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The Unhealthy Costs of Health Care: Analyzing Health Insurance in America In 2001, 41. 2 million people in the United States had no health insurance coverage, and by 2004 that number rose to 45 million, which is 15. 6 percent of our population. Therefore, its no surprise that healthcare costs are the leading causes of bankruptcy in the United States (Access to Health Insurance). Not only are those in poverty struggling to pay for medical bills, but even the middle class families make up a large proportion of those declaring bankruptcy due to the high costs of health insurance. Many families in the United States today, sadly have to choose between healthcare coverage, housing, and basic human needs. The lack of health insurance is undeniably one of the main problems for Americans today. Its shocking to know that many uninsured as well as insured Americans have already started making sacrifices, such as skipping medications or medical treatments, due to the rising costs of healthcare in the United States.
According to the USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard poll, 28 percent of adults were unable to pay for their medical care in the past year and 62 percent of those struggling to pay medical bills already have health insurance. Thats an understatement considering how rising premiums, deductibles, and gaps in coverage are affecting so many families in America today. Healthcare premiums have risen on average of $ 1, 000 in the past five years, and they keep rising (Appleby). Price increases such as these are causing millions of Americans financial and medical problems. Therefore, many of them remain uninsured and often use hospital emergency rooms as substitutes for regular doctor visits.
The lack of access to preventive health care and regular doctor visits, leads to more medical problems and can force a person even further into poverty (Background on Healthcare). Most Americans depend on employer-provided medical insurance plans for their healthcare coverage. However, over the past few years employers have had to cut medical benefits due to the mounting costs and the poor economy. Statistics show that the percentage of uninsured workers in the United States has risen from 19. 5 percent to 20. 2 in 2003. This leaves many workers to pay for their own insurance through a private healthcare insurer whose costs have risen 13. 9 percent in the past year (Background on Healthcare).
Consequently, not only are countless of Americans losing their employee health benefits, they are also paying more for their medical insurance. Unemployed and part-time Americans who make less money or have no income at all are suffering the worst. Seeing as employer health coverage is mainly offered to those who work full-time, it leaves many people in the United States no choice but to maintain a full-time job. The United States does offer a few programs to aid Americans, two of which are Medicaid and Medicare. Medicaid is designed to help low-income Americans obtain free healthcare coverage. However, there are many requirements in order to be eligible for the program.
The eligibility is determined by each state and includes: age, pregnancy, race, legal citizenship, disabilities, etc (Medical Information). Hence, there is help out there for some, but many who still cannot afford healthcare do not apply for Medicaid. Since the number of Americans unable to pay for medical insurance has risen, the number of people covered by Medicaid has also gone up from 35. 6 million to 37. 5 million people in 2004 (US Census). This in the end causes the government to lose more money, and if healthcare was affordable, the number of Americans on Medicaid would drastically decrease (Background on Healthcare).
In 2006, both the House and Senate proposed a budget cut of $ 20 billion to the Medicaid program over the next five years. This cut would have caused the amount of already uninsured American to increase. Thankfully the proposed budget was not passed due to the Smith/Bingaman amendment, which was the first victory in the struggle to protect the Medicaid program (Access to Health Insurance). Medicare on the other hand, is another program designed to assist those who are over 65, disabled, or have permanent kidney failure. It includes two parts, Part A and Part B. Part A consists of hospital insurance and Part B includes Medical insurance.
However, they do not cover the costs of prescription drugs in most cases, and consist of many out of pocket costs as well (Medicare Information). The monthly premiums have also increase 71 percent since 2000 (Appleby). Another major problem with our healthcare system in the United States is the unequal rank of minorities and immigrants. The disparities in the system significantly affect a number of people in the United States. Minorities in America face the greatest risk for health problems, yet they are the part of the population that has the lowest percentage of healthcare coverage (Background on Healthcare). Access to medical care is directly related to race and income, therefore minorities have poorer health than the Majority in America (Battista).
A survey done by the Urban Institute found that In 2002, approximately 570, 000 children were both uninsured and in either fair or poor health. More than two-thirds of the uninsured children were Hispanic, yet Hispanic children accounted for less than one-fifth of all children in the United States (Battista). The health benefits in the United States are clearly not equal. In reality, legal immigrants in America who arrived after 1996 are not eligible for Medicaid (Gold). Immigrants who make up more than one in ten United States residents face countless barriers to obtain health care, such as poverty, language and cultural differences and, often, resentment.
This practice towards immigrants and minorities in the United States is unjust and wrong, the system of healthcare in America needs to make many changes in order to provide everyone with full health care services. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to healthcare as a right of citizenship. A universal healthcare system in America could eliminate many problems of the healthcare community and provide affordable, high quality healthcare to everyone. It would also save the government money; currently the United States spends 40 percent more per capita on healthcare than any other industrialized country with universal healthcare.
So why has the government not developed a better health insurance strategy? Many conservative politicians and large businesses object to the government control of healthcare and medicine because they do not want to experience a loss of revenue. While, health corporations are making a profit and using 20 to 30 percent of it on administration the Medicare program only spends 3 percent (Battista). In turn, more money is going to the upper level employees in the business and less to the actual healthcare industry. If healthcare was made universal and nonprofit it would benefit the majority of Americans.
Currently, the satisfaction level of United States health care is lower than any other industrialized nation. The United States is one of the lowest ranked industrialized nations in medical care, even though we have the best medical infrastructure of any nation. Quality of healthcare in this nation has been sacrificed in order for big business to make more money. People in the United States should no longer have to jeopardize their health because they cannot afford the medical care that is necessary. In America, quality should no longer be compromised so that corporations can make a profit; healthcare should not be a service that we have to shop for, but rather universal and affordable
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