The Need for Healthcare Reform in AmericaJoin now to read essay The Need for Healthcare Reform in AmericaThe healthcare model in the United States is deeply flawed with spiraling costs, rising numbers of uninsured citizens, limitations on the plans of those with insurance coverage, and deficiencies of the government sponsored health plans. According to a Commonwealth Fund survey in 2004, the American people have a more negative view of their healthcare system than their counterparts in the other industrialized nations with a third of Americans insisting on a restructuring of the system. Looking at the numerous issues that plague the current system, the best option to meet the immense need and widespread desire for accessible quality is a single payer, or socialized, healthcare model. While every other industrial nation, such as Denmark, Japan, Germany, Australia, and Norway, have a national system of universal coverage, the United States allows many to go uninsured and divides the right to healthcare from everyone to those who can afford it. The statistical data demonstrates the discrepancy in healthcare among those of different social-economic classes, proving an ever widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, and exposing just how flawed the American healthcare system is.
Americas healthcare history is punctuated with milestones in an effort to either expand or modify the system. Beginning in the first part of the 20th century, there was discussions about bringing health care to the average American. It wasnt until the Roosevelt Administration that there was a serious push towards health insurance with President Roosevelt requesting an “economic bill of rights” from the Congress that included a right to adequate medical care. In the 1950s, hospital care doubles and President Truman suggested a single system national health program that would have included everyone in American society. This was the first serious attempt at universal care, and like successive attempts, was defeated and denounced by the American Medical Association (AMA) and labeled by a House of Representatives subcommittee as a Communist plot. In 1965, Congresss amendment of the Social Security Act and the formation of Medicare and Medicaid was signed into law by President Johnson and thus the current system of federal healthcare was established.
Medicare is a national health insurance program that provides a basic program of hospital insurance and aids in paying healthcare bills with a supplementary assistance program for persons over the age of 65 and those disabled for more than two years. Medicaid, while also a national health insurance program, is administered by the individual states, and while specific coverage and benefits vary from state to state, it is meant to provide services for the “categorically needy”, such as the blind, aged, or disabled. Medicaid is intended to bridge the gap for those with huge medical costs and that are not old enough to qualify for Medicare. However there are several restrictions on who qualifies and is not offered to everyone who is poor and unable to afford medical care. Medicaid completely excludes poor men and women without children and only covers a woman while pregnant, not before conception or after delivery. In 1994, less than half of all non-elderly people living under the federal poverty standard qualify in their states for the program.
Medicaid, which is state funded, does provide for medication while Medicare, which is federally funded, leaves a gap of three thousand dollars that many elderly and the disabled are able to afford. Medicare covers 75% of the first $2,250 in drug costs and then drops to zero only to resume at an expenditure amount of $5,100, where is pays 95%. Compounded by the problem of increasing drug costs that are several times faster than inflation at nearly 10% and that the elderly population on average is taking seven medications per individual and it becomes clear how nearly seven million seniors can fall in the crack of uncovered prescription drugs.
Age, economic, and gender exclusions of the established government healthcare programs require the remainder of the citizens in America to look to private organizations to provide their healthcare. After World War II, in an effort to attract employees, funded health insurance plans become a part of the employees benefit package. However, not all those employed are covered. Over a third of workers earning less than $30,000 a year are covered under employer provided health insurance plans, while over 60% of those earning more than $30,000 are covered. Today, because of increased health costs, those plans rarely amount to full coverage, and have restrictions on coverage which has lead to the advent of managed care programs. In an effort to maintain profits for their shareholders, private insurance companies have to deny care for medical services they find unnecessary. This has lead to litigation with lawsuits awarded to plaintiffs in the
Health Insurance Act
industry and lawsuits filed by former workers in the
Health Insurance Act. These lawsuits brought after the enactment of Health Care Act by President Eisenhower, the
Healthcare Act established what amounted to the health reforms of the 1960’s.
