Essay about The Health Insurance Crisis in America

In addition to those who are unemployed, you also have the Americans that are employed and still uninsured. These Americans either choose not to have health insurance or they are still unable to afford it. I have been there, I had to choose more money on my paycheck over having health insurance. For most, being uninsured is not a choice, insurance is simply unaffordable. In an article on The Economic Impact Of The Uninsured it states that “eighty percent of uninsured people are employed, or live in a home where a family member is employed. Their plight has nothing to do with a slow economy” (Knowledge@Emory). More young Americans look at insurance as a luxury not a necessity. However, when the unknown happens then these young people are faced with an enormous

Even with some especial programs like ACA, a lot of people can’t afford for coverage due to extreme rate of poverty.”Cost still poses a major barrier to coverage for the uninsured. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that the primary reason they were uninsured was because it was too expensive, making it the most common reason cited for being uninsured”(Key

In fact, many middle-class urban American’s can’t either. “In 2007, the number of underinsured persons was up to an estimated 25 million; up 60 percent from 2003.” (Schoen) This means that, all over the nation, there are more underinsured than unemployed. 25 million people in 2007 means that 12 out of every 100 people in this country are potentially unable to find the medical treatment they may require. It’s not just those who are out of work that, for whatever reason, do not have adequate health coverage. Many small businesses can’t afford to supply coverage to their employees, and larger corporations are moving away from the group plans they used to provide.

First, having affordable health care in the United States will decrease the number of uninsured. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare has decreased the number of uninsured people yet, there are still people without acquiring health insurance. According to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which is a non-profit organization focusing on the national health issue and serving as a non-partisan source, individuals below the poverty line are at the highest risk of being uninsured. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that they tried to get coverage, but did not because it was too expensive (KFF). The cost of health insurance is still an ordeal for people to get covered. The U.S government needs to consider that it is disproportionate

We live in the United States, “The Land of the Brave and Home of the Free.” However, the United States is the only developed country that does not provide guaranteed insurance coverage for all citizens and they’re thereby doing not ensure access to health services (Government hub, n.d.). Meaning other countries offer health coverage without cost. This always disappointed me because America is the richest, and most unequal, country (Sherman, 2015). So why wouldn’t America provide American’s health care insurance (McAlearney, 2003, p. 20). Since the United States does not provide universal health care coverage, we will discuss briefly forms of insurance offered to Americans, the categories of insurance and how individuals qualify for coverage and Affordable Healthcare Act (Obama Care).

Most people are uninsured are below the poverty line. The United States Census Bureau states “In 2013, the uninsured rate for children younger than 19 in poverty (9.8 percent) was higher than the uninsured rate for children not in poverty (7.0 percent)” (“Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013”).People cannot pay for the health insurance they need and that is why they do not have it. The impoverished could get chronically ill and not be able to do anything about it because they do not have the money or insurance. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation “In 2014, 48% of uninsured adults said the main reason they were uninsured was because the cost was too high.” (“Key Facts about the Uninsured Population”).A person who cannot pay for any health insurance at all is most likely in poverty. It is hard for someone to pay for any insurance if they are in

The cost of healthcare in America is out of control. As the medical costs continue to rise, many Americans, especially those considered low income, have decided to just live uninsured. Low income families are considered individuals, who make less than $15,521 a year and families of 4 members, who make $31,721 or less in a year (2). As of 2013, 10.8 million were listened as low income households in America, which is a 18.6% rise from the previous survey (2). Basically, these families can not afford to pay for private medical insurance. As a matter of fact, there are 70 million people covered under the federal Medicare and

In the United States, more than forty million people are without health insurance. Of these people, many are employed by firms that do not offer coverage and many others fall just below the poverty line. Many are poor but still do not qualify for Medicaid. At least twelve million of those without health insurance are children. Reliable sources indicate that the number of uninsured people could rise as high as sixty million by the year 2010.

In the United States, the health market system is defective to the citizen. Even though the market is available to all citizens; There are at least half of a million Americans without health insurance plans. The costs of health in the United States have historically been unfavorable. This can be traced to the fact that the health sector is driven by a market-based system (Fernandez, 2010; Harris, 2011). This means that most of the health insurance companies are privately owned. The companies provide including basic medical expense plans and catastrophic hospital expense plans to accommodate the needs of consumers. It also offers supplemental products that provide protection against risks, including dental, vision, disability, critical

insurance coverage too many of the 46 million uninsured people living in the United States

The United States of America is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, yet it does not provide adequate health insurance to its citizens. In 2014, 11.7% of people in the US were uninsured and a total of 27.8% of children under 18 and living below the poverty line were also uninsured. A majority of uninsured individuals are in this position because they do not have a job or their job does not offer any insurance. However, with the passage of Obamacare, in 2015 11.4% of adults 18 and older were uninsured; this is in contrast with 18.0% in 2014. I believe the United States needs to perform the most logical step taken that the majority of industrialized nations around the globe have done: provide a national health insurance program.

Also, many of the case studies conducted in the Three City Study show that the poor will only seek medical care for their children or themselves only when inoculations are required or need of care is visibly apparent (Angel 28). This results in very little preventive care and education, two key components for an efficient health care system. The United States currently spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, often for preventable diseases or diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with earlier diagnosis (NCHC). The lack of preventative care will most likely be a larger financial burden on the poor later in life and further exhaust healthcare resources. Thus, the current health care safety net provides discontinuous care that essentially allows poor adults no health care, complicates the lives of poor with stringent requirements and protocol, and forces difficult choices upon adults regarding who in the family has the priority of care.

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

Many people do not have health insurance, in 2014 13.4% of Americans did not have insurance. Since 2014 the percentage may have changed but due to lack of availability to me

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.