Mama Might Be Better Off Dead Summary

America is facing a healthcare crisis! In town hall meetings across America, brawls have broken out during speeches given in an attempt to promote government run healthcare. When looking at the big picture, healthcare is only a small portion of the current problems, but a very big one, in the eyes of Americans, considering how it affects every citizen. The healthcare system in the United States is experiencing hard times, but does that mean, we, as Americans, should just step aside and let government take over? Absolutely not! Government will claim that the numbers of uninsured Americans are high because of the prices insurance companies charge, but are these numbers correct and who makes up these numbers? What will a government run

41 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2001. In 2004, the number rose to 45 million. And in 2005, 47 million people were living without health care. On the other hand, 84% of Americans had health care in 2005 according to a census. So what is wrong with America's health care?

Health care has been an area of discussion for some time now. In the United States, the current health care system is a private system that allows individuals to choose their own method of care. Despite the freedom that comes with the independent nature of this type of health care system, the true disposition creates more problems than it solves. The privacy of the health care institutions has caused affordability and access to become serious issues with this system. Additionally, those with lower socioeconomic status fall short of the ability to access the same pool of resources as everyone else. Due to the issues with affordability, access, and the poor infrastructure of the health care system, a universal health

as defensive medicine practice, new technology, malpractice lawsuit and the uninsured. New technology is the biggest factor of the rising cost of healthcare to treated patient of their illness. New technologies have seemed to be the driving force of high healthcare cost in America. The technology accounts for 38 to 65 percent of healthcare spending in America (Johnson, 2011). The annual spending of health care increased from 75 billion in 1970 to 2.0 trillion in 2005 and is estimated to reach 4.0 trillion in 2015 (Kaiser Foundation, 2013). U.S. citizens spent 5,267 per capita for health care in 2002- 53 percent more than any other country” (2005). “America spent 5267 per capita and in Switzerland they spent 3074 per capita” about 1821 cheaper than ours (Starfield, B 2010). Controlling the technology isn’t easy thing to do because of technology prices are set by manufacturing and the installer of the new medical equipment’s. However, there other way

For the last five years of my life I have worked in the healthcare industry. One of the biggest issues plaguing our nation today has been the ever rising cost of health care. If we don't get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to lower the cost of health care in this nation.

Widening economic inequality in the United States is being accompanied by increasing health care disparity. While the health care system seeks to provide health care as a human right, it fails to do so often worsening the disparities (Dickman, Himmelstein, & Woolhandler, 2017). While health care today has made major strides, there are many people who are still suffering from health care system injustices. Of the people who are still uninsured a majority of them are in the middle-working class or those living in poverty. Poor Americans have less access to health care than wealthy Americans. The life expectancy gap between the rich and poor continues to widen. Health care in poor communities is too often neglected. This issue has been a trend in the United States for many years. In Abraham’s book, Mama might be better off dead these very same inequalities are evident for the Banes family. Because of these inequalities, preventive illness becomes life threatening causing care to then become extensive and even more expensive.

The Affordable Care Act was into law March 2010. The law has planned to make wide-range of changes to healthcare in the United States. The Affordable Care Act efforts to offer universal right to use to healthcare for Americans, control the rising costs of healthcare, adjust the private insurance industry complete things like state-based private exchanges and online marketplace that brings together state-approved insurance plans from multiple companies so consumers can shop for individual insurance plans, improve the quality of healthcare and make healthcare choices more consumer friendly and easier to understand (Medical Mutual,2017). Healthcare reform involves nearly all Americans from old or young,

An issue that is widely discussed and debated concerning the United States’ economy is our health care system. The health care system in the United States is not public, meaning that the states does not offer free or affordable health care service. In Canada, France and Great Britain, for example, the government funds health care through taxes. The United States, on the other hand, opted for another direction and passed the burden of health care spending on individual consumers as well as employers and insurers. In July 2006, the issue was transparency: should the American people know the price of the health care service they use and the results doctors and hospitals achieve? The Wall Street Journal article revealed that “U.S. hospitals,

Universal Health Care in America is a Hot Button Issue. All Americans need access to health care, but not all Americans can afford it. As a member of the health care industry, a patient with multiple chronic illnesses and someone who has gone without health care it is a subject near and dear to my heart. Universal Health Care in America is not a right, but it should be.

Based on some key measures that reports have used to assess the quality of health care, the United States has taken considerable, yet limited steps towards progress. The United Health Foundation’s 2015 America’s Health Rankings® Annual Report offers a comprehensive look into the health of the American population and our health care system. The 2015 Annual Report specifies, “Cigarette use continues to fall, immunization rates continue to rise, and there are long-term positive trends in reducing cardiovascular-related and infant deaths” (United Health Foundation). While these are tremendous improvements, public health officials across the nation have used the Annual Report to raise awareness about crucial issues. A notable matter in question is the quality of health in the United States: it faces many challenges, one of which is the worrisome increases in the rate of chronic disease. Often, the root causes of chronic disease are underutilization of basic preventive care, overuse of antibiotics, and cost implications in our health care system; all indicate the need for reform.

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. According to recent data from the Census Bureau , the number of uninsured Americans fell from 33 million in 2013 to 29 million in 2014, a drop of about 4-percentage points. Accordingly, 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. Coverage achieved through direct purchase on the marketplace, and Medicaid, accounted for the biggest gains in the health insurance rates.

Today’s health care system is in a constant state of fluctuation and commotion. It is sometimes difficult for the health care consumer to identify a valuable resource when they need one. The purpose of this paper is to explore one of the many health care resources that are available in the greater Philadelphia area and then visit this site to learn more about it. Philadelphia, in itself is an outstanding resource to the people of the area. In terms of healthcare resource implications this is true. There are numerous teaching hospitals, museums, clinics, and educational centers in this region. I choose to learn more about Planned Parenthood, a well-known organization in this area as well as

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.

How do people view the health care system in practice? Where does the failure of inadequate care lie in the hands of the individual or the health care provider? Laurie Abraham explores this topic in Mama Might Be Better Off Dead to discuss where health care fails within an urban area of the United States. Following the Banes family over three years, Abraham’s ethnography delves into the intricate system of health care the Banes family navigates (Abraham, ).

It is said that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. Healthcare is an important concern for every government as people get ill, accidents happen, emergencies arise and the health institutions are needed to diagnose, manage and treat the different types of ailments or diseases that may arise. The healthcare industry is divided into several areas in order to meet the health needs of anyone and everyone. All over the world, the healthcare structures are different to accommodate specific needs of the people in that demographic however the healthcare methodology in Third World Countries does not accommodate the needs of their respective inhabitants in comparison to First world Countries. The Rate of corruption, quality of healthcare institutions, lack of adequate, functional surveillance systems and problematic hygiene conditions are amongst the top reasons why the healthcare systems in third world countries are substandard in comparison to First world nations.