In today’s society, it is important to look at more than one option for treating diseases in a country with growing obesity and heart disease rates like the United States. It would be interesting to observe the government place greater emphasis and funds towards preventative care methods and witness the effects in the American health care system. An article written for U.S. News & World Report by Bill Frist, a cardiothoracic surgeon and a co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Health Project, discussed the potential of a preventative care system and shared the success of the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program. Members of the one-year program reduced their chances of Type II diabetes through weight loss, and “costs of the program were far …show more content…
This example illustrates the willingness of various health care plans to support the expense of preventative measures if proven to be efficient. According to Frist, the results of this initiative caught the eye of 30 various health care plans that were willing to cover the cost; and he believes more can be accomplished with federal support of public health programs and research. Evidence like the YMCA’s preventative program data will allow the U.S. to move forward in positive public health decisions that will hopefully improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. However, some policymakers have shared how certain preventative health care initiatives are not cost-effective.
While preventive methods like diabetes or alcohol awareness programs are shown to be affordable and effective for Americans, precautionary approaches like screenings are costly and hold controversial value to some patients. The New England Journal of Medicine shared a piece written about health care economics and discussed the importance of the population at hand when arguing the value of preventive care. The
Preventive treatment indorses health and saves revenue, yet many preventive treatment services are out of reach for women due, to increasing co-fees, deductibles, and co-coverage. Before Obamacare more than 49 percent of women postponed going to a doctor due to cost for treatment, and a least more than one-third of women didn’t not seek a least basic care. Women offered overlooked their basic necessities in order to pay for health care treatment. However, under the ACA, insurers are now mandatory to cover endorsed preventive services such as mammograms, Papanicolaou test, and well-baby care checkups without price distribution. More than a least 44 million women had already used these services by May 2012 and the numbers have only increased since then.
“Healthcare Reform 101,” written by Rick Panning (2014), is a wonderful article that describes, in an easy-to-understand language, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 23, 2010. The main goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was to provide affordable, quality healthcare to Americans while simultaneously reducing some of the country’s economic problems. Two areas will be covered throughout this paper. The first section will include a summary of the major points and highlights of Panning’s (2014) article, including an introduction to the ACA, goals of the signed legislation, provided coverage, and downfalls of the current healthcare system. The second part will be comprised of a professional
The affordable care act presented the United States with the most extensive overhaul since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960’s. The act was a response to staggering statistics on the price of healthcare and the resulting uninsured rate within the United States. The affordable care act uses Individual Mandate and Health Insurance Exchanges to combat major factors causing high insurance cost and low insured rates. As with most reform, the public has not been one hundred percent unified on the potential effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act.
The Affordable Care Act program is a result of decades of ideas from both political parties and the healthcare industry. ( http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts/ 1). In this research paper I will discuss the pros and cons of this very controversial Health Insurance Plan that I firmly believe that every American should have. There are many pros to Obamacare that make it a more considerable
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). Despite the fact that a single payer universal healthcare system is not advocated by any current presidential candidate, it is both morally and economically the most sound system.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, preventive health care save lives and improve health by identifying illnesses earlier, managing and treating them more effectively before the condition can progress1. Under the ACA, 15 preventive services and one wellness visit are fully covered by the majority of the insurance plans without copays and coinsurance. Free preventive health care has had a direct effect on the health care costs in the U.S. Many Americans wait to see a doctor until they get sick due to cost2. However, by making preventive health care services free it helps Americans live longer, healthier lives and keeping health care costs down. The high deductible plans paired with tax free health savings accounts compared to the ACA may be less efficient because people will face pressure to safe.
The first editorial is in favor of the universal healthcare system. The author supports the claim with statistical reasoning when presenting the argument. The editorial focuses more on facts, logic, and reasoning rather than emotions and opinions.
It can be quite prevailing for individuals to have financial problems towards health coverage. Based on the Health Affairs reference, “In the last decade, health insurance premiums costs have increased by 80%... whereas 58% of Americans report they are not able to seek medical attention due to high costs” (Gary Claxton, Matthew Rae, and Nirmita Panchal, et al). Statistics also present many factors exhibiting millions of individuals facing the risk of losing their insurance. Above all, health insurance is a basic health necessity. Medical services being available to everyone will benefit the public health not only with quality, but along with quantity.
Ensuring millions of Americans have access to free preventive screening and care will reduce the burden on the health care system in the future. In other words, diseases detected earlier are less costly to the health care system compared to those detected during the later stages. Diseases that are detected during the progressive stage of the illness are more costly to the health care system and the individuals. More importantly, individuals are more likely to recover from a disease that is detected during the early stages which will improve the health and well-being of the US population. In order to achieve the goals established by the ACA, different components were created to ensure a holistic approach to health care and services provided to individuals.
Millions of Americans are constantly reminded of the horrible effects of the Affordable Care Act anytime medical care is required. I have witnessed many families and individuals struggle to cover the extra financial responsibility imposed upon them: Susan Gardiner, a fellow Kroger employee, states her health insurance costs have significantly increased following the approval of the Affordable Care Act; consequently, Ms. Gardiner routinely experiences financial hardships as she requires frequent medical care. Americans simply cannot cope with the Affordable Care Act’s inherent attribute of exorbitant insurance premiums and deductibles. In an attempt to decrease medical costs for an impoverished minority of Americans, the Affordable Care Act,
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.
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).
Preventative care is a huge benefit of universal health care as people can go for regular checkups at a physician 's office to see if they have any problems. Using the preventative care method we are able to catch diseases in their early stages and eliminate them. This will lead to less major emergencies that will have to be looked at in the hospital reducing the costs greatly. In America preventative care is used way less than it should be due to the cost of insurance, “Nationally, Americans use preventive services at about half the recommended rate” (CDC, 2013). Americans not going in to get checked on regularly can cause small illness or diseases to spread or get larger.
Many Americans were led to believe that the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2009 would put an end to disparities in health care access. While it did improve the situation for a small percentage of the population there are still many Americans who lack access to good quality health care. Health care access in America is determined by money and those in lower socioeconomic groups frequently tend to miss out on adequate care. In a recent health care report by the national health research foundation Kaiser Family Foundation, it was noted “health care disparities remain a persistent problem in the United States, leading to certain groups being at higher risk of being uninsured, having limited access to care, and experiencing poorer quality of care” (Kaiser Family Foundation). The current health care
Obesity is a major problem in the United States, and with all the special privileges given to its people, America has become very lazy. With portion sizes rising and physical activity decreasing, it is easy to see how the rates on obesity has risen over the years in America. Obesity is a major problem that needs to be resolved because it affects all people of every gender, age, and race are at risk of being obese. Obesity rates in America have nearly doubled rather tripled within the last twenty years due to the many privileges that the American people have before us. Something must be done to overcome decrease the