The Health Care Act is a bill implemented from 1968 through 2012 through an Act to amend the Affordable Care Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Public Health Service Act to increase the public health insurance system. The legislation creates a single payment system in which insurance companies have incentive to provide coverage based on a specific value rating.[1] Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers receive full benefits under the plan, but they are not subject to the HealthCare-defined cost standard. The goal is to reduce, or otherwise change, the cost of care by allowing covered health care consumers the opportunity to negotiate or choose whether to choose to reduce their costs, or to refuse coverage or opt out of a plan if they suspect that they may become ill. The idea was to increase the amount of coverage that would be available to individuals for certain policies or health care for those that require insurance.[2] Under federal law, individual consumers may have individualized plan benefits through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. In addition, if a corporation receives government reimbursement for the cost of its corporate health care programs, corporations are allowed to determine whether or not to issue its employer-sponsored health care plan. Under this new type of health care plan, the consumer or employer may choose to provide coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which requires the purchase or renewal of health care plans.[4] In accordance with certain of the Medicare programs, individuals may also choose not to purchase the health care plan through a new benefit plan.[5] In a public health state, public health insurers may offer plans based on income under a different program than a private health plan. In many states, health insurance companies provide a health health insurance plan which differs from a health insurance plan being offered by Medicare that does not provide certain coverage. For instance, in some states, a plan offered by a public health insurance company allows people who are older to plan for life on a private health insurance plan. In the United States, many states do not offer insurance coverage by the same mechanism. It is often the case that even if they do offer insurance, these plans are available to less than 15% of the population. Thus, most of the benefits covered by Obamacare are not available to many people and have relatively low cost. Some states offer plans that include private insurance or are not offered by any plan that does not include an ACA part. Moreover, the expansion of the Medicaid program may not provide all the same benefits. In order to cover all the uninsured, only a few high net worth individuals will be covered. This is especially important to ensure that the low-income Americans that would most benefit from health care plans will be people who have incomes below the poverty line. The Affordable Care Act requires health care insurers to provide annual coverage for 12 years but not more.[6] However, in some states, and especially in some states outside the United States, insurance companies must provide comprehensive coverage for an additional 18 years. This is the only exception available that allows an individual to have coverage. By making it easier to find health plans on the Internet, this is a step in making sure that the uninsured are covered, even with their premiums inked directly over to Health Insurance Plans that offer health benefits in accordance with Obamacare.[7] As recently as 2005, a state Senator told the US House of Representatives that under “Obamacare” “the federal government will not cover the majority of the costs of health care.”[8] In another example of the Affordable Care Act’s new status for the uninsured, in 2008 a United States Senator in Georgia
The ACA in its entirety has led to two major health care problems. The first, that the federal government is too slow to insure all Americans. This was demonstrated in 1991, in an attempt to protect Medicare Part B coverage for all Americans while leaving some private insurance plans and the employer-imposed cost of coverage tied. Since then the ACA has brought to an end any claims that claim costs are unreasonable. As demonstrated in Table 6, a bill that attempted to end the insurance premium surcharge and allow all covered insurance plans, which included employer-provided health insurance, to cover only those citizens who meet the age requirements set forth in the Affordable Care Act, as well as the age-based exclusions and requirements on the federal funds for a covered plan, has only helped these claims. According to the Senate’s proposal, the Supreme Court is set to hear the decision this month in an appeal of the Court’s decision, but if the Senate can resolve the matter on that point, the Senate will have to go to voters on July 1, 2018. The second, that the current cost of providing health care insurance remains a significant political liability for the federal government. According to the American Medical Association, costs of providing health care to all Americans are currently estimated at up to $11 billion yearly, of which $15 billion goes to each citizen in the United States. This makes the burden of obtaining health care coverage in America and therefore, in many places, the greatest liability. This argument has led to an estimated $1 trillion in federal expenditures, not including the federal taxes owed to insurance companies. As seen in Table 7, premiums for all Americans paid by employers, and coverage for all insurance customers, are set to increase. In order to provide full coverage to all Americans, Congress should increase the annual cost of the employer-funded health insurance program since the beginning of the current fiscal year, from the current $1 billion today to $1.1 trillion today. Therefore, by 2015, the cost of providing health care coverage to all Americans on an average income will likely be $4 trillion. According to the American Medical Association for the American Medical Society, if the bill goes through, these costs will be over $25,000 per individual and over $5,000 per lifetime. The individual premiums that the law will allow employers to charge for individual coverage are actually over $250 per month, but that is just for coverage for the most part. Since 2006, with the Affordable Care Act, the annual cost of both individual and employer coverage for all customers has been higher than the annual deductible. By 2015, the ACA will put costs in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. The individual cost of health care premiums from employer-sponsored plan to employer-sponsored plan, of which the ACA is the employer-provided coverage, is now $7,000 a month.
Health Care In America As we have discussed, in the 21st Century, the federal government is no longer allowed to give the individual financial support he needs to provide health care. Therefore, most of America’s current health care expenses are spent on hospital bills, child care and child care, Medicare copays and a host of other expenses, often in excess of what they once did. Since the birth of our Nation we have used Medicare and Medicaid to cover so many people who are not otherwise eligible for other services. As such, when the cost of health care increased steadily, and at the same time the cost of the other services was declining, the federal government became one of the agencies responsible for health care. Because their efforts to provide health care have been criticized and criticized as being too narrow, the government’s overall costs have steadily increased because of the government’s involvement in policy making and on the part of government employees and business. Unfortunately, all Americans have experienced the government not providing the
The ACA in its entirety has led to two major health care problems. The first, that the federal government is too slow to insure all Americans. This was demonstrated in 1991, in an attempt to protect Medicare Part B coverage for all Americans while leaving some private insurance plans and the employer-imposed cost of coverage tied. Since then the ACA has brought to an end any claims that claim costs are unreasonable. As demonstrated in Table 6, a bill that attempted to end the insurance premium surcharge and allow all covered insurance plans, which included employer-provided health insurance, to cover only those citizens who meet the age requirements set forth in the Affordable Care Act, as well as the age-based exclusions and requirements on the federal funds for a covered plan, has only helped these claims. According to the Senate’s proposal, the Supreme Court is set to hear the decision this month in an appeal of the Court’s decision, but if the Senate can resolve the matter on that point, the Senate will have to go to voters on July 1, 2018. The second, that the current cost of providing health care insurance remains a significant political liability for the federal government. According to the American Medical Association, costs of providing health care to all Americans are currently estimated at up to $11 billion yearly, of which $15 billion goes to each citizen in the United States. This makes the burden of obtaining health care coverage in America and therefore, in many places, the greatest liability. This argument has led to an estimated $1 trillion in federal expenditures, not including the federal taxes owed to insurance companies. As seen in Table 7, premiums for all Americans paid by employers, and coverage for all insurance customers, are set to increase. In order to provide full coverage to all Americans, Congress should increase the annual cost of the employer-funded health insurance program since the beginning of the current fiscal year, from the current $1 billion today to $1.1 trillion today. Therefore, by 2015, the cost of providing health care coverage to all Americans on an average income will likely be $4 trillion. According to the American Medical Association for the American Medical Society, if the bill goes through, these costs will be over $25,000 per individual and over $5,000 per lifetime. The individual premiums that the law will allow employers to charge for individual coverage are actually over $250 per month, but that is just for coverage for the most part. Since 2006, with the Affordable Care Act, the annual cost of both individual and employer coverage for all customers has been higher than the annual deductible. By 2015, the ACA will put costs in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. The individual cost of health care premiums from employer-sponsored plan to employer-sponsored plan, of which the ACA is the employer-provided coverage, is now $7,000 a month.
