Moral Hazard Myth Summary

Summary of “The American Healthcare Paradox” “The American Health Care Paradox” focuses on health care and how the United States is suffering compared to their peer countries. The United States has spent billions of dollars in health care and the problem is still growing. The government is responsible for not following or ignoring the issue that we suffered with, in today’s society the healthcare system is failing drastically. The health care system has been a problem for several decades now, even though it seems that things are getting better it’s not.

Yet, this has not been the case in most situations. A controlled study proved that “Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years, but it did increase use of health care services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain.” (The Oregon Experiment,

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

In the United States, healthcare is primarily a for-profit organization, this has resulted in unreasonable costs. Additionally, the lack of universal healthcare coverage and insurance options for low-income individuals heightens the problem. These issues have led to a system where access to healthcare is a privilege rather than a right. By viewing the high cost of healthcare through the lens of sociological imagination, I can understand it as a symptom of larger societal problems.

This mother works hard to make a living for her family, yet still finds it hard to make ends meet. This mother has to pay insurance for her and her 3 children at $1,000.00 dollars a month for her premium, plus her fluctuating copayments at each doctor or hospital visit on top of having to meet a $5,000.00 deductible for the insurance company to pay a hundred percent of anything. With all of that this single mother has a 20 percent co insurance which is the out of pocket expense that she has to meet each visit. Now take this very same example with a single payer source, the government. This mother can still work and make a decent living for her and her children and her healthcare will be paid for.

How does this tie into the American healthcare system? One of the main reasons healthcare reform is not widely accepted in America is because of self-benefit; many people are opposed to a higher tax, as it could be looked at as unfair. However, when looked upon in a different light, these

Over the late years the quantities of uninsured Americans has fundamentally expanded. The 2.2 million late development of uninsured is for the most part because of age and salary changes. At that, most Americans trust that protection scope and access to human services framework are the issues that ought to be organized, and it is the immediate obligation of the central government to guarantee restorative watch over those natives that need protection, even through raising expenses. Today, the US society confronts the continuous problem of "whether the administration ought to make a noteworthy or a constrained push to give medical coverage to the uninsured" (The Henry J. Keiser Family Foundation 1). On the other hand, no choice has yet got

Should the government play a key role in aiding the uninsured, or should market forces reign supreme? I believe the government needs to play a key role in aiding the uninsured. Our country's core value is “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” I believe healthcare is applied to this core value with governments helping insure United States citizens.

The uninsured population has increased substantially over the years, with the largest increase occurring from 2003 to 2007. The financial recession is cited as a possible reason for underinsured or

Expanding accessibility to affordable healthcare insurance is one way in which our country can begin to increase healthcare that is patient and family centered. One reason for existing disparities are the expenses associated with seeking healthcare. For some people, while the actual monthly payments of their health insurance is affordable, patients still face high deductibles or high out of pocket maximums. By making health insurance attainable for the majority of Americans, this alone is only the first step toward reducing some of the existing health disparities. Money alone is a factor that can deter people from seeking preventive treatment and screenings.

Women make up the majority of the uninsured, and that’s probably has something to do with the pay inequality. You can’t expect a single mother to be able to afford food, shelter, clothing, gas, and everything else that comes with raising a child and

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).

Although, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure are all results of preexists illness that could have be avoided by simply being treated and educated by a healthcare provider. The lack of adequate healthcare and insurance makes it nearly impossible for the uninsured and underinsured to obtain treatment for preexisting conditions. This book also gives many illustrations of how the healthcare system in America fails to adequately care for the poor. An example of the lack of adequate healthcare of a preexist condition that could have been avoided and treated, was when Robert first had a sign that his kidneys was failing and the doctor never told him the severe natural or to come back, due to him not having adequate medical coverage for a kidney diagnostics (Abraham, 1993). Another illustrates is Ms. Jackson spent down program, in which, because she qualified for Medicaid only during the months that her medical expenses were so high they forced her income to drop below a “medically needy” level set by the state (Abraham, 1993).

Consumers will utilize more healthcare services if it was all covered by insurance which we call moral

This helps to ensure that there is no over-consumption of healthcare due to moral hazard thus increasing