, woman, and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income…” (“Issues: Medicare for All”). However, reality tells us a whole different story. America is one of the most developed countries in the world with some of the best medical care. Yet, how can the people enjoy the benefits when it is almost unaffordable to most. People are afraid to fall sick just because they are afraid of how much it would cost. However, sometimes a doctor or hospital visit is unavoidable. In most cases, it comes at a great price, especially to the middle class and the elderly. Wealthy individuals are likely to reap the benefits of having an expensive healthcare plan, while the rest may suffer from the unimaginable cost of treatments, or even worse, live a risky life without insurance. An effective solution to this problem would be a Universal Healthcare System. This would ensure that all people have equal and affordable health coverage, centralized healthcare records for all individuals which will help easy diagnosis by doctors and reduce the intensive labor costs of medical billing. Moreover, it may boost the economy by freeing business from providing expensive healthcare benefits to workers.
In a world of unequal capabilities, there is the need to be each other’s keeper by helping lift up the less fortunate. There are countries around the world where some children have neither a decent place to sleep nor call a home, and some families must go hungry for days because they can not afford a meal. Unfortunately, this is true for some citizens of this great United States of America. In the absence of a social safety net to help catch those members of the society who find themselves trapped in very hard circumstances, our streets may fill up with more homeless citizens, and we may see death from starvation. A social welfare system capable of providing the resources needed to lift the less fortunate members of our society can go a long
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.
It is imperative for countries to have a functioning health care system so their citizens can live their best quality lives. However, the question is raised on whether to focus on the treatment of illnesses or the prevention of them. Preventive health care, if implemented correctly, could ideally prevent and stop illness and disease before drastic measures need to be taken, such as expensive surgeries. It is well-known knowledge that a healthy diet and exercise can help prevent illnesses, as a result, some programs might emphasize a healthy lifestyle. Sharon Begley’s article in Reuters mentions some programs that have helped reduce health care costs, such as the Boston Children’s Hospital asthma program that helps reduce patient’s environmental
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.