Health Care For The United States

Health care in the United States needs to be reformed to be more equitable to all citizens regardless of their race and financial situation. Those in charge of reforming health care should consider the principles of social justice outlined in Catholic social teaching as guidelines for ethical health care reform. Those principles are: the dignity of human beings, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity. These four social-justice principles provide a foundation for a virtuous and economically sound improvement in medical resource allocation; a Christian prescription for health care reform. It is clear that we have a duty to improve access, affordability, and quality of care for all citizens because of their human dignity. Frequently missing from the discussion of health care reform is the role of personal responsibility. Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the point: “In the name of freedom, there has to be a correlation between rights and duties, by which every person is called to assume responsibility for his or her choices” (Reid, 32). Health care should be available to everyone regardless of work status, financial situation, race, gender or theological views.

When it comes to the U.S. healthcare system, there are two sides of the argument. Some Americans may argue that the U.S. healthcare system is the best in the world given the many state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and innovative and advanced medical technology available, and there are those who argue that it is too costly and inefficient on many different levels (Chua, 2006). Despite the large amount of spending invested on their healthcare system, the U.S. consistently underperforms on most indicators of performance compared to other countries (Davis, Stremikis, Squires, & Schoen, 2014). Healthcare costs such as doctor visits, hospital stays, and prescription drugs are more expensive in the U.S. than any other country in the world.

Over the past century, individual health-care costs in the United States of America have tripled. Just in 2014, the annual health-care spending hit $3.8 trillion. (Munro) Not only does the overall cost of healthcare keep rising, but also the number of uninsured citizens is staying stagnant. Even with the recent controversies over Obama care, American citizens are not gaining the advantages that they need in obtaining basic health-care. The cost will only further increase, unless some action is taken. As much as implementing a universal health care system would seem to benefit the United States, it is fiscally impossible to do it with the current state of our economy. (Gibberman) The opportunity

For US citizens covered by private health insurance, receiving treatment is not necessarily easy with many insurance contracts containing terms and conditions excluding treatments which would be covered under the NHS. This has led to scandals where individuals have died as a result of not reading the fine print on their insurance contracts a massive 21% of claims in California are rejected by private insurers. (Reuters 2011) The profit-driven running of companies that are essentially meant to provide coverage guaranteeing the maintenance of health has seen managers receiving salaries exceeding 13 million dollars compared with the NHS’s top salary of less than half a million US. Not covering an individual for expensive treatment thus saves

The United States’ healthcare system is not easy to define. It is a complex, decentralized, market-based system with multiple stakeholders. In this paper we will try our best to discuss the organization, financing, and delivery of the American healthcare system, as well as identify respective flaws. We will conclude this paper with a discussion on potential solutions to the flaws we have identified.

Virtually 50 million Americans are presently without any health insurance, and a great number of them with health insurance are struggling to pay for their medical bills. Everybody concurs that healthcare must be accessible to all citizens, but the debate on whether the United States should adopt a universal health system still rages. According to the Institute of Medicine (2002), the U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee that its citizens have health care coverage. President Obama pledged to reform the country’s healthcare system by increasing health coverage and

Health care costs in the United States account for a large portion of the national expenditure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), per capita national health expenditures totaled $9,255 and total national health care expenditures totaled $2.9 trillion in 2013 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013).

Universal health care, a very common system throughout most of the first world that many believe the United States should adopt; yet many more are against it. Many feel that universal care is a socialist idea, and socialism is scary. The United States population needs to be properly educated on the advantages and disadvantages of universal health care through an unbiased source. The United States has had a privatized insurance and health care system since the beginning of the 1900s. These changes were not made frivolously, they were enacted out of necessity. The issue the United States currently faces is whether or not it is reaching a point where it may be necessary for action to be taken. The current state of its health care system does not seem to be able to sustain itself much longer as we see costs continue to rise with no end in sight. It may be time for this country to step back and consider re-evaluating its system from top to bottom. There are several options to choose from and no single system is perfect, at the end of the day it comes down to minimizing the cost and maximizing the efficiency.

Health Care in the United States The federal government should provide health care for all citizens who cannot afford their own. The issue of health care in the United States has been discussed for many decades and a solution that is suitable for everyone has not yet been established. There are millions of Americans who are not covered by insurance companies and also those who do not have the appropriate coverage they need. These people cannot afford to pay for it on their own, and medical expenses are the main financial problems within their families.

Health care in the United States has become a major concern to many Americans. Health care is a part of every person’s life to ensure we continue to live a long eventless life. Many Americans cannot afford the high prices for proper treatment to stay healthy when in need of care. The United States has the highest cost for health care amongst the world; to mitigate these costs, we need additional support from the government to negotiate set standards between health care providers, fewer malpractice lawsuits, and fewer uninsured residents.

