The United States Public Policy

The New York Times printed an article by Robert Pear, which reported that on December 24, 2009, the US senate passed the first bill, which would call for major reform regarding health care in the United States (Pear). The article titled “Senate Passes Health Care Overhaul on Party-Line Vote,” discusses the fact that while this step was a major milestone in the process of providing Americans with affordable heath care, it was not the end of the road. Over the coming months and years there would be a lot of give and take between democrats and republicans to revise the bill to the point where both sides could support it. One of the major points in this reform is that the US government was now going to offer affordable plans including subsidy options which would allow more Americans affordable options which were

Universal health care coverage is a dream that the majority of Americans have had for many decades. It seemed that the dream could become a reality with a major effort under the Clinton administration in the mid 1990’s. This effort was spearheaded by the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, and would have established a universal health care system for the entire nation. Unfortunately, after years of work, the effort ended in failure due to trying to modernize and finance universal health care at the same time (Rodwin, 2003). When the current President, Barack Obama, campaigned in 2008, one of his cornerstone promises was to develop a healthcare system that would assure affordable healthcare for all Americans through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care. With only a slight majority of democrats in the Senate and a large majority of Republicans in the House, this would prove to be an uphill battle (Moore, 2014).

Long before the 1990s when Ms. Clinton fought for a Universal Healthcare system in America, the issue of America’s healthcare had been a political quandary. The enactment of the Republican administration’s Health Management Organization Act of 1973 was a weapon meant to address that crisis, yet, it did little to fix the problem. While the liberal Democrats are fighting for Universal Healthcare coverage for all Americans, the conservative Republicans are fighting to maintain the current private health insurance, however, with some revamping of the system, which preserves the capitalistic element of the status quo. The reason for the two opposing views stems from their differences in political ideologies, which theoretically is like pitting socialism against capitalism. While the liberal Democrats’ endorsement of Universal Healthcare system is socialistic in practice, the conservative Republicans’ fight to retain the private or market based plan is unarguably in support of their pro-capitalism stance. The truth, however, is that, though almost every American believes in capitalism, yet, almost none would vote to disband the Medicare and the Medicaid programs, both of which are socialistic. In that light, the argument of a pro-capitalist nation is negated, as we do already have a socialized healthcare program for the seniors and the poor. Extending that concept to include

This paper will endeavor to examine The Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. Initially the paper will explore the first try at a single payer system in the United States by President Bill Clinton and swiftly move to the contemporary system of the Affordable Care Act, with some interesting data that supports the policy, explore how hospitals and families are impacted as well. People deceive, data does not lie.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare is a healthcare reform law that is intended to reform the health care system by providing Americans with affordable quality health insurance by controlling the growth in healthcare spending. Some critics of the Affordable Care Act say the ACA has not provided universal coverage, and one way to fix this is to adopt a “single-payer system.” I agree with these critics on the counts of the Single Payer System being a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Doctors and patients regaining healthcare freedom, the accessibility of full coverage, and with financial benefits, the Single Payer System should be adopted by America today.

Besides the general purpose of providing healthcare to all, the idea of government healthcare is that there is a single-payer as opposed to multiple insurance companies as well as government payers. All citizens are considered insured and only charged based on each individual’s “ability to pay” (MacDonald, 2013). This insurance would be paid for by the single-payer, the government, though the taxation of its citizens. Examples of this type of system can be seen in countries such as Canada and Sweden, as well as our own Department of Veterans Affairs ' VA health system. The idea of a nation-wide single-payer system has remained fairly popular in the United States due to the popularity and acceptance of the government’s Medicare program. In MacDonald’s article, “Healthcare reform: Socialized medicine?”, he quotes Deborah Chollet, a senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C.: "No matter where you move in the country, you keep your Medicare," she says. "It allows you to go to any doctor or hospital you choose, and it 's not wildly expensive given the relatively expensive population it serves." (2013) Opinions such as these are what is fueling the desire of U.S. citizens to evolve our multi-payer system into a universal single-payer system. This would eliminate competing private insurance plans and exclusion of patients from coverage due to their existing health status (Kemble, 2012). Overall, a single-payer system appears to be a more equal, streamline

Around the world, people often look at the United States for the boundless opportunities afforded to its citizens. However, one thing most of them cannot wrap their heads around is the idea that a person can accrue crippling debt should they become sick. Debate still continues on whether or not single payer healthcare is a viable option for the United States. In the current political climate, arguments for either side turn into a division between ideologies or parties rather than an objective comparison of the options. It is important to discover which system might be best suited, or at the very least, the advantages and disadvantages of each. Much of the data shows that a single payer option could potentially save money and allow more Americans access to healthcare, but do these anticipated advantages outweigh the costs?

