The Fate of Uninsured Veterans

Despite reservations amongst Republicans, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act on March 23, 2010. This law was set to give coverage to 32 million uninsured citizens, introduces subsides so that middle and lower income families can more easily purchase insurance and stops insurers from refusing health coverage to people with preexistent illnesses (Clemmitt, 2010). Evaluating this law five years after it’s signing, the percentage of U.S. adults without insurance dropped 4.5 percent to 11.9 percent in early 2015. Attitudes towards the law have improved with an increasing number of people seeing its benefits over time and although there have been issues with the law, the rate of the growth of health care spending has actually decreased, with a 2013 rate of only 3.6 percent (Vaida, 2015). This current plan isn’t perfect and America still sees its civilization with countless uninsured individuals but it is a step in the right direction. Our nation won’t see a working universal health coverage system until a majority is on the same page regarding the issue and realize idealized results. The quickest way for America to come to this is for states to model other nations and develop their own individual plans so that our society can discover the most efficient option. It may be a single payer system or a government aided pluralistic system (Tanne, 2007), but experimenting with what is successful and what has potential to work is key to finding America’s perfect health-coverage fit and improving our efficiency of spending towards it (Clemmitt,

The U.S. healthcare system is remarkably complex, and even healthcare workers struggle to understand it. The U.S. population gets health coverage by government programs, employers, and private insurance. Notably, because of the complexity and fragmentation of the health care system, there is a percentage of the population that remains uninsured. According to CNN Money, the uninsured rate in the U.S. dropped from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2016, this drop was under Affordable Care Act(ACA) (). The goal of the ACA was not to give health coverage to all the uninsured population, rather it was to try to decrease the percentage of the population that remained uninsured(). There is a lot of inequality in the distribution of health among the U.S. population

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 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.

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

In America, we not only have the problem of the non-insured but the under insured which causes just about as much problem as the underinsured. Each group has contributed to the vast growing cost of healthcare. Over the last decade or two, the amount of uninsured has risen due to the job market in the economy and the fact that most insurances are tied to employment, which is also a problem as the unemployment rate rises. The purpose of this paper is to explore this issue.

This is a paper about the issues involving uninsured Americans and what we can do to improve healthcare in America.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ‘Obamacare’ in 2010 and its implementation in 2014,there has been a steady decline in the uninsured population of the United States of America. The number of Americans with health insurance, has reached a historic peak. According to recent data from the Census Bureau about health insurance coverage, the number of uninsured Americans fell from 33 million the year prior to ACA implementation to 29 million in 2014.The total uninsured rate dropped by more than 4 percent since the health care law took effect. The ACA has significantly reduced the number of Americans who were not able to acquire health insurance due to poverty, unemployment, or having a pre-existing condition.

After reading Delivering Health Care in America A Systems Approach 5th edition by Leiyu Shi and Douglas A Singh, a lot of topics stood out to me, but the one topic that really touches my heart is the topic about Uninsured Americans. Health insurance is currently an important issue in the United States today. Every day we see more and more Americans become uninsured due to unemployment and an increase in premiums. This topic is very important because working in a hospital setting you see so many patients that can’t receive the care they need because of not having insurance or their insurance not covering all of their needs. Hospital administrators face multiple issues everyday in regards to uninsured patients and underinsured patients. As health

When President Obama was elected to office, he had campaigned on the promise of healthcare reform, and was rallying the government to deliver on that promise. Despite successes in increasing coverage for certain populations in the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was no substantial and sustainable reduction in the number of uninsured. In a speech during a joint session of Congress (2009), and before the signing of the ACA, Obama argued that a high uninsured rate had an impact on the American people, the healthcare system, and the economy. The symptoms of the 1/7 Americans without uninsured in 2008 were: negative impacts on citizens, manifesting in greater financial insecurity, unreasonable barriers to care, general poor health, and preventable deaths; the healthcare system was burdened with billions of dollars in uncompensated care; the labor force became concerned about insurance coverage when seeking education or entrepreneurship. healthcare costs were rising rapidly, from 13% of the economy devoted to

Even with employer-sponsored programs and federal programs for those who qualify, many Americans are uninsured. Over 46 million Americans had no health insurance in 2006, and 86.7 million went without health insurance at some point in 2007 and 2008 (“Health Care Issues”). Why has the number of uninsured risen so drastically and why are employer-sponsored programs dwindling?

“A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America,” for an amount up to and including their life.” - Unknown. American veterans face some of their toughest battles once they transition from active duty status to civilian life. Many veterans transition smoothly without complications. There are times however when these transitions hit forks in the road. Often times veterans feel they have to travel down this road alone. There are many programs and opportunities out there for out vets they just have to know where to begin, the beginning is where these challenges start. Some challenges military veterans face when transitioning to civilian life are Healthcare, Employment, and Education.

With the way the economy is going today, it is important for Americans to afford their own health insurance. In addition, it needs to be open to expand health insurance plans, especially for the millions that are uninsured. There were many insured Americans that were shocked and frustrated when they, “did not meet minimum standards to the ACA” (NCBI, 2014). The good thing is that these policies have decayed over time, and cancellations have been less difficult as insurance companies have offered more affordable rates. With these new plans, insurance companies’ goal is to restrict customers to control cost, but the issue is this could force people to pay for outrageous payments and limit

According to World Health Organization, “Universal Health Coverage means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship”. (WHO.int) By doing so, we give the people the opportunity to be equal to the rest of the society. Since the cost of a healthcare plan is beyond most people’s budget in the United States, the average person spends more money on healthcare insurance than groceries and housing together. This condition leads many to have no coverage at all. In fact, there are over 45 million uninsured residents in the U.S. in it

Currently, the issue of health insurance has been a bone of contention for the public regarding whether the United States government should provide this health plan or not. People often possess different perspectives and refer to pros and cons on both sides of the spectrum. While some believes a universal healthcare system will set a foundation for a lower quality of service, increasing governmental finance deficit, and higher taxes, others do not hold the same thought. A universal healthcare system brings enormous advantages rather than disadvantages, such as all-inclusive population coverage, convenient accessibility, low time cost, and affordable medical cost, all of which not only provide minimum insurance to the disadvantaged but also improve the efficiency of medical resources distribution.