Uninsured Get Less Health Care example essay topic

1,554 words
Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980's, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP's plan imagined every American with ensured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage for all is pretty simple. This country needs the United States congress to act out legislation assuring essential health care coverage for all.

Considering that the United States ranks low in health status, the percentage of its population covered by health insurance is also low. Health care should be a right that all Americans has, not a privilege. (McGovern) With this in mind, everyone should work to extend that right to every American. "To succeed at it, we must find common principles that unite us and move beyond what divides us". (Sweeney) We must work together to make coverage accessible to everyone. As a nation, we are all facing a crisis of the uninsured, and if it doesn't get fixed, then the problems will never go away and the percentage of uninsured people will keep going on a rise.

(McGovern) Preventative care, total overall costs, and morality are just some of the few arguments for getting coverage for everyone. A lot of people that go without preventative care treatment would most likely prevent them from suffering later down the road. Seventy percent of uninsured men who are the correct age for prostate cancer screening don't have these tests done. Is it such a wonder why they don't do this? Maybe it is because there isn't any insurance to cover these tests. Also, forty six percent of all uninsured women who are the correct age for mammograms don't have them.

It's such a shame that these people go without these, which in the end could detect diseases and prevent it all before they get sicker. (Sullivan) Consequently, people who are uninsured die earlier than those who are insured. They simply don't get the care that they need, and if they even did, it gets delayed. (McCabe) Things like routine physicals, mammograms, and HIV tests could prevent major problems.

It doesn't only affect the health of the patient, but the overall cost of the system. Preventative medicine only cost a fraction of a full blown disease, which means it would still cost a lot for a patient to deal with in the end. (Messerli) Thinking about this, it shows that if the preventative care of testing would lower the cost of the medical bills. But also, how would they pay for the bills in the first place?

Both preventative care cost and the overall cost without getting the care would equal out, because the patient couldn't pay for it either way. It would just put them in debt. The preventative care also follows to Medicaid problems. As Medicaid only covers some people like children and people with disabilities, it only covers half of the medical expenses. For the elderly and the disabled, it doesn't cover long-term nursing home care or prescription medications. (Reese) If things weren't bad enough, Bush administration has opposed broad cuts to Medicaid by up to ten billion dollars.

This is 2 going to force Medicaid programs to cut services and enrollment. (McGovern) Most of the people who are uninsured are the working poor, which the overall costs of medical care can hurt them. By the means of doing their best, these people just can't afford the insurance. Health care has become increasingly unaffordable for businesses and individuals.

(Reese) Premiums grow several times the rate of inflation, and many businesses are choosing not to offer a health plan. Even if they offer a plan, it passes more cost to the employees. Facing these high costs are basically denied and go without, since it may be better in the long run since they will go into debt. It has been known through research that the millions of medically uninsured pay a heavy price for their limited access to the system. They get less screening and preventive care. Also their diagnoses are delayed, which makes them sicker and die earlier than the insured people would.

At one point, the uninsured use to be able to get treated at most public clinics and hospitals, but the surplus revenues are no longer there for doctors and hospitals to provide uncompensated care. Prior to this, care was achieved largely through cost-sharing that was cycled into care for someone who couldn't afford treatments. It was arranged at the level of individual practice, clinic or hospital. This just made the uninsured people still stuck in the hole from treatments because the overall costs were just to high to pay for it. (Reese) The morals of the health insurance reform is just ridiculous.

Research has visibly demonstrated that the uninsured get less health care than those who have insurance. The rich people can get the care whenever they want. The people who cant afford insurance 3 suffer. This even includes the people who are sick, chronically ill, or who have special health care needs. Also, these people are less likely to have regular source of health care because they have no money to pay for the care. People who are in great need for care should be able to get the medical care that they need since they are the ones who actually need it.

Most of the insured people don't even need medical care at some amounts of time because they have the money for preventive care. Thinking about this makes it look like these people who are suffering can't do anything about it because the United States are basically letting them down. A universal system would allow us to build one centralized system so there isn't a need for maintaining insurance information. Most doctor offices have keep different record-keeping system. Every time you go to the doctors office, a claim must be submitted with an approval from the department that has to over that claim. Also, checks have to be mailed and patients are sent with co-pay bills.

With this as an idea, there won't be any wasting of time submitting claims to health providers. With one system with everyone's information in it, it would be so much faster and easier to handle. There would be no need for maintaining insurance information or waste time submitting claims. (Messerli) If everyone had some kind of health insurance, medical doctors and house staff workers would go without wages and there would be no benefits that would come at any supply. It's important that the care for patients wouldn't be rushed. If the care is rushed, then it is pointless for health insurance for all because the care wouldn't be adequate.

Also, follow-ups would be poor, mainly because people who need the care to begin with 4 would be the ones to focus on. The follow-ups would also be rushed to get all the patients they can see in one day. The patient and doctor's trust would be low with little opportunity for specialist referrals. The Institute of Medicine has concluded that extensive health insurance coverage would recover the health of those who have the poorest health, and are the most lacking in terms of access to care, and would likely reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic groups.

A large number of uninsured Americans are Caucasian, although higher percentages of minorities are uninsured. The gaps in admission to medical care between uninsured Latinos and African Americans and uninsured whites usually are almost double of those between insured minorities and insured whites. Reduced access to medical care can lead to diagnosis and treatment delays and contribute to well-documented disparities in minority health. Reducing disparities in minority health care will be difficult without narrowing the health insurance gap. As citizens, we have a moral responsibility to our communities and our fellow citizens. We can't in good conscience stand by as millions of our neighbors are denied to basic health care.

Nearly 1,500 public events were taken place in all fifty states and the District of Columbia to bring commonly community leaders to retain that all Americans have rights to health care coverage. "For far too many years, our nation has not lived up to its full potential by delaying the day when all Americans will have health care coverage". (Suffer Health Care Gaps as a Result) Health care is a right, not a privilege. All of us must work to extend that right to every single American. (McGovern) 5.