Essay On Uninsured Americans

Financial burdens greatly limit the system’s accessibility; however, many in the U.S. are unable to fully utilize either option. Census estimates from 1999 indicate that 43 million Americans live without health insurance even though 75 percent of them have a full-time job or live in a household with at least one member working full-time (Mueller, , 5) In addition to the totally uninsured, census estimates also reveal that approximately 42 million other people in the U.S. are underinsured. This means that they have some insurance, but are still unable to afford all of their needed prescriptions, tests, visits to physicians, or hospital

The U.S. healthcare system is remarkably complex, and even healthcare workers struggle to understand it. The U.S. population gets health coverage by government programs, employers, and private insurance. Notably, because of the complexity and fragmentation of the health care system, there is a percentage of the population that remains uninsured. According to CNN Money, the uninsured rate in the U.S. dropped from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2016, this drop was under Affordable Care Act(ACA) (). The goal of the ACA was not to give health coverage to all the uninsured population, rather it was to try to decrease the percentage of the population that remained uninsured(). There is a lot of inequality in the distribution of health among the U.S. population

In America, the number of uninsured rises every year and no solution to the problem has

It is not just the poverty-stricken population that can’t afford insurance. The cost of U.S. health care and insurance is out of reach even for those who do not live in what we technically classify as “poverty”. By the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, poverty

The US has recently adopted a healthcare policy aimed to get more Americans insured. This policy is named the Affordable Care Act in 2010. “In 2013 there were 42 million uninsured individuals in the United States. “(The Common, pg. 153) There has since been increase in individuals who are covered either by private insurance or by Medicaid/Medicare which had a coverage increase with the new policy. It is believed that millions of people will now have health insurance compared to previous years.

The U.S. health care system faces challenges that indicate that the people urgently need to be reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps even for those with access to insurance coverage.

Recently the Untied States top priority has been to provide accessible and affordable health care to every American. Those that lack access to coverage find it much more difficult to seek proper treatment and when they do they maybe left with astronomical medical bills. The CommanWealth Fund found that one-third or thirty three percent of Americans forgo health care because of costs and one-fifth or twenty percent are thus left with medical bills that have problems being able to pay. The federal government, through the Affordable Care Act (2010), has mandated that every person have health coverage in order

Nearly 48 million Americans had no health care coverage in 2005, and the number will

Even with employer-sponsored programs and federal programs for those who qualify, many Americans are uninsured. Over 46 million Americans had no health insurance in 2006, and 86.7 million went without health insurance at some point in 2007 and 2008 (“Health Care Issues”). Why has the number of uninsured risen so drastically and why are employer-sponsored programs dwindling?

According to Kaiser Health News “Often, consumers discover they’re underinsured the hard way – when they break a leg or have a serious illness, such as cancer, and their medical bills exceed their benefits enough that it is difficult for them to pay.” (“The ‘Underinsurance’ Problem Explained”).People who are underinsured have a hard time paying for their medical needs and appointments. When a person cant get a treatment for their medical condition it an affect their health greatly. People who are under or uninsured cannot pay for regular screening for cancer a lot of times because their insurance doesn't cover for it or they do not have any insurance. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation “Nearly a quarter of uninsured adults say they did not take a prescribed drug the past year because they could not afford it” (“ HOW DOES LACK OF INSURANCE AFFECT ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE?”).No one that lives in America should have to skip there doctors appointment because of there lack of

In the United States of America, access to health care is a disadvantage for approximately 48 million Americans of those who do not have health insurance and millions underinsured (Parker & Thorson, 2009). Health disparities continue to deprive the nation of the need for adequate health care services and preventative care leaving a country mentally and physically disabled. There are two million Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHOH) people living in the America, which is the third concentrated population in the United States (U.S.) (Pick, 2013; Barnett & Franks, 2002). As of today, there is no knowledge of health care insurance coverage published to determine the number of DHOH without or underinsured. Unfortunately, lack of data to support the number of DHOH without health insurance or underinsured remains a puzzling mystery

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called Obama care, is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, it represents the most significant government expansion and regulatory overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Guaranteed issue will require policies to be issued regardless of any medical condition, and partial community rating will require insurers to offer the same premium to all applicants of the same age and geographical location without regard to gender or most pre-existing conditions. It requires that all individuals not covered by an employer sponsored health plan, Medicaid, Medicare or other public insurance programs, secure an approved private-insurance policy or pay a penalty. According to this system, a child would stay under their parents insurance until they turn twenty-six. The non-participating employers/ citizens, health

It was also argued that the law could be considered a tax. When the court accepted the tax argument, that the mandate represented a tax on people who choose not to buy health insurance, makes going without insurance just another thing the government taxes. When the court in not to interpret laws exactly as they are written, but uses a functional approach. The court ruled that the penalty the law imposes on people who don’t buy health insurance. There have been more Americans harmed then helped by Obama Care. Those who have been harmed by Obama Care has increased their health care costs, decreased their options. Starting in 2016, when the shared responsibility payment is in place, the amount you would owe for not having health insurance is the grater of 2.5% of your income or $695.⁵ (the daily beast, 2012) The healthcare law also expanded Medicaid to cover all nonelderly people with an income below 133% of the poverty level. Then on top of that gave the government the authority to penalize states that choose not to participate in this expansion by taking away their existing

Layoffs have been steadily increasing people who are uninsured. In 2001, two million lost the coverage of their employer-sponsored programs with up to another 2 million on the verge of losing their coverage on account that they can not afford the rising premiums and co-pays. The number of uninsured population is expected to grow up to 10% by 2007 reaching 51.2 million by 2006 after having decreased 38 million in 1999. The trend of the uninsured overcrowding the emergency room however will still continue. 2

If 5:1 schemes drive higher premiums for the elderly, and premium reductions to younger populations accrue to them, the premium increases in older population must be financed by external resources. There are studies that estimate that this would force the government to increase subsidies by more than $8 billion and yet a significant amount of people in older bands would go uninsured.