Improving America 's Current Health Care System

As Americans we should all be afforded access to healthcare. Access to healthcare is an individual right according to the human rights amendment. The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015). However there are strengths and weaknesses to every healthcare system and the U.S. Healthcare system is not exempt. I plan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the U. S. Healthcare system (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015).

Despite the countless advanced in technology and the abundance of health care organization popping up all over the place, whether they are free standing clinics, hospitals, urgent cares or etc, many people still lack the ability to receive quality health care. This has become a concern throughout the world, but especially a more vocal concern for residents of the United States in the past few years. In this paper we will discuss the reasons preventing access to quality health care and how we can overcome the many obstacles that stand in our way to provide quality health care to many who lack it today.

Health System Reform in the United States: Impact of Rising Premiums and Opportunities for System Improvements to Enhance Access to Healthcare Services

The dysfunction of the American health care system implies that not everyone has access to the right medication and medical treatment. Middle-class families and chronically ill patients do not always have access to health care, and when they do they do not receive adequate treatment with regards to hospitalization and medical services or quality of service. The lack of payment reform results in

Medicaid is a huge program that touches many lives but is nonetheless poorly understood by both the public and policymakers. This is an argument for many people, mostly because the public has the idea that only people that refuse to work are on it, well for some yes that could be true but this program helps working families and the elderly. single individuals and childless couples are largely excluded from Medicaid coverage, but the program covers 65 percent of maternity stays for women under 25, and 40 percent of all maternity stays. Many of these women are uninsured individuals with incomes above the poverty line. ("PA DHS - Healthy Beginnings," n.d.) For many financially struggling families, whom otherwise are least likely to have insurance, Medicaid is the only available option for them to receive the coverage they need. The media portrays this façade of “Medicaid: Worst insurance in America?” It’s hard for citizens to not believe that line when it’s in the forefront of a political debate. With republicans like, Carly Fiorina making statements such as “Obamacare isn’t helping anyone” ("Medicaid: Worst insurance in America?," n.d.) what is the country supposed to

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

Insurance however covers basic services making the US health system an imperfect market since patients are not directly generating the cost of services. The next characteristic is the government acts as a subsidiary to the private sector. The US system is largely in private hands; whatever is left is filled by the government which includes support for research and training. Another characteristic is the fusion of market justice and social justice. Market justice focuses on the fair distribution of health care on the market in a free economy. It is based on the patient’s compliance and capability of paying for their medical care. Social justice focuses on the community over the individual. This believes that the patient is unable to afford medical care. The fusion of both theories can work well together in that some people can receive insurance through employers and those that can’t, will receive insurance through the government. However, they can also create problems in that some employers cannot afford the cost of private insurance providers and the employees do not qualify for government health insurance. This leaves these people and their families uninsured. The next characteristic is multiple players and balance of powers. There are many different groups that play a role in the US health system, and each with their own interest. This

In today’s society, there is still a great struggle with health care disparities and many lives are affected by the lack of this fundamental program in our society. There are millions of people who die each year because they are unable to afford quality healthcare. The debate still continues about healthcare inequalities, what causes this disparity and who are affected by it. Health care is more of a necessity rather than a luxury and even though skeptics may argue to the latter, it only underlines the importance of the need for the wellbeing and care of individuals. There are several factors that could contribute to the lack of health care in the United States which ranges from but not limited to race, gender, socio- economic status, and lack of insurance coverage. The truth is there is a great disproportion between who can really afford quality healthcare as appose to individuals who have it. One would imagine that an employed individual would easily afford quality healthcare but we could be no further from the truth, since one’s economic status is an essential determinant to its affordability.

As the overall U.S. population experienced increases in unmet need and delayed care between 2003 and 2007, children were no exception. Low-income children encountered the greatest increase in unmet needs among all children and access to healthcare declined more for people in fair or poor health than for healthier people.

Though the American healthcare system has made big steps towards providing affordable healthcare for everyone, there remains a growing population of people who fall through the system’s cracks. These people are the medically underserved. They are typically the victims of unfortunate life circumstances that has left them without health insurance, or with insurance that provides inadequate coverage. The underserved also includes those who have trouble accessing healthcare for any reason. Anyone with illnesses or disabilities that require assistance beyond their coverage, or people who live in remote areas where healthcare services are sparse fall under this title. The term also does not exclude those who have sufficient insurance and resources, but struggle to understand and navigate our increasingly complex system of healthcare.

The United States health care system is considered broken because we do not have one universal system. Within the American system there are different types of health insurance such as private, group or self-insurance. The United States works on a fee-for-service system so the providers receive money for every service they provide therefore the medical bills for Americans are significantly high. Before the Affordable Care Act was implemented a few forms of government programs were Medicaid, the Children’s Health insurance Program and Medicare. Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program were to help insure the low income citizens and their children. CHIP and Medicaid are both funded by the government and state but administered by the individual states. CHIP covers children whose family income is up to 200% of the poverty level. Medicaid insures low income citizens but can also

It is amazing to note that when most Americans when asked what they think the most important health care issue facing the United States the cost and access to care remains the most common response. (Newport, Jones, & Saad, 2012).

Consequently the U.S. spends more money than any other country on health care, and the medical care that is being provided may be compromised. Research has shown that the lack of health care insurance compromises a person’s health. However, there continues to be unnecessary death every year in the U.S. due to lack of health care

Data show that the number of uninsured Americans has greatly reduced over the past 2-3 years. However, prior to the adoption of various provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there were over 41 million people uninsured in 2013 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). The number of people without health insurance, especially children, has steadily increased throughout most of the past decade. Children without health insurance are more likely to suffer from preventable and treatable illnesses, including their long lasting related effects, than their insured peers (Majerol et al, 2014). Majerol et al. also demonstrate that the uninsured are less likely than those with insurance to receive preventive care and services for major health conditions and chronic diseases.

Children in the United States are also suffering because of the lack of universal health care coverage. While there is coverage for children living at or below the poverty level, there is no coverage available for those children whose parents make too much money to qualify for the low-income programs and too little money to be able to afford health insurance. “These gaps in health insurance coverage may lead to delayed or unmet health care needs among children” (Kim & Viner-Brown, 2007). As a result, these children are less likely to be taken to the doctor for treatment of chronic illnesses like “asthma” or “recurrent ear infections” (Hoffman & Paradise, 2008). It boggles the mind to know that “uninsured newborns, even though they had more severe