Here is a research paper I did on health care what do you guys think??
Health Care Reform
There are currently 46 million uninsured Americans. According to USA Today, The problem keeps getting worse. Health-care costs are rising fast as the number of those who lack insurance, pegged by the census at 46 million in 2007, is swelling (Page).
However, when you add the fact that approximately 10 million of these uninsured are actually illegal aliens or non-citizens, the number of legal citizens uninsured is about 36 million (Keegan and West). More importantly, approximately 18 million of these people without insurance earn over $50,000 a year and half of those people earn over $75,000 a year (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor). People making that kind of money should be able to afford health insurance. Therefore, roughly 18 million legal citizens making under $50,000 are currently uninsured. Additionally, 14 million people that go without insurance already qualify for government insurance and they simply have not even applied for it (Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association).
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reported that the number of uninsured was, worse than an epidemic and that 86.7 million Americans have been without insurance over the last two years (Jennifer Pifer-Bixler). For some reason many in the media do not clarify their numbers.
More than half of the people that go uninsured only do so for less than one year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Two thirds of uninsured Americans fall between the ages of 18 and 34 (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor). This age group is generally healthy and has no need for health insurance.
There are already countries around the world that have government run health care. These countries are perfect examples of why the United States Government should not become more involved in the health care industry. People come from around the world to have access to the United States health care system because its the best. The U.S. has developed half of all new major medicines introduced worldwide over the last twenty years (the CATO institute). Additionally, the U.S. only makes up five percent of the worlds population.
The average wait time in Italy for a mammogram is about 70 days (Tanner). In the UK, emergency room guidelines mandate that patients be seen in less than four hours (Martin). Four hours is far too long of a wait if someone is having a medical emergency. As a result of this mandate, thousands of patients are left outside the hospitals in an ambulance for up to five hours before being admitted to the emergency room (Martin).
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A report issued by the UK government stated that wait times for care are shorter than ever (United Kingdom Department of Health). The UK government also stated that
wait times for surgery would be reduced to just six months, (United Kingdom Department of Health). Waiting periods of six months for surgery is far from acceptable. Further, this report failed to mention that although some patients received care sooner than expected, many patients care was delayed. This resulted in an increased wait time of roughly 20 percent for most patients. Wait times for some procedures rose by more than 140 percent (Blastland and Dilnot). In Great Britain, almost 20 percent of people diagnosed with curable colon cancer were deemed incurable by the time they could receive treatment (Tanner).
Another great example of failing government run health care is in Canada. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the government must stop restricting the private sector from providing health care when the national system often fails to do so. A Canadian woman, Shona Holmes, was diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumor. The Canadian Health system was not going to be able to treat Shona in time to save her life. Luckily, Shona had access to U.S. health care:
Even with the warning from U.S. doctors in hand, Holmes said she still couldn't get in to see Canadian specialists. Because the government system is the only health care option for Canadians, she says she had no choice but to have the surgery in the U.S. (Bash and Jansen).
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Clearly other countries that have government run healthcare have their share of issues. However, the United States also has issues with sectors of healthcare that are government run. Medicare, for instance, certainly has its share of flaws. Dr. Joseph Heyman, a member of the American Medical Association, says that: Medicaid may have a robust coverage policy, but because of its hassles and inadequate payments, Medicaid patients have the least access to health care (Heyman). Nina Owcharenko, deputy director for health policy studies wrote, the program has grown to care for over 46 million Americans at an estimated cost of over $338 billion (Owcharenko). A report from the Washington Post, said the trust fund for the health insurance system for the elderly will run out of money in 2018 -- two years sooner than predicted a year ago and 12 years sooner than had been anticipated when President Bush first took office (Goldstein).
NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, is an organization that deals with government run health care in the UK. This organizations primary mission is to create a standard method of rationing, for health care (Harris). Countries around the world, with government run health care, according to Victoria Knight, watch the decisions and mimic the procedures of NICE (Knight). People in the U.S. government should not be trying to mimic other countrys government run health care systems. The U.S. is supposed to be a capitalist country with free market principles.
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Now, under the Barrack H. Obama administration, government run health care
has become a number one priority in America. According to Obama, I happen to be a
proponent of the single-payer universal-health-care plan Thats what Id like to see
(Moyers). In Obamas address to congress, he stated that under a government run plan
there would be, an option for those who dont have insurance, no one will be forced to
choose it (Obama). However, in the same speech Obama also said that under his plan,
everyone must have some form of health insurance, like auto insurance (Obama). No one in America should be forced to have health insurance. The decision to have health coverage should be up to the individual, not the government.
First, government does not need to become more involved in the health care industry than it already has. Government needs to fix what is wrong with the current system. Obama said during his address to congress that hundred of billions, are being wasted in Medicare (Obama). Obviously, removing hundreds of billions in waste from Medicare is a great area to start reform.
Second, the free market, if allowed, can fix many of the problems associated with our current health care system. Some private companies are already paving the way for
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now sells 90 day supplies of medication for $10. Now there are grocery stores that offer antibiotics for the unbeatable price of nothing (Mui). Competition between these private companies dropped the prices of prescriptions significantly.
Third, the government needs to allow insurance companies to do business across state lines. Currently, insurance companies are restricted to only doing business in states which they are licensed. If insurance companies could do business across state lines, competition among the companies would increase. Increased competition will lead to lower prices for the consumer. Henry Lipson wrote for the Chicago Tribune:
With public support draining away from a comprehensive health-care overhaul, it is time to consider modest changes such as encouraging more private competition in health insurance. This doesnt require another big-government program. It only requires junking laws that prevent health insurers from selling across state lines (Lipson).
Also, there are other measures the private sector is taking to help with health insurance. For instance, eHealthinsurance.com provides several quotes from multiple
insurance providers. This gives consumers several options and encourages competition between insurance providers. Another online health care tool is
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The United States is currently about $12 trillion in debt. The recent legislation for health reform, according to the non partisan Congressional Budget Office, would cost
$849 billion over ten years (Whitesides and Smith). At what point does the U.S. government decide that the countries debt is too high?
http://images.creditwritedowns.com/2008/10/debt-to-gdp.png
Fig. 1. shows the national debts progression over the last 56 years (Harrison).
The U.S. health care system certainly has its share of flaws. However, many of these flaws are the result of government run health care. Increasing the role of the United States government is not the solution to this countrys health care problems, government involvement is often the cause for the United States health care problems.
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