Lack of Value in American Healthcare
Healthcare access in the United States for its citizens has been a controversial topic for several years and especially since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. The availability of insurance coverage is severely limited to a minimal population of Americans and a significant amount of individuals remain disenfranchised in terms of health care. This position is unacceptable when the economic status of this country and the astronomical cost invested into healthcare is considered. Also, comparisons of the costs of healthcare in America versus other countries speaks volumes that Americans are not receiving their money’s worth in accessing optimal health care options and outcomes.
One specific area of healthcare that highlights the failure of the system to provide value for American patients is the average life expectancy in comparison to other countries. The main goal or outcome for healthcare is good health
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In an abstract from The MacArthur Foundation Research Network at Columbia University, associations between life expectancy, education, and race exists and are significantly disparate. These differences are explained by the study and the authors write: “Result: Disparities at the educational extremes are astonishingly large, and growing larger. While a 1-year difference in life expectancy should be considered sizeable, we found that in 2008 white males with 16+ years of education now live 14.2 years longer than black men with less than 12 years of education” (MacArthur 2008). This statement is a direct example of the impact of race and education life expectancy. This correlation is important to address as then it leads to questions of the availability of access to healthcare for less educated and minority
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
I will compare the current health care system with the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law on March 23, 2010. The current system, which is being phased out between 2011 and 2018 is increasingly inaccessible to many poor and lower-middle-class people. About 47 million Americans lack health insurance, an increase of more than two million people from 2005 (Rover, 2011) the increasingly complex warfare between insurers and hospitals over who pays the bills is gobbling up a great deal of money and the end result is that the United States pays roughly twice as much per
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
As the world’s richest and most powerful nation, the United States sets itself apart from other countries on a range of issues. Some of these issues are worth celebrating, while others highlight how this country continues to lag other developed countries. No issue demonstrates this divide more clearly than our lack of universal healthcare. Touted as the best system in the world by supporters, when compared with other rich nations, we continue to spend more but have lower outcomes. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, attempted to address many of the problems with the current system; however it does not go far enough. To further improve outcomes and lower costs we must establish a universal single-payer system.
One reason that is frequently cited when asking the question of why so many people in the U.S. don’t have coverage is the cost. Many populations, in particular minorities, low-income, and women cannot afford health insurance or are underinsured thus putting them at a higher risk for disease, disability and death. In the U.S in 2010, there were 50 million people uninsured (Patel & Rushefsky, 2014). Private insurance companies have denied coverage to people with preexisting conditions (as seen in the Sick Around America video) and even pregnant women, this practice illustrates the inequality and inequity issues that have permeated the health care system. The Affordable Care Act sought to remedy the issues related to health insurance coverage being accessible for all Americans but there still exists many people without
The single most important impetus for healthcare reform throughout recent history has been rising costs (Sultz, 2006). In the book called The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care, Reid wrote that the nation’s health care system has become excessively expensive, ineffective, and unjust. Among the world’s developed nations, the US ranks near the bottom for healthcare access and quality. However, the US ranks at the top for health expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average of $7,400 per person (Reid, 2010). Therefore, Americans are spending
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
As populations around the world continue to grow, it becomes more evident that health services provided worldwide are not growing at the same rate and instead will continue to put further strain on existing health disparities, and create new ones. In the United States alone, access to healthcare is a crucial topic of discussion principally as the American government continues to create initiatives and legislation such as the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Although, the United States has come a long way to legally create access to care to all its citizens, there is a disparity in the number of individuals that in actuality receive healthcare due to the geography of cities and the nation.
“There are three basic goals for a National Health Care System; 1) keeping people healthy, 2) treating the sick and 30 protecting families against financial ruin from medical bills”, (Physicians for a National Health Program, 2016). No truer statement could there possibly be written or proclaimed as there is a crisis in healthcare costs across the United States. United States, one of the most developed western country, yet we suffer from – higher infant mortality rates, have shorter life spans and are affected by more chronic disease and or illness – than our contemporaries all while spending the most for insurance per capita and less annual doctor visits with less physicians, (OECD Health Data 2015). There is a question to be answered, “why”, why are we trailing our contemporaries and more important than that is, is our National Health Care system really working for us? The year 2010 was the beginning of change in the United States where we transitioned from primarily private insurance and welfare to a universal healthcare model, under President Obama with the signing into Law of the Affordable Health Care Act March of 2010. The purpose of the Affordable health care act is to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable healthcare, however in 2016 we are still questioning we’ve been successful based on funding, government sponsored healthcare programs, effects on the current HCO, elderly, military and accessibility.
The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.
The United States health care system has its own unique way of delivery, unlike many other developed countries where health care is a right for all and almost all the citizens have access to basic health care services. In the United States, health care is market based. If you cannot afford it, then you shouldn’t expect to receive coverage. This causes a human right crisis and deprives millions of Americans from receiving the care they need. The privatization of the U.S. health care system results in a substantial number of Americans who are without health insurance. The health care system is constantly undergoing changes, in response to fears of access, quality and cost. Despite all of these changes, there are still significant disparities
Health care in the United States is driven by a patchwork of services and financing. Americans access health care services in a variety of ways — from private physicians’ offices, to public hospitals, to safety-net providers. This diverse network of health care providers is supported by an equally diverse set of funding streams. The United States spends almost twice as much on health care as any other country, topping $2 trillion each year. (WHO.INT 2000) However, even with overall spending amounting to more than $7,400 per person, millions of individuals cannot access the health care services they need.(Foundation 2009) So when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was passed in the summer
This year being an election year means that the American people are confronted with many issues and disparities that plague our nation. One of these hot button topics is that of healthcare. The United States is the only developed nation without a universal healthcare system, but spends the most for health services. With so many Americans lacking the adequate care needed or facing bankruptcy due to piling medical bills, one must look at the health disparities that are causing this super power nation to inadequately serve its citizens.
Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States
Access to preventive health care should not be definable as one of life’s luxuries, yet that is what is has come to be for the approximately “50 million Americans” who have no health insurance (Turka & Caplan, 2010). Clogged emergency rooms and “preventable deaths” are just two of the consequences associated with the lack of health insurance that would provide access to preventive care (Turka & Caplan, 2010). We as a nation are depriving our citizens of one of our most basic needs—being healthy.