Health Care as a Government Necessity and Valuable Commodity

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Health Care as a Government Necessity and Valuable Commodity

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Health Care as a Government Necessity and Valuable Commodity

Although Americans spend more on medicine than any nation on earth, there are an estimated 50 million people in the country with no health insurance at all. Many of those who have jobs cannot afford coverage, and even those with standard policies often find it does not cover commonplace procedures. California’s unemployed citizens, who rely on Medicaid, had dental care scraped from the policy. The health care reform debate in the United States focuses upon decreasing cost and burden of healthcare. For those without health insurance, the costs are too high. 20 percent of America’s gross domestic product is spent on health care. That is quite a significant number, compared to any other country.

No health insurance company owned by the government covers all Americans. Those without insurance cover in 2007 totaled 15.3 percent of the population, or 45.7 million people. The government directly covers 27.8% of the people, around 83 million. Some who do not qualify for government-provided health insurance. Their employer does not provide insurance, and they cannot afford it themselves. If charity care is not available, then they are not treated. The country has the most expensive health care system, yet millions cannot afford the well-needed service. Two in five American adults without health insurance end up going untreated. Some of them have special health issues that need constant treatment.

In the last eight years, insurance premiums have escalated. A recent finding showed that medical bills caused most bankruptcies. Doctors administer too many tests on patients, afraid of missing anything for they might be charged with malpractice. This puts a dent on the pocket of the patient. Emergency rooms take more than they can handle. By 2015, the National Coalition on Health Care project that healthcare spending might double to $4 trillion per year, 20% of the nation’s budget

The money in one’s pocket does not guarantees good and accessible medical care, but rather the health insurance. This also depends on a good job with health benefits. The elderly, the poor and their children have health insurance provided for by the government, but the policies still have loopholes. Cost, access and quality are the major keywords of the healthcare system. Access to medical care is determined by cost and specific aspects of that person’s rank in the society.

It is undisputable that for an economy to flourish in a certain country, the working class must be healthy. It becomes hard to compete with countries that have affordable healthcare when almost half the population falls sick and cannot get proper treatment. Firms protect their profit margin by getting rid of people with costly medical issues, such as cancer and heart diseases. They even hike rates to avoid providing coverage. Some small firms do not offer this; hence, people tend to look for jobs that do, most of them being in the private sector.

Rates of uninsured citizens are high among young adults, children, African Americans, Hispanics, the poor and middle-income families. Without the service, people are prone to injury, poor health and ultimately, death. Even in the private sector, exceptions are made on what conditions to access insurance. Mental illness is one of those. This is a crucial issue since this condition is common in the United States. Good health care is therefore only accessed by the well off, sane American.

Reference

Harrington, C. (2004). Health policy: Crisis and reform in the U.S. health care delivery system. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Jacobs, L. R., & Skocpol, T. (2012). Health care reform and American politics: What everyone needs to know. New York: Oxford University Press

Kronenfeld, J. J., & Kronenfeld, M. R. (2004). Healthcare reform in America: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO