Healthcare Reform in the United States While the United States delivers some of the best medical care in the world, there are major inefficiencies in our healthcare system. We have high rates of medical errors, millions without health insurance coverage, and lower utilization of advanced health information technology than most western European nations. It seems every time you turn on the evening news, you hear something about the healthcare system in American and how it is in shambles. Without question, one of the biggest challenges facing American citizens is our dysfunctional healthcare system. During the elections of 2008, President Barack Obama’s key issue was the focus on overall healthcare reform in the United States. Is …show more content…
The government has to pay for healthcare reform somehow. Taxing business is a big strategy and employers with fifty or more employees will be fined $2,000 per employee if they do not provide affordable medical coverage. (Rubin) The United States would obviously benefit from a fresh, new look at how we deliver and pay for healthcare, from a willingness to consider radical reforms of more efficient and effective delivery and financing systems. Some Americans fear that they may end up with less money than they currently have. The Democrats argue that healthcare reform will make healthcare less expensive, which means employers would have more money to hire more workers. The Republicans, on the other hand, disagree. They maintain the hefty fines imposed on employers, who don’t offer their employees health insurance, will result in employers laying off workers to keep costs down. (Sommer 20). A more optimistic view of healthcare reform recognizes its potential to improve the efficiency of the U.S. healthcare system. More efficient healthcare will lower the burden of health insurance premiums for firms, and in turn allow them to hire more workers. This will also increase the number of jobs for Americans and at the same time reduce the financial woes of those individuals struggling with no insurance in a depressed labor market. Many individuals argue that it is not necessary to have health insurance. They will tell you they eat right, exercise and
President Obama’s pledge to pay for the program by taxing the rich, who is anyone that makes more than $1 million a year (which would include President Obama) and will make for “a marketplace that provides choice and competition” (Conniff, 2009). He also proposes that reform is about every American who has ever feared losing their coverage if they become too sick, lose their jobs or even change their jobs. It’s realizing that the biggest force behind our deficit is the growing costs for Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
The Supreme Court 's favorable ruling on the Affordable Health Care Act allowed for healthcare to be available for many Americans who would otherwise not receive medical benefits. This is because it increases the number of people covered by Medicare/Medicaid, and lowers the cost of insurance through employers. While this idea is good in theory, paying for it is a challenge due to the fact that it will only add to the nation’s already enormous debit of several trillion dollars (Mulvany, 2012). From 2010-2019, the United States is predicted to spend around 400 billion dollars on healthcare. This prediction has prompted lawmakers to reduce spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other welfare programs. The spending cuts will result in less people getting the care they need due to the limited availability of money for care and the increase in the number of beneficiaries receiving
For centuries, health care has been an ever changing entity within the United States. The cost of health insurance, medication, and medical care has fluctuated from high to low. Over the years with all the changes to healthcare, those in Congress try to appease everyone that is involved. For example, trying to make healthcare affordable for those who are less fortunate and live around the poverty line. As well as, employers who may have to revamp their insurance plans offered to the employees. Recently the talk about healthcare has put many people in an uproar. Health care reform has been a very debatable topic since President Obama has been in office. Health care reform, also known as Obama Care, has a section called the Affordable Care
that came out of President Bush‘s term was the push today legislation that that would protect
Recently, there have been various issues being debated in the American healthcare system. While many of these issues have been debated amongst for many years, they have recently been debated and focused on more heavily due to the change of Presidents. One of the most leading problems that is being debated right now is the cost of health insurance. Originally, the Affordable Healthcare Act was supposed to make healthcare insurance affordable and more attainable. A few years after the Affordable Healthcare Act was implemented; it became evident that it was a failure for the most part. In a vast majority of cases, it failed many Americans. The Affordable Healthcare Act in many cases has made healthcare insurance less affordable for the American
As our great country grows we fix and find new problems every day. One of the biggest debates in the country is regarding whether or not the new “Affordable Care Act” is posing a problem to American society and lifestyle. Many actors, sports men, and friendly faces would tell you how wonderful it will be for American medicine once the populace is insured. However “Affordable care is more of a pipe dream in America until we are a more fiscally stable country, as well as a better approach to socialized medicine. For now the only thing we should be doing regarding health care is stapling a limit to make it more affordable for middle and lower class people instead of penalizing people for something they cannot afford.
Health care has become an integral component in the lives of modern Americans. In recent history, President Barack Obama introduced a new health reform legislation known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This act is detrimental to the social well-being and economic success of the American people as it raises insurance premiums, significantly increases taxes, and harms businesses. It damages the quality of health care, stunts economic growth, and causes decreased wages and unemployment. The reform is a hindrance to the advancement of the health care industry, and thus Obama’s policy position of health care is unacceptable and unsound.
The introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 has been the best perspective to allocate resources to improve access, cost, and quality of care to all Americans in recent years. It is has allowed the expansion of Medicaid, which in turn provides coverage to millions of low-income Americans, it extended family coverage for children to twenty-six years old, and ultimately, more than seventeen million Americans have gained health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Quite impressive, yet it is not as appealing as it seems; for the government implemented a plan attempting to create universal healthcare within the private sector. This, in course, made few rates fall while many others rose. An online article
The plan that President Barack Obama is proposing to the American people has a catching and enticing phrase. The bill proposes that we build on what works in today's health care system, while repairing the aspects that are broken. To be able to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending. This bill has public and private options for the people, a sliding scale afford ability credits, it will share responsibility among workers, employers and the government so that all Americans can have essential health care coverage and benefits. This bill will make it illegal to not insure people due to pre-existing conditions. It will allow coverage and benefits for mental health and substance disorder abuse.
It’s common knowledge that there are problems with United States health care system. First and foremost, the prior fragmented United States healthcare system did not
I am saddened that most Americans do not realize that employers and the government are not actually paying for most of their healthcare and healthcare benefits. I am even more bothered that politicians’ rhetoric about shared responsibility reinforces people’s misunderstandings instead of opening their eyes to how healthcare payment really works. I agree with the authors in that “The notion that someone else is paying for the insurance further reduces the incentive for cost control” (Emmanuel & Fuchs, 2008). We could work harder to help people understand that healthcare cost control is heavily reliant on the
“We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year.” The preceding is a powerful statement from the newly elected President Barak Obama. One of the main aspects of both political campaigns was health care reform. The above quote shows passion and encouragement, but the quotes about health care do not end there. Georgian republican gubernatorial candidate and health care policy maker John Oxendine expressed: “Their proposal would virtually devastate the private healthcare sector in this country along with competition and patient choice, by replacing it with bureaucratic planning and government control. The result of this plan and its one trillion
In 2008 when presidential candidate Barack Obama was platforming for universal healthcare for the United Sates, most people thought that it was a revolutionary idea, and liked the way it sounded. Who wouldn’t want affordable universal health care? But what many people did/do not know is that Obama’s platform was not revolutionary at all. In fact there had been many presidents before Barack Obama who had fought for some sort of universal health care. Now hat eager democratic candidate of 2008 has entered into his second term as president of the United Sates, and as his platform promised, he has been able to pass a bill that gives every
Healthcare reform will take time, effort, and money; but whose money? The United States is already overspending on healthcare. As of December 2015, 17.5% of our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) was health expenditure. ("Historical - Centers for Medicare
The recently passed Healthcare Reform Bill (HR-4872) is a necessity and long overdue. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is a travesty that one hundred percent of our citizens are not adequately covered for their healthcare expenses. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were approximately 45.7 million people in the United States without basic healthcare insurance in 2009.