Healthcare Policy in America
Table of Contents
In the year 2010, the Obama administration and the 111th United State congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a step towards revolutionizing health care in America. Obama care, as the act is popularly known , has been largely criticized with the American citizens. Many citizens think that as much as the law is a positive step, the healthcare insurance is not what it used to be since it became a profit making industry. As a matter-of-fact, the ruling made by the Supreme Court to uphold President Barrack Obama’s health care legislation was reached by the jury casting a vote, with a very narrow 5-4 majority deciding that it was not unconstitutional for the government to tax people who did not own a health insurance policy.
In reviewing the advantages and disadvantage, making healthcare insurance mandatory in America is not the best for all American citizens.
Health care insurance has been around from the early 1900s, it was developed in order to help the sick who had financial problems. It, however, grew into something totally different from what it was meant to be and to this day and time it still has not changed. It was the same with that of Canada but the two have since evolved into totally different outcomes with Canada’s system being the envy of many including America.
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Pros
- Cost
- A peace of mind is one advantage of owning a Healthcare policy. In these tough financial times, it is hard to know from where money for emergencies like sicknesses will come owning a policy will ensure that you do not bear the cost of Medicare alone.
- Quality
- You can also get the best quality medical care you wish for although this depends on the policy you have bought. It is possible for you to access the type of healthcare that you could not afford had you been bearing the cost all on your own.
- Some policies also seek to improve the quality of your life by providing such programs as gym sessions.
- Access
- Some plans, like the HMO’s, offer a network of providers as one of the benefits to be enjoyed by the insured. This provides access to a diverse network of physicists and healthcare centers which will suit the needs of the insured without producing any extra money from their pocket.
These however are outweighed by the disadvantages of buying a policy.
Cons
- Cost
- Quality
- Access
- The cost of premium paid for the same policy differs with the less healthy, the poor and elderly paying a higher premium than their counterparts. This does not serve the purpose since it is the people discriminated against who are supposed to benefit from the insurance policies.
- Some money is also required from you before any medical attention is provided.
- The policy covers only the insured risk anything more for example an operation will need money from the sick person’s own pocket.
- The policy you buy will determine the quality of medical attention you will receive.
- This is also affected by the privatization of the medical insurance industry which has profit on its main objective.
- Most insurance companies work with cheap, unqualified quacks who will in turn charge a low amount to the insurance companies thus cutting down the latter’s expenses.
- There are certain insurance laws that make it impossible to access your rightful claims. For example, if you are struck by a major illness during the first 18 months of buying your policy and you make a claim, it may not be honored. This is the same case if your current illness has been caused by a pre-existing condition. These requirements do not favor the people it is supposed to look out for.
Global Implications
- Immigrant policies
- National health insurance
- Many immigrants do not consider buying health care policies as benefiting. According to cis.org 28.7% of immigrants who came to the US in the eighties did not have a policy in 2007.
- This is mostly attributed to low or complete lack of education among them. Lack of education means no jobs and thus no money for regular premium payment.
- The cultures of some of the immigrants also do not encourage such like commitments.
- One of the biggest problems that come with national health insurance is dealing with the cost. Implementing this successfully will need the wealthy and middle class to subsidize the costs for the low-income earners, and this will be done through taxation. Thus, there will be higher taxes paid for national health care.
- With high taxes, the government will be forced to take on debts in order to fund the standard of healthcare which it thinks its citizens deserve and which will eventually be recalled and may lead to tax increases so that the interest required for the loan may be paid back fully.
- Large amount of debt might lead to the government printing more money to pay them off and, consequently, inflation and an increase in costs of health care in the United States.
- This means that as much as people would like to remain off the responsibility for that, the National Health Insurance might not let it happen.
Position
The ruling made by the Supreme Court to uphold President Barrack Obama’s health care legislation – The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – was reached by the jury casting a vote, and a very narrow 5-4 majority deciding that it was not unconstitutional for the government to tax people who did not own a health insurance. Many American citizens – most of who are supposed to be looked after by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – are of the opinion that it should not be made mandatory since a person’s health is their own concern.
It is clear the disadvantages of owning an insurance policy outweigh the advantages of the same and thus making it mandatory for the American citizens to own a policy will not be favor everybody, even the minority have a right to be considered in the making of such decisions.
Conclusion
It is important to heed the voices of everyone including the minority; democracy is the way for the US to go in order to achieve the quality of medical healthcare it has always been yearning for. Making it mandatory for ownership of policies is not the best way to go.