The Prevalence Of Bankruptcy And The United States Health Care

“There are three basic goals for a National Health Care System; 1) keeping people healthy, 2) treating the sick and 30 protecting families against financial ruin from medical bills”, (Physicians for a National Health Program, 2016). No truer statement could there possibly be written or proclaimed as there is a crisis in healthcare costs across the United States. United States, one of the most developed western country, yet we suffer from – higher infant mortality rates, have shorter life spans and are affected by more chronic disease and or illness – than our contemporaries all while spending the most for insurance per capita and less annual doctor visits with less physicians, (OECD Health Data 2015). There is a question to be answered, “why”, why are we trailing our contemporaries and more important than that is, is our National Health Care system really working for us? The year 2010 was the beginning of change in the United States where we transitioned from primarily private insurance and welfare to a universal healthcare model, under President Obama with the signing into Law of the Affordable Health Care Act March of 2010. The purpose of the Affordable health care act is to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable healthcare, however in 2016 we are still questioning we’ve been successful based on funding, government sponsored healthcare programs, effects on the current HCO, elderly, military and accessibility.

The rising cost of health care has led companies to stop offering health insurance for employees, and private insurance is often too expensive for people to afford. Many families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but are unable to pay for private health insurance. Health care costs in the United States have more than doubled in the last twenty years. Insurance premiums are rising five times faster than wages, and Americans are spending more money on health care than people in any other country. The average amount one person pays per year for health care in the United States is 134 times higher than the average of other industrialized countries (“Health Care Issues”). Even people who have insurance aren’t guaranteed coverage. Many insurance companies find loopholes to avoid paying for expensive medical treatment, leaving people with massive debt from medical bills. Medical bills and illness cause over half of all personal bankruptcies in the United

Healthcare reform continues to be a topic of discussion among politicians, medical professionals, and many Americans who are struggling to pay for care in a system where costs are skyrocketing out of control. Consequently these costs are forcing many Americans to file bankruptcy due to the massive amount of medical debt that they owe, slowing our economy and reducing reimbursements for medical facilities (Khazan) The debate on how to fix health care continues, even after the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 to help begin our national journey to fix health care in America.

There are many reasons to question the goodness of Obama’s proposed health care bill. However, by looking at the bill closed-minded, the true potential is never seen. Of course continuing with the current United States health care system is always an option, but without reforming the system, expecting to see higher costs is inevitable. One thing that Americans need to strive for is making health care more affordable, which is the key to making the United States health care system sustainable once again (Mango & Riefberg). Currently, The United States health care system is the world’s largest, but it is also the most expensive.

The U.S. healthcare system is broken. The health care expenditures are the highest in the world and increasing every year at a rate that poses a serious threat to all Americans. For example, the national health expenditures per capita increase from $1,110.00 in 1980 to $9,255 in 2013 and it projected to rise to 19.3% by 20251. However, higher spending does not produce better health care or better outcomes and does not improve patient perceptions of the accessibility or quality of healthcare care. We had enough, we cannot rely on our wasteful, fragmented multi-payer system of financing health care; something must be done to improve our healthcare system and make healthcare affordable for the entire nation.

“Of all the shocking and inhuman in society, the lack of access to health care is the most inhumane.” (Allender, Rector, & Warner, 2014). Based on the 2010 Census, almost 50 million Americans were uninsured and without equal access to healthcare services due to exponential costs resulting from lack of coverage (Gibbens, 2012). According to Gibbens (2012), 54% of patients reported delaying recommended care, filling prescriptions, or visiting a provider due to unaffordability of care. The impoverishing effects of our health care system have caused 1.5 million families to lose their homes every year and almost 3,000 to file bankruptcy daily (Gibbens, 2012). The United States spends four times as much on health delivery than on national defense

A majority of concerned individuals have often perceived the United States to be at the verge of national health reform. Over the past few years, the cost of healthcare has been on the rise because over forty-six million Americans are still uninsured. On the other hand, millions more experience under-insurance while other worry that they are not appropriately insured. The quality of healthcare in this country has been under scrutiny because the United States is viewed as one of the most developed countries in the world. Major problems surrounding the state of health came into the limelight in 2008 during the presidential campaigns. The costs of healthcare were among the major issues presented in many debates. It is undeniable to state that the United States has been on the brink of many national health reforms as early as the 19th

