Preview

Universal Health Care

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1085 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Universal Health Care
As we have seen over the years, there are many things wrong with our current healthcare system in America. There are numerous people in the country who are suffering but have no way of getting treatment because they have no insurance. The idea of having affordable healthcare coverage available can be one less thing that is a moment of stress for American citizens. The stress of having an illness is very real for Americans. Many people are in a constant struggle between figuring out how to pay for a procedure that is needed for themselves or another family member versus paying rent or a mortgage. The constant feeling of having to decide between one’s life and the condition of one’s family’s lifestyle is an overwhelming reality for many.
When many look at moving to a universal healthcare plan, there are many questions that make people anxious. They question what people will be eligible for the plan. How will it affect those carry insurance from the private sector? Thirdly, people want to know the financial impact that this plan will have on our economy.
In 2008 when President Barack Obama was elected for president, one of his most important issues was transforming our current health care program. Under the Affordable Health Care Act, legal residents of the U.S. who are not covered by either Medicare or an employer-provided insurance that is purchased through the Affordable Health Care Act. This endeavor was and is still being met with great opposition. Many employers will have two options in order to be in compliance. All U.S. employers would be expected to either provide health coverage for their employees equal in quality to Health Care for America or pay a modest payroll-based tax to support Health Care for America and help their employees buy their own coverage (Longley, 2009).
While President Obama is often credited with pushing the Affordable Health Care bill, there are numerous others that helped it become law. A major factor in health care

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    HCA 305 Final Paper

    • 2396 Words
    • 7 Pages

    American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can 't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs.)…

    • 2396 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The pivotal and principal purpose of healthcare systems is achieving, maintaining and improving health (1, 2) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) acts as a platform for a healthcare system in order to reach the intended health goals (1, 3). UHC is defined as providing the best quality healthcare services to all people to meet their healthcare needs without imposing financial problems (3-7). It focuses on three axes (population coverage, health services coverage and financial coverage) and guarantees population health by emphasizing on quality dimension (3, 4, 8-13). Universal health coverage policy improves financial risk protection and provides more access to quality essential health-care services for all people (14, 15).…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For the past decades, politicians and insurance companies could carelessly proclaim that the United States had the best healthcare system in the world, but as its major deficiencies have become more apparent many people have found it harder to accept this claim. It is reported that around 59 million Americans are without health insurance and are aware that our health care system does not work for everyone. This has caused a growing recognition that the major problems of rising costs and lack of access constitute a real crisis. However, the search solutions have not been easy or clear cut. The problems of our health care system have been responded to with various makeshift solutions rather than analyzing the system itself as a whole to take…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Health care reform in the United States is a hot topic and the source of legislation meant to make health care obtainable to Americans. Recent presidential elections have been platforms used to promote health care reform yet no one can agree on what the resolution will be. This paper will discuss ways recent health care reform measures have expanded or inhibited access to health care. This paper will discuss how changes to access may lead to influences in utilization. Concepts of what universal health care may be and how current care reflects or contrasts with this will be discussed. In addition, this paper will describe a personal experience with health care expansion either negative or positive.…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    For some time now, Americans have been wanting to switch to a universal health care system. A healthcare system where all Americans will have access to the proper health care that is affordable and fits their needs. Some solutions that can be implemented are replacing for-profit insurance companies, reforming the health care system, and hiring insurance companies that have slow cost growths. These are excellent solutions because there are a substantial number of Americans who do not have health insurance and desperately need it. However, we should not put a national health care system into effect because our current health care system is in a corrupt state and has to be addressed before we can move forward.…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Successful health reform must not just make health insurance affordable, affordable health insurance has to make health care affordable” (Elizabeth Edwards). Universal health care is one of the primary goals the United States wants for all Americans. The fight for universal health care dates back to 1993 when Bill Clinton suggested a reform bill for employers to provide health insurance, but the Senate rejected it and proposed individuals instead of employees to buy insurance. This specific proposal prompted the government with the necessity to create a health care reform. To give all of the nation’s residents basic health insurance, The Affordable Care Act was passed also known as Obamacare in 2010.…

    • 1829 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Healthcare has been a long debated topic in the United States. Currently, about 44 million Americans are uninsured, while another 38 million more report being under insured. When ObamaCare came into effect in 2010 many people, who previously weren’t able to have health care, now had access to health insurance. ObamaCare helped lower the costs of care. Although this helped many citizens in America, people still argue that a universal health care policy would be much better for the country. A universal option (Canada, for example) would cover all citizens and improve overall public health. I believe a universal system would be much better for America for many reasons: it would improve the workforce greatly,…

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Thirty-two of the thirty-three largest developed countries have some form of universal healthcare coverage”; we are the exception (www.who.int/en/). The United States healthcare costs are the highest of all developed nations, as well as the highest death rate for people who are uninsured. Healthcare has always been a for profit industry in America. The industry has maintained record profits each year while more people face financial ruin because of their healthcare costs. Healthcare costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, and there continues to be many families on the verge of filing. Healthcare costs cannot be managed by middle/lower class individuals in the United States. The private market has failed to provide affordable access as well as quality of care; Universal Healthcare will provide preventable care, access without having to pay, and peace of mind to American citizens. We currently offer two federal/state programs to help those who need healthcare coverage: Medicare, for those sixty-five years of age and above, and Medicaid for low income people/families. Both of these programs cover medical costs, but they do not cover all medical costs or preventable care. Our country needs to eliminate these two programs and…

