The Debate of Us Health Care System
The Debate of U.S Health Care System
The cost of health care in the U.S is considered the highest in the world today. While excellent medical care is available in the United States, health care economics and the service delivery system present many challenges for the consumer and practitioner alike. The lack of insurance for so many citizens is a national problem that thus far has become a comprehensive solution. As a wealthy society, the truth that we invest more in health care than in subsistence goods is a measure of the value we place on high technology and specialized health service. It’s impossible to think that there are a large number of people out there who don’t have access to health care or suffer to pay for it. Therefore, it is important to take a careful look at the healthcare system in the US in order to have an in depth knowledge about it. That way we can help to man some effective changes and improve the health care system.
It is hard to overstate the intense political and media attention given to health care nowadays. In many communities, health care is either the largest or at least a substantial employer, and rising employee health care costs are a major concern of individual families and employers alike. With the expansion of health care as a major enterprise, it is not surprising that the American political community is deeply focused on health care. For a generation, the political debate over health reform has been a dominant domestic political issue. There are approximately 45 million uninsured Americans. And this number is surely not small. (Hussaini). In a research article about health care system in the U.S, Chernichovsky and Leibowitz indicated that compared with other developed countries, the United States has an inefficient and expensive health care system with poor outcomes and many citizens who are denied access. Inefficiency is increased by the lack of an integrated system that could promote an optimal mix of personal medical care and population health measures. The article stated that a health trust system is to provide core medical benefits to every American, while improving efficiency and reducing redundancy. (Chernichovsky & Leibowitz). It would be reasonable to assume that the economic and political capital expended on health care would yield significant health benefits. However, evidence does not support this conclusion. Americans’ health status is poor compared with citizens of countries with similar levels of economic development. Among the thirty member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States ranks twenty-eighth in infant mortality (6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births) and twenty-third in life expectancy at birth (78.1 years for both sexes) behind countries with half the income and half the health care expenditures per capital. (Chernichovsky & Leibowitz).