Living in a country with the best medical labs, hospitals and educated technicians; you would only expect the best health care would come in correlation. However, the United States health insurance systems prevent millions from receiving care. The US health care system lacks in coverage, quality and cost; it is a system that doesn’t believe that everyone has a right to health care, ranks low on the global standards of quality of care and pays more on health care than any other well-developed democracy. So when our government is looking for ideas to reform our health care system, why not look at the country that has been ranked the best? The World Health Organization concluded that France has the world’s best health care system.

Based on the reports by the World Health Organization and the Physicians for a National Health Program, health care costs in the United States are very high since the country spends nearly double per capita unlike other developed countries like Germany, Canada, and Britain that have universal healthcare programs. Notably, the United States healthcare system has failed to provide Americans with quality or better care services since it's a private system that includes HMOs and PPOs. Actually, even individuals and families with health care insurance still find it difficult to pay for health care services despite of having a stable income. The current healthcare system in the United States has led to the emergence of concerns on whether healthcare is a right or privilege. Furthermore, there are also concerns regarding the role of government in healthcare even as the delivery of improved care services is largely impacted by some major legal, ethical, social, and legal issues.

Virtually 50 million Americans are presently without any health insurance, and a great number of them with health insurance are struggling to pay for their medical bills. Everybody concurs that healthcare must be accessible to all citizens, but the debate on whether the United States should adopt a universal health system still rages. According to the Institute of Medicine (2002), the U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee that its citizens have health care coverage. President Obama pledged to reform the country’s healthcare system by increasing health coverage and

The United States’ health care system is spiraling out of control as the years pass. Health care costs are increasing, causing more Americans to fall into debt.1 In 2012, the cost per hospital day in the United States was over $12,000 as compared to other countries such as Australia and France, whose cost per hospital day were $1472 and $853 respectively.1 “If the United States health care system was a country, it would be the sixth largest economy on the entire planet.”1 In the comparison of health care and gas, a family of four spends roughly $21,000 on health care while only spending $3000 on gas per year.1 While the cost of health care is rising in the United States, the health of Americans is not increasing. In 2016, the life

The United States has a relatively low proportion of health insurance by public programs. There are two main health delivery models that we learned in class. One was the acute versus preventative. An acute care model focuses on treating what is the problem right now and the preventative focuses on primary preventative care. The second one is single payer versus multiple payers. This is where one source pays for all of the care. Poor Americans in the United States have worse access to care than wealthy Americans due to the coverage expansions. For individuals with private insurance, rising premiums and cost sharing have undermined wage gains and driven households into debt and even bankruptcy. Reforms are needed now more than ever to reduce the financial burdens of medical care borne by non-wealthy Americans.

It is no secret that the healthcare system currently in place in the United States is less than stellar. Prices are high and benefits are low, and this obviously makes people extremely unhappy. While everyone has access to healthcare, it doesn’t always mean that they can afford it. And what they can afford sometimes dictates the care that they will receive. Even some with health insurance are finding themselves financially strapped because they are paying sky-high prices for insurance premiums and have deductibles that they’ll never be able to meet. But, they have insurance, and that is all that seems to matter in the eyes of the United States’ government. Healthcare in the United States needs to change, and it needs to do so quickly because

From childhood, all Americans learn that “money makes the world go ‘round.” This becomes particularly evident when looking at the country’s healthcare system, and health insurance along with it.. Both focus on making money, many times at the expense of patients. The people and their government proposed universal healthcare as a solution, but the term’s meaning seems to change with every debate. At its core, universal healthcare means that all who need healthcare should get quality treatment, at a cost that will not cause them severe financial harm. America has debated universal healthcare for years; although many worry about the taxes that go along with it, the better mental health and increased life expectancy universal healthcare provides far outweigh the minimal consequences.

US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of