    • 2112 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Medicare and Medicaid

    • 3491 Words
    • 14 Pages

    There is no doubt that the health insurance landscape of today’s society is drastically different than what our grandparents experienced decades ago. With health insurance reforms and the growth of a health insurance marketplace, the government hopes to ensure health coverage for more Americans than ever before. The health insurance paradigm has shifted from a privilege to a basic right, but it has not come without immense debate, discussions over the quality of care and its rising costs. The new reform proposed by the Obama administration to insure every American has sparked…

    • 3491 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Universal healthcare in my opinion is the most important discussion we’ve had in this class up to this point. I say this because it is a current affair that will reshape and redefine our country socially and economically. While the idea of universal healthcare looks phenomenal on paper there has been no data to prove that this proposed system will work efficiently anywhere but on paper. I am against the idea of universal or government run healthcare and I will cite reasons why I feel like this reform will ultimately fail us. That being said I feel like I should also say that I am not against the notion of helping the needy I just feel like we haven’t had any reform proposed that I agree with. If such a reform were proposed I would argue to help the needy, but until we have a viable, transparent plan we will sacrifice our domestic care and the care the global community has come to expect from America.…

    • 1315 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Universal healthcare would provide insurance to everyone. It does not matter where someone is employed, whether they are a doctor or even someone who works at a fast food restaurant. Morales, a 25 year old man was a victim of health insurance. He talks about how he was in the hospital for two days and had a $1,300 bill. If Morales pays for health insurance, then he will not have a place to live. He has three children and does not have the money for health insurance. The income level of that specific person should not determine if they get health insurance or not. Finding a job with the benefits people need can be quite challenging. Universal healthcare would resolve this problem in a flash. People looking for employment would not have to worry about finding a job that has health benefits because they would already have the benefits. Also, in and out networks would bring plenty of benefits. The doctors would not be as limited. If the doctor that a certain patient goes to is a part of their insurance company’s network, they will get lower prices. With universal healthcare, everyone would have this opportunity. In 2006, Massachusetts passed a healthcare law reform. The law mandated that almost all residents in Massachusetts have at least some insurance. Since the law was passed, the rate of uninsured Massachusetts individuals has gone from a six percent to…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Universal Health Coverage

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It is no secret that there is much controversy surrounding the health care system in the United States (US). The hybrid public-private nature of the system has resulted in many inequalities for users. These inequalities include access to primary and preventative health care, access to affordable health care and the uneven outcomes of health care interventions. Even more challenging is the lack of agreement of government and policy makers on how to address these difficulties. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted in 2010 with a key goal of expanding the accessibility of healthcare coverage to more people in the US. While the PPACA reshapes the landscape of…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Over 600,000 people in the United states every year are forced to file for bankruptcy due to medical bills. The United states has the most expensive health-care system in the world. The expense per-capita in the U.S. is extremely high and unprecedented in the western world (Health Expenditure per Capita). Most first world nations have some form of universal Health Care. Universal Healthcare is a broad term that just means that every citizen can have access to healthcare. This doesn't necessarily mean that healthcare will be free for everyone, but that the government or any healthcare company can not deny healthcare to anyone. Many nations achieve these through differing means such as, Single-Payer systems, such as those in the United Kingdom…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    ACA paper

    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Health care is the world’s most expensive system and is believed to be the world’s biggest problem. The United States rates 37th in the world in health care while other industrialized countries spend much less money on health care and have better ratings. (Frontline, Sick Around American) For many years US presidents have failed in passing national health insurance but on March 23, 2010, “President Obama signed into law the first US comprehensive health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). (Connors 2010, p. 2521) Currently there are 46 million people uninsured which is 16 percent of Americans. This is due to lack of coverage, limits on catastrophic expenses, and exclusions for pre-existing conditions, gaps in Medicare and insurance deductibles and co-payments. (Halfmann, Lecture Notes, 4/9/13) To help improve conditions, “The PPACA is expected to expand health insurance coverage to 32 million individuals by 2019 through a variety of measures.” These measures will consist of: individual purchase mandate, Medicaid, health insurance exchanges and eliminating coverage barriers. (Connor 2010, p. 2521) By 2014, most individuals will be required to have health insurance. Medicaid will be expanded to individuals with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. States will be required to launch Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Operations Program Exchanges. Finally, the PPACA allows for people with preexisting medical conditions to no longer be denied coverage and young adults will be able to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26. (Connor 2010, p. 2521)…

    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In his speeches, Obama has promised Americans that they will be able to keep their existing health-care coverage but the proposed bills tell a different story. Both bills necessitate that Americans buy approved plans that have a number of universal benefits or face penalties. Even with a five year grace period given to big employers to convert to the new plans, there will be no options if the bills are passed. Choosing what benefits are included in one’s health-care plan often times saves money that could put food on the table for a struggling family. Several states have already imposed a list of required benefits for health-care plans; everyone from “chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors” competes to be included on lists of required benefits (Tully). This competition is one reason health-care costs continue to…

    • 2189 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays