The U.S. health care system faces challenges that indicate that the people urgently need to be reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps even for those with access to insurance coverage.
The first characteristic of the US health care system is that there is no central governing agency which allows for little integration and coordination. While the government has a great influence on the health care system, the system is mostly controlled through private hands. The system is financed publically and privately creating a variety of payments and delivery unlike centrally controlled healthcare systems in other developed countries. The US system is more complex and less manageable than centrally controlled health care systems, which makes it more expensive. The second characteristic of the US health care system is that it is technology driven and focuses on acute care. With more usage of high technology,
In today’s day and age, American households can all agree that health insurance is not a luxury, but a necessity. Without it, costs of emergency room visits and prescription medicines can be financially devastating. However, in the past many families and individuals have taken the risk of not being insured due to the high cost of the insurance itself. To attempt to reform this unfair system, the Obama administration signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. The law, coined “Obamacare,” has received much opposition due to its expansion government programs and increase in spending. It brings to question how much the government should be involved in an area that for the majority of America’s history, has been
In 2008, during President Obama’s campaign, President Obama announced that he would fight for a national health care system that helped millions of uninsured Americans obtain health insurance. The Affordable Care Act, also termed Obamacare, passed on Christmas Eve of 2009. While some people believe the Affordable Care Act is great, others are not too fond of the of it. From passing the bill, the government hoped to expand Medicaid eligibility to help more people whose income was meager or near poverty level. Although the idea was good, studies show that people of color, families in rural areas, and those with cultural and language barriers struggle to receive health care and pay for it. Furthermore, since Obamacare passed into law, the
On March 23, 2010, the President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which represents the most significant regulatory that impacts the U.S. healthcare systems. With PPACA, 32 millions of Americans are expected the coverage and expanded access to health care and medical care. Due to the baby boomers and the downfall of the economics, there will be millions of people are seeking for low rates medical care which will create great impact on U.S. healthcare. According to Commonwealth Fund analysis, the U.S. healthcare ranks last on every cost-related. Therefore, healthcare becomes the top social and economic problem that American is dealing with. Like all other well-developed countries, there are both private and public insurers in the U.S. health care system. ‘What is unique about the U.S. healthcare system in the world is the dominance of the private element over the public element’ (Chua, 2006). Healthcare system in the Unites States can be divided into three different groups: Medicare, Medicaid, and Managed Care. Each plan provides different coverages for different groups of people.
The cost of healthcare has and will continue to rise in the United States. Some factors that contribute to those hikes are due to the consumer demanding more complex services from health care providers. Things such as new technology, equipment, research and testing procedures, along with pharmacy, and the number of uninsured are all dynamics of the increased cost in health care. The U.S. health care system relies heavily on third-party payers; these payers include commercial insurers and the Federal and state governments. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, the National Health Expenditure grew 3.6% to $2.9 trillion in 2013, or $9,255 per person, and accounted for 17.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Id.
Primary care is the backbone of many industrialized nations, but is the US one of them? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The US lags behind such developed nations in its accessibility of primary care by a huge difference. The United States healthcare system fails to ensure the timely preventative and primary care for its residents. The current estimates indicate that there is merely one physician for every 2,500 patients. Not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also privately insured adults struggle in accessing the right primary care physician at the right time. Moreover, maldistribution of physicians only exacerbates the problem, especially for those residing in health professional shortage areas (HPSA).15 Approximately, sixty-five million Americans live in designated primary care shortage areas.13 Such underserved population faces higher disease and death rates and health disparities that then result in higher rates of hospitalizations and emergency department visits—in other words, expensive medical bills.21 More governmental control on the geographic location of primary care physicians can be a first-step to fixing the shortage problem.
The new health care reform law in America, Obamacare, increases the quality, availability, and affordability of private and public health insurance to 44 million uninsured. It also is working to curb the growth in healthcare spending in the U.S. which has been rising at an unsustainable rate. Obamacare was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, and upheld in the supreme court on June 28, 2012. The concept behind Obamacare was the individual mandate, which requires that most Americans obtain health insurance by the end of 2014 or they will have to pay a tax penalty. This concept was first brought about by The Heritage Foundation as an alternative for the single-payer initiative, “Medicare”. This reform wasn’t proposed or expanded until it was implemented in Massachusetts by Governor Romney. During the 2008 elections, healthcare was a booming subject for the Democratic party.