If the intent of our forefathers to define health care as an unalienable right, the support was introduced with the inception of Medicare in 1965, by Congress when the “first-dollar coverage” was introduced (Keraiakes & Willerson, 2004,pg 1). With the passing of the Affordable Care Act signed into law of March 23, 2010, there have been significant changes in the population of uninsured Americans. Fast-forward 10 years: The number of American with health insurance has increased. The number of people uninsured, under the current laws in 2016 is 29 million with a projected decrease of 2 million over the next 10 years (Congressional Budget Office [CBO], 2015). The uninsured are classified as individuals who are ineligible for Medicaid, those who are eligible, but choose not to enroll, and unauthorized immigrants who are ineligible for exchange subsidies or for most Medicaid benefits. Those individuals who have access through an employer, directly from an insurer, or through the health insurance marketplace and do not purchase insurance. Insured, nonelderly Americans will reach a projected 90% of the population in 2026 (CBO, 2015). Having health insurance has become increasingly important to U.S. residents and with these strides in health insurance availability; it seems inhumane to exclude health care as a human right. The Health Insurance Marketplace can assist with

What was once considered a luxury, healthcare is becoming more and more of an expense as the years have gone on. It is no secret that the cost of healthcare is spiraling out of control. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, “Total health care spending in the United States is expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010 and $75 billion in 1970. To put it in context, this means that health care spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021.” Insurance premiums are multiplying faster than the rate of inflation. This could lead to a decline in economic growth and leave businesses with less money to hire new employees, increase wages, and expand their companies. While the quality, and availability, of medical care in the United States remains among the best in the world, many wonder whether we would be better off adopting a universal government-controlled health care system like the one used in Canada. With the cost of healthcare more than the average cost of food and housing, it’s time to make a change (Claus, 2011). I believe that access to healthcare is limited because of lack of hospitals and treatment centers in the community, economical and social economic status, and financial responsibility.

Wealth, education, technology, and healthcare are the main criteria that determine a great country. Among the developed countries, U.S. is the number one country in the world which provides advanced and finest health care (Kane). However, the healthcare cost in America is the highest in the world because of the great consumers of medical technology and diagnostic imaging. (Kane). Numerous individuals are not able to afford their health care. Many people in U.S. do not have healthcare insurance. It is weird that numerous individuals are not able to pay their healthcare bills just because it is too expensive. The health care cost issue deeply affects American’ national economy which diminishes their supremacy (Sanders). Health care cost is a critical issue that Americans are faced with. In order to maintain their supremacy in the world, American people must vote a capable president to review health care reform. For several years, America has been the world leader because of its highest level of all criteria which make any country developed. Medicine has been improved throughout the time. Science includes innovation in treatment, pharmacy and technology. Healthcare is a great problem in U.S. which affects its political power. The number of American with no healthcare insurance increases every year. It is a big problem in American life. Healthcare in America is an affair, which influences negatively people, on which some political characters propose their solutions during the

Many ways are used to measure how much Americans values life. Obviously, good health is a major factor of being happy and satisfied with an Americans’ life. People also place family and friends very high on the list of value for health care insurance. Health care has become the stress to every person’s life. Health care controls everything a person does due to the drawbacks of not having it when it is necessary; like breaking an arm or coming down with a deathly illness. With these issues, it is said that reforms are on their way. “Health care reform will be on the agenda for future sessions of Congress, because the economic pressures of rising health care costs on the federal government, business, and individuals are not going to abate” (King). Health care has become a pain for many reasons. It takes up time, money, and security. Having health care in the United States is a necessity; without this many hospitals do not admit a patient or, if done so, the patient becomes flooded with bills for everything. But just because health care is a necessity in the United States does not mean it comes easily. With so much that goes into health care, loads of information and research must be gathered; to understand health care and why one must have information on health care history, information about human rights in regards of health care, what other forms of health care are out there, price of health care, Americans opinion on American health care, and many more items that health

A main issue that has developed in this century in the United States is healthcare. In past centuries, doctors had less knowledge on how to care for patients. Doctors in this century have more technology and knowledge to better treat patients. With today’s technology, healthcare is too expensive for many people. Some people say healthcare should be a human right and the government should pay for it, but others say people should pay for themselves. The government today has required people of all ages to buy healthcare. Healthcare should be a human right, not mandatory. Health care should be a human right because the cost is too high for people, quality of care should be equal, and healthcare providers could work together.