Getting There From Here By Atul Gawande Analysis

The author writes about different stories of how families become bankrupt or unable to pay the total cost of the treatment to the US hospitals and related medical facilities. According to Steven Brill’s article, the US hospitals prescribe too much health care to patients. He claims that pharmaceutical companies get high gross profit margins by producing drugs. The prices people pay to hospitals in the US are unreasonably high compared to the real costs of treatments and drugs they receive.

“Data clearly show that pharmaceutical and medical products companies are among the most profitable industries in the United States” (2015). While medicine and medical equipment are very important aspects of the health care system, they should not be the most profitable sectors. If costs were reduced in either of these sectors, prices would be lower for private payers and perhaps help conserve government funds for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

The nature of the current debate surrounding the implementation of universal healthcare in America is troubling because it is comprised almost entirely of pragmatic arguments void of concern for the principles behind the project. Before one asks how much a thing will cost, how it will be organized, or whether “the uninsured” will benefit, one should ask whether enacting universal healthcare is in keeping with the values and principles of the American experiment. In other words, is universal healthcare good for America?

For both the uninsured group and those who are eligible for government assistance because of their low economic position, access to health is limited by the number of private providers willing to treat them. In many cases private providers are linked to particular private health insurance companies and won 't accept patients outside their network. These people must then rely on the overburdened public health system for care, and as such usually only seek treatment in emergencies. The public health system, while filled with competent staff, is nevertheless restricted by its funding and can therefore not always provide all these patients with the best quality of care. The inequality in health care access is a continuing issue in America and as such it is important for future consumers and workers on the Foothill College campus to have a thorough understanding of the issue so they can move to improve the problem in the

For sometime, many US citizens have not had the resources to acquire an adequate health insurance plan. Although faced by many oppositions, the US government has found a solution, The Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”, is a US healthcare reform law that focuses mainly on providing more Americans with access to an affordable health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is said to expand the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protections, regulations, subsidies, taxes, insurance exchanges, and other reforms. Signed into law by President Obama in March 2010, hence the nickname “Obamacare”, the

46.8 million Americans were reported as uninsured in 2013, which equivocates to one sixth of the population. Those without insurance have revealed that they risk “more problems getting care, are diagnosed at later disease stages, and get less therapeutic care” (National Health Care Disparities Report) and those insured risk losing their insurance. Inadequately covered citizens are often working-class individuals who simply cannot receive insurance due to uncontrollable inconveniences and therefore jeopardize having medical coverage. In these instances, Americans have a chance of being diagnosed with diseases that they had no opportunity to prevent or could not diagnose them at an early stage of the illness. Patients have suffered unnecessarily due to lack of health care, and “18,000 Americans die every year because they don't have health insurance” (PNHP). Health care is essential for Americans despite pre-existing conditions, and a free market insurance program would allow citizens to received the health care that is so desperately needed. A universal health care system is a matter of human rights and would solve America’s problem of one sixth of the population being

Cheong, P., Feeley, T., & Servoss, T. (2007). Understanding health inequalities for uninsured americans: A population-wide survey. Journal of Health Communication, 12(3), 285-300. doi:10.1080/10810730701266430.

American democracy is, understandably, the most idealized form of government within our country, and for good reason. There are components of democracy that are necessary to a healthily functioning nation, but these are far more widely discussed than the problems with American democracy, which need to be acknowledged so that they might be improved upon. Rather than trying to hide the metaphorical chinks in democracy's armor, we should be striving to fix them. One of the largest problems with democracy in the United States is its current system of healthcare, which not only fails to provide insurance coverage to all Americans, but also provides more privilege to the wealthy, who have access to higher quality healthcare. Implementing universal healthcare would greatly improve American

