Poverty In Health Care

United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010).

One of the issues is the increasing cost of healthcare which is dominating the health policy in U.S. this is accompanied by an increase in spending on healthcare. According to projections by the government, the spending on medical care will continue to rise. U.S spends more money on health care than any other nation globally (Holtz, 2013). The increase in the spending is as a result of improved tools for disease diagnosis, better surgical interventions among others. This raises an issue for the policy makers on the maximum GDP percentage that a country has to spend on healthcare, and whether the nation will afford the cost that is continually growing. In contemplating any change in the health policy, policy makers should consider the cost of the healthcare and the ability of the nation to support that high cost.

According to the Bloomberg website, the United States is ranked 50th out of the 55 countries that were assessed as a country having one of the least efficient healthcare systems. Not a very good rank for such a developed country. More importantly, it is not very good for a country that is considered to be a high-income country. It brings up the question asking how other health care systems are in other countries around the world especially in low income countries. What are the affects by having limited access to health care in counties like Guinea, Ethiopia, or Mali? Below are a few ways in which low income countries are affected by having little access to health care services.

Improving the health of the socially and economically disadvantaged is a major task. Many Americans are living with poor health because of their socioeconomic statuses and it has many negative effects on their long term health. Improving access to health care is not enough to help fix the lower death rates among low income families. Our social status in our economy has large effect on our lives including how we are able to live our lives and in tern it has large measurable effects on our health. San Antonio is no exception, in low income areas the mortality rates by diabetes are stunning and need to be changed in order to help improve the lives of so many people. In my essay I will be proposing a plan to help lower

The United States is considered by many to be the greatest country in the world. However, when it comes to health care the US is ranked behind 36 other countries, according to the World Health Organization. If one was to do any research at all, they would find that an overwhelming 34 of these 36 countries all have one thing in common. They all use a universal health care system. This is not just a mere coincidence. The problems and outrageous cost within the US healthcare system causes over 700,000 Americans to go bankrupt every year. This staggering problem simply does not occur in any other industrialized countries. Accounting for these facts the United States needs to move quickly to embrace

The vast majority of poor people are unable to afford any type of health care. “The United States is one of the few developed nations that does not provide universal health care” (Rank). Due to having low income and being forced to pay for other necessities, many poor people are living

health insurance and medical care, large percentage (16%) of its GDP totaling to $1.9 trillion per

There are many different types of poverty, some much more intense that others. It just depends on how you look at it. Each stage of poverty affects the life of those involved in it and those who are around it. Looking at school systems you can see that the ones who are most bullied are the ones who do not have the nicest things, or who are behind on the latest new gadget. So many people judge others on what they have and how they dress; they don’t look at the person for who they are inside. This is a shame, but poverty puts a big whole in the ability for others to get along.

The population trends of the U.S. has grown tremendously since the 1950s (Williams & Torrens, 2008). Since the baby boomer generation, the United States has seen a decrease in women's fertility and increase in the life expectancy age (Morris, Mueller, & Jones, 2010). This growth is challenging to the healthcare system. This growth is the result of two factors, a higher number of births annually as the population has increased and immigration. With the large influx of immigrants, there is also an increase in the cost of healthcare for all citizens, as some states allow for healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants (Gardner, 2007). Domestically, families are leaving rural areas and heading to larger cities where they have access to better resources and healthcare. This is causing rural hospitals to close and leaves millions of Americans without proper health care coverage. Also, psychographically, Americans are changing the way they access and view healthcare. They are utilizing technology such as the internet and other resources instead of going to a physician.

Healthcare is innovative and consistent. New health care laws and insurances will have a direct impact on the care that is administered. The United States always fall behind when healthcare is the issue. There are a concern and questions over universal health care because of the U.S., “spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country in the world amounting to more than three trillion dollars”(Flannigan, 2017). In spite of providing universal healthcare this industry is always on the incline and steadily growing.

In the United States of America in 2016, 14.5 percent of all citizens were living below the poverty line. 14.5 percent. That equates to about 45 million people living off an annual income under 12,000 dollars. With the cost of health care on the rise, this can pose a rather large problem for many families across the nation in affording health care. This problem was sprung into the mainstream media spotlight in March of 2017, when an article in the New York Times was published addressing comments made by a US lawmaker from the state of Utah. Representative Jason Chaffetz recently commented that Americans in poverty should invest in their own healthcare instead of “getting that new iPhone that they just love.” (Healy, 2017). The

Millions of people are deprived of attaining proper medical care and endure the challenges that poverty throws at them. Every person in the world is on a different social status in society, thus some people faces challenges that others may not. Some of these challenges are expensive medication, inability to attain medical care, resulting in bad treatment towards patients. One of the many challenges that people face when being in poverty is the expense of health care.

U.S. healthcare system is one of the most complex healthcare system in the world. Cost, Quality and Access have been identified as the most significant factors affecting this system. In terms of quality of healthcare, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission, U.S. has been ranked last amongst other 11 developed nations (Fact Sheet, 2016). Also, in terms of access to U.S. healthcare system, due to high cost of health care, minorities and poor are at significant disadvantages. Sultz and Young (2014) stated in terms of cost, U.S. spends approximately 17% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare (p.1). In order to improve the quality of healthcare, provide universal healthcare access to uninsured and minimize the escalating costs of healthcare, in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into the law by President Obama. Since the enactment of ACA, there is only limited amount of healthcare cost savings observed. People are still questioning whether Obamacare has delivered its prescribed goals or not? Some facts and reports show that the Obamacare has not gained much success. According to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, “the total per capital health insurance spending will rise from $7,786 in 2016 to $11,681 in 2024.” (Moffit, 2016). Thus, the role of ACA in addressing the U.S. healthcare cost problem is constrained.

Socio economic status and primary care both directly impact health indicators. It is impossible for an individual to have direct control over having good or poor health. Truly ones culture and surroundings determines ones health. These health disparities can be seen the most between the richest and the poorest people. This is because the more money a person has the healthier they are, while a person with less money has less access to healthcare. This paper will discuss the variance between 4 different countries from all income levels including Haiti, Bolivia, Mexico and the United States. Due to many low and middle class populations not being able to afford healthcare, healthier food alternatives, and safe water supply, deteriorating health

You mentioned an interesting study for the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, the U.S healthcare system seems business and for-profit. In my opinion, people's health is not the appropriate realm to make money. I agree with you that the disparity in accessing to healthcare between rich and poor people is the major problem in the evaluation of the quality of healthcare.