The U.S. health care system consumes a huge amount of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, and is a massive system that provides essential and world-class care to millions of people (Niles, 2016). As a result of this huge burden of cost associated with it, the U.S. healthcare system has been critiqued, and has played a major role in sparking debates about changes to the way the U.S. healthcare system is run and organized. Thus, healthcare has been on the forefront of many American and politician minds over the last decade and beyond, and many proposals and attempts have been made to change and adapt the complex and influential U.S. healthcare system. One such attempt, that brought about incredibly influential change to the U.S. healthcare
“President Obama made this telling claim about his signature health-care law: Americans are “Going to the able to sign up for affordable, quality health insurance at a significantly cheaper rate than what they can get right now in the individual market.” (Roy p.1) Since President Obama introduced the legislation bill of the Affordable Care Act, there has been mixed feelings, as a nation, on how it can possibly affect their lives, but more importantly, the economy that is already in chaos. It is interesting to see that even though the nation as a whole is not in favor of the Affordable Care Act, the population will still be in favor of what the Democratic party proposes for
In the year of 2010, President Barack Obama passed the affordable Healthcare Act which puts the people back in charge of their health care. For the past two years, the topic of health care has been in and out of the spotlight. According to Reuters.com, fifty-six percent of Americans are against the health care reform law while forty-four percent favor it, Americans are turning the tables on President Obama’s health care reform; this means that republicans are convincing the people to reject the President's proposal even when they agree with what is in it. Although there are some Americans who disagree, those who agree just say pass the law.
A survey composed by Washington Post-ABC News found that an astonishing forty-four percent of surveyors believed that the United States’ health care system has gotten worse in the past few years. What caused this? The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (Forbes 25). This startling fact reveals that the act, commonly known as Obamacare, has negatively influenced Americans’ opinions on their health care. Passed in 2010, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act mandated health care coverage for every United States citizen. The debate over public health care had been going on for decades, and under President Obama’s administration, it became a reality in America. Unfortunately, the act caused major issues. The Affordable Care Act
The United States does not provide healthcare to its citizens the way rest of the countries do. Instead of guaranteeing that all are covered, it works on a market-based system where those who are insured, receive their coverage as a condition of employment, whereas others must purchase individual policies or obtain coverage through Medicaid or private insurance companies, and not everyone would qualify to receive health care benefits. For decades, health care has been an issue for the country, especially for the people who are ill and cannot afford coverage. However, when Obama became president, he created a law that allows more opportunities for the population to receive health insurance without further complications or strict requirements that many private companies have. The law has remained a focus of heated political debate from the day it was suggested. The dispute surrounding the law creates pressure regarding whether the reform has been beneficial or a complete failure. Indeed, the one unifying aspect of all of the debate over the reform was the fact that everyone acknowledged that reform was needed, but as to what that alteration should be was the contentious part of the debate. Through extensive research, and despite common objections, it is clear that health care reform shows positive impacts based on the effects in certain states, the expansion of Medicaid, and its effectiveness today.
Health care systems are organizations that are formed to meet the overall health needs of the population. Health care is regarded as one of the leading cause in promoting not only physical and mental health but the well-being of the population. Legislation is implemented requiring government to offer services to all members of its society. The role of health services and the organizations that provide aid is to focus on the health of an individual and to uphold their human rights. According to WHO (2013), a “well-functioning health care system requires a robust financing mechanism, a well-trained and adequately-paid workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and well maintained facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies (World Health Organization; 2013).
Statistics prove Barack Obama is one of the most argued about presidents in our nation’s history. In almost all decisions he makes, in the aftermath, there appears to be two sides that rise up; one side whom support his decisions and one side that disapproves of his logic. To be honest, Barack Obama has made mistake upon mistake. “He has gradually failed so far in doing what presidents must do which is to lead the nation emotionally as well as rationally” (P2) One of the mistakes Obama has made, is his health plan for America. Barack Obama’s health care plan for America has had negative effects on small and large businesses, the lives of different categories of people in America, and ultimately resulted in a loss of America’s medical research funds and country’s money. The lack of success Obama care has had can partially be attributed to Obamas mistakes as well as political differences influencing decisions and opinions on the plan. By deducing the flaws in Obama’s healthcare plan better alternatives can be seen to provide cheaper medical care for everyone.