In the past 100 years, the United States government has endured many difficulties dealing with the faults present in America's private healthcare system. Even though the federal and state governments have tried stepping in more recently and were able to lessen the negative impacts produced by the system, there are many more that still need to be addressed. As of 2014, 33 million people in the U.S. lack health insurance, resulting in more bankruptcies and deaths for those with and without insurance (Right to Health Care). By the U.S. government nationalizing health care, the result would be a healthier nation overall, with respect to life expectancy, the work force, and debt. Although not without flaw, universal health

With the proposed tax adjustments and the payment plan involving both the individual and employer, Senator Sanders’ health care plan becomes not only viable but also cheap when held against most Americans insurance deductibles. Compared with most so called first world countries, the United States as a whole spends far more on healthcare; “At 17.4% of GDP in 2009, US health spending is half as much again as any other country, and nearly twice the average”(OECD 1). OECD stands for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes such countries as Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands among others. The fact that the U.S. spends comparatively more than these other “socialist” countries displays that having a streamlined, national healthcare system can in fact be run without breaking the bank or creating unmanageable costs.

A long debated hot topic, the implementation of Universal Healthcare within the United States is growing in importance as the currently administered health care system is one of the worst out of all developed, and even some under-developed countries. Many countries ensure healthcare to their citizens as a basic right, while in the United States there are approximately 45 million uninsured, and many more under-insured. Those who advocate and oppose such an implementation provide great reasons as to why it would be a great success or an utter failure. The ultimate question however, still is, will the benefit exceed the consequences. While many believe the United

Sicko is an American documentary by Michael Moore which explores the status of health care in America. In my opinion, he has presented a clear-cut viewpoint that American health care is not producing results. Nearly half a hundred million Americans, according to Sicko, are not insured while the rest, who are insured, are often sufferers of insurance company deceit and also red tape. Additionally, Sicko mentions that the United States health care system is placed 37th out of 191 by the W.H.O. with definite health measures, like the neonate death and life probability, equivalent to countries with quite less financial wealth. Interviews are carried out with individuals who supposed they had sufficient coverage but were deprived of care. Previous

The chief virtue of industry is efficiency and profit. A single payer universal health care system must be implemented to bring back the compassion in medicine and insure everyone the basic right of healthcare. Access to inclusive healthcare is a human right and we have a moral obligation to assure all citizens this right. Healthcare coverage should not be restricted to employment or income. A single payer universal healthcare system is the most sensible plan because not only does it insure everyone access to healthcare but it also greatly reduces the administrative and non-medical waste that has no benefits to patients. Pursuit of profit and wealth should not be in a field that is meant to care for others; companies and corporations are maximizing on patients’ misfortunes and are therefore shortchanging the quality of care in order to get the most money. This was warned by Maimonides in 1190 AD when he said “Do not allow thirst for profit, ambition for renown, and admiration to interfere with my profession for these are the enemies of truth and can lead me astray in the great task of attending to the welfare of your creatures” (Nelson, Alan).

Hayes Bautista also depicted how institutions such as government impact individual’s health outcomes. The current policies surrounding healthcare, specifically Obamacare or Medicare, has left many Americans unaware of the rights to healthcare and insurance they may receive. Health Care Expenditures in the United States cost twice as much as they do in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. Hospitals and the healthcare system in the United States have created a free market service where an Individual is responsible to pay for the services they receive. This is commonly known as a fee-for-service. In contrast the other countries such as the United Kingdom where healthcare is viewed as a fundamental human right and is funded by the government. The complications within the healthcare system have been directly affected by the government. The intersectionality of science, data, and policy of healthcare reformation parallels scientific revolutions because as government creates environments that put individuals at risk, they do not aim to address the issue of

As Bernie Sanders once said, “Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege.” Most developed countries choose to live by this quote while the United States of America chooses to go against it. Universal health care has benefits on multiple levels, whether it’s a single individual or the people in a whole. The U.S is one of the few developed countries that doesn’t offer universal health care to their people, yet the U.S spends more than seventeen percent of their GDP on health insurance. Many people believe that universal health care is a simple one solution problem, but the truth is that there are multiple forms of universal health care that provide all citizens with the health insurance they need.