Health Care In America As we have discussed, in the 21st Century, the federal government is no longer allowed to give the individual financial support he needs to provide health care. Therefore, most of America’s current health care expenses are spent on hospital bills, child care and child care, Medicare copays and a host of other expenses, often in excess of what they once did. Since the birth of our Nation we have used Medicare and Medicaid to cover so many people who are not otherwise eligible for other services. As such, when the cost of health care increased steadily, and at the same time the cost of the other services was declining, the federal government became one of the agencies responsible for health care. Because their efforts to provide health care have been criticized and criticized as being too narrow, the government’s overall costs have steadily increased because of the government’s involvement in policy making and on the part of government employees and business. Unfortunately, all Americans have experienced the government not providing the
The ACA in its entirety has led to two major health care problems. The first, that the federal government is too slow to insure all Americans. This was demonstrated in 1991, in an attempt to protect Medicare Part B coverage for all Americans while leaving some private insurance plans and the employer-imposed cost of coverage tied. Since then the ACA has brought to an end any claims that claim costs are unreasonable. As demonstrated in Table 6, a bill that attempted to end the insurance premium surcharge and allow all covered insurance plans, which included employer-provided health insurance, to cover only those citizens who meet the age requirements set forth in the Affordable Care Act, as well as the age-based exclusions and requirements on the federal funds for a covered plan, has only helped these claims. According to the Senate’s proposal, the Supreme Court is set to hear the decision this month in an appeal of the Court’s decision, but if the Senate can resolve the matter on that point, the Senate will have to go to voters on July 1, 2018. The second, that the current cost of providing health care insurance remains a significant political liability for the federal government. According to the American Medical Association, costs of providing health care to all Americans are currently estimated at up to $11 billion yearly, of which $15 billion goes to each citizen in the United States. This makes the burden of obtaining health care coverage in America and therefore, in many places, the greatest liability. This argument has led to an estimated $1 trillion in federal expenditures, not including the federal taxes owed to insurance companies. As seen in Table 7, premiums for all Americans paid by employers, and coverage for all insurance customers, are set to increase. In order to provide full coverage to all Americans, Congress should increase the annual cost of the employer-funded health insurance program since the beginning of the current fiscal year, from the current $1 billion today to $1.1 trillion today. Therefore, by 2015, the cost of providing health care coverage to all Americans on an average income will likely be $4 trillion. According to the American Medical Association for the American Medical Society, if the bill goes through, these costs will be over $25,000 per individual and over $5,000 per lifetime. The individual premiums that the law will allow employers to charge for individual coverage are actually over $250 per month, but that is just for coverage for the most part. Since 2006, with the Affordable Care Act, the annual cost of both individual and employer coverage for all customers has been higher than the annual deductible. By 2015, the ACA will put costs in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. The individual cost of health care premiums from employer-sponsored plan to employer-sponsored plan, of which the ACA is the employer-provided coverage, is now $7,000 a month.
Health Care In America As we have discussed, in the 21st Century, the federal government is no longer allowed to give the individual financial support he needs to provide health care. Therefore, most of America’s current health care expenses are spent on hospital bills, child care and child care, Medicare copays and a host of other expenses, often in excess of what they once did. Since the birth of our Nation we have used Medicare and Medicaid to cover so many people who are not otherwise eligible for other services. As such, when the cost of health care increased steadily, and at the same time the cost of the other services was declining, the federal government became one of the agencies responsible for health care. Because their efforts to provide health care have been criticized and criticized as being too narrow, the government’s overall costs have steadily increased because of the government’s involvement in policy making and on the part of government employees and business. Unfortunately, all Americans have experienced the government not providing the