Single-payer health care would also improve the ease with which people receive competent health care. A single-payer health care system with a streamlined means of receiving and paying for medical care would save valuable time and money as compared to our current health care system, which is bogged down in a morass of complex and varying insurance forms by indifferent insurance companies. The complexity could lead one to think the insurance companies would be more than happy to simply not make payments after their customers have received the required care. The administrative cost of dealing with so many varied insurance companies alone is exorbitant, “$82,975 per physician per year spent in the United States”(Morra et al. n. pag). Nearly

Since the 1880s, health care advocates have worked to secure universal health care access for all Americans. Each effort was defeated by the lack of support from the working-class or opposition from conservatives, the insurance industry, physicians, and business. From 2000 to 2010, the number of uninsured people increased and the reasons for this increase are a combination of factors. Spiraling health care costs, decreasing number of employers offering health insurance, increasing employee contributions, being unemployed, or choosing to go without insurance contributed to this trend (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015-a). Obama campaigned in 2008 stating that the country needed health care reform and that the cost of health care was a threat to our economy. After winning the presidency, he

Without a doubt, universal healthcare is one of the numerous issues that was discussed intensely in the 2012 elections that will continue to be debated into the future. While President Obama passed his compelling piece of legislation in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, there was an undeniable polarization within the American people which ensued. Regardless, even with all of the potential economic ramifications that may arise from new health care policies, it is formidable legislation the United States should continue to uphold and support.

In this article released on 24th September 2017, the author shows that Bernie Sanders has worked extra hard to fight for reform for the Medicare Bill. He opts for a single-payer system that will scrap the multiple medical insurers and paralyze the ACA. Sanders argues that such a shift will be a perfect fit for managing healthcare organizations in America. He is confident that the technique stands to be more durable and fruitful because it focuses on the overall well-being of all patients. Based on recent reports, the proposition has gained 5% more supporters since January this year making a total of 35% of the American Public (Galea, 2017). It is from this idea that Colleen M. Flood and Allan Rock writes to outline five main

Most liberals and members of the democratic party, as well as many physicians, agree that the U.S. should adopt universal health care, also known as a single-payer system. They argue that the constitution grants this right, as the purpose of the document is to “promote the general welfare” of the nation, and the right to health care falls under that. Not only would a single-payer plan decrease unemployment, but could save lives. The lack of insurance is associated with 44,789 deaths per year in the US. Lastly, health care reform could lower the cost of health care. The UK, a nation that has adopted a universal health care, pays 41.5% of what the U.S. pays for health care, per capita. It appears that the obvious path would be to follow the European

U.S. health care reform is currently one of the most heavily discussed topics in health discourse and politics. After former President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform in the mid-1990s, the Bush administration showed no serious efforts at achieving universal health coverage for the millions of uninsured Americans. With Barack Obama as the current U.S. President, health care reform is once again a top priority. President Obama has made a promise to “provide affordable, comprehensive, and portable health coverage for all Americans…” by the end of his first term (Barackobama.com). The heated debate between the two major political parties over health care reform revolves around how to pay for it and more importantly, whether it

The yearly expense of a family health plan is approximately $16,351, a figure that to the majority of families in the United States is unaffordable (Kamrany, 2014). “In a single-payer system, a public entity, such as the government, would pay all the medical bills for a certain population, rather than insurance companies doing that work” (“Doctors Warm to Single-Payer Health Care”, 2017). The United States federal government should provide health care to all its citizens with a single payer system, giving doctors and patients autonomy eliminating the exaggerated expensive costs and cover all Americans for medically necessary services.

The United States, a global powerhouse of military and economic strength has fallen far behind other nations in an unexpected area, healthcare. In a report published in 2000, the World Health Organization rated the United States as number 37 in the world when it comes to effective and affordable healthcare. Since this report, many politicians’ agendas have primarily focused on improving the current healthcare system. One of the key initiatives of Bill Clinton’s presidency was a push for what was known as Medicaid for all. This would be a single payer healthcare system run by the government that would streamline the current disordered