National Health Insurance
The question remains, “should the government provide free access to national health insurance or should it be acquired by means of purchase or employment?” When we think about it, the answer to the question is simple. Yes, it should be free for all Americans not limited to purchase or employment because it is the right of all citizens to afford health care services and it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all citizens are well taken care of in terms of health care services. However, the state of health care in the country is unfortunate. The continuous increase in health care costs is affecting the percentage of Americans who have health insurances. (National Coalition on Health Care) To answer the aforementioned question, it is relevant to scope out the importance of health insurances, how people gain health insurances, why people are unable to obtain access to health insurances, and the solutions in order to provide health coverage that is accessible to all.
In 2006, the total population of Americans who were unable to avail of health insurances reached 47 million. (Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured) The implication of a growing number of uninsured Americans is that these people are unable to afford health care and medical services in order to treat diseases and illnesses. According to the Alliance of Health Reform, eighteen thousand individuals die annually because of their inability to gain access to health care and medical services. (Alliance of Health Reform, 5)
In order to obtain a health insurance in the U.S. individuals should be employed. Health care coverage is provided by employers to their employees and their identified dependents. Through this opportunity, people in America who are fortunate to be employed in legitimate jobs are covered by health insurances. However, the problem with employer-sponsored health coverage is that it is not fully subsidized by the government or employers. It is a shared responsibility between the employer and the employee to pay for the cost of health coverage on a regular basis and the required taxes for it deductible from the employees’ salary. Due to this requirement, not all employees choose to avail of health coverage simply because they cannot afford to pay for health coverage costs even with their monthly salaries. Economic issues are forcing employees to change their spending styles, eliminating the need for health coverage and allocating most of their salary to pay for house bills and daily expenses. (Alliance of Health Reform, 10) Another way to obtain health coverage is to purchase health insurances personally (non-group), usually afforded by privileged individuals. Medicaid, Children’s Coverage & Medicare are health coverage for the underprivileged, children, and disabled and are subsidized by the state and federal governments. The disadvantage of government subsidized health coverage is that individuals are screened according to particular requirements in order to become eligible for health coverage. (Alliance of Health Reform, 14-16)
Health coverage subsidized by the state and federal governments is said to be causing the increase in health insurance costs and decrease in individuals covered by health insurances. The government was unable to manage the outflow of health coverage funds leading to deficiencies in health coverage available and causing millions of Americans to be uninsured. Although funds on health insurances for the Americans are astronomical, graft and corruption and the inability of the government to allocate funds wisely caused the unfortunate situation of national health insurance in the country. (National Coalition on Health Care) It is distressing to think about what the government could have done in the past that would change the present situation of health insurance in the US. If the government could have focused on the public’s well-being and not their personal gain then this should have not happened. If the government was able to plan and manage health coverage funds for the people, then this should have not happened.
In order to address the situation of national health insurance in the country, the government, public and private institutions, should work on a plan to make health insurance accessible to everyone without any requirements of eligibility. The total government funds allocated for health coverage should be supervised closely. The funds is enough to cover for all Americans, the question is how funds can be distributed in order to provide free health coverage access to all. (Obama for America)
The government should focus on prevention, as it is observed that most health coverage expenses subsidized by the government are provided for chronic diseases. It should then be national campaign to prevent diseases and illnesses through proper education and prevention strategies, such as immunization, medical check-ups, etc. With this plan, the government will avoid paying for high medical costs of serious illnesses. In addition to this, ensuring that health care medical professionals, practitioners and facilities are knowledgeable, experiences and of high quality is also a requirement. Health care services that are of high quality ensure positive treatment and full recovery at once, avoiding added expenses for extended treatment and medicine. (Obama for America)
Moreover, employers should be required to obtain health coverage for their employees. This means that all employees will be able to obtain health coverage regardless of cost. Employers will be asked to contribute to the cost of health coverage for employees. Although the issue is that small organizations might not be able to comply with these terms, the government should make sure that contributions by employers are tantamount to their total income. Another way to make health care insurance affordable to all is to regulate private health insurance providers and drug stores or make competition tight in the industry that would force them to decrease costs in health insurance and medicines. (Obama for America)
Perhaps my view about reforming health insurance in the country is liberal. I believe that in order to address the problem of rising national health insurance, the inability of Americans and even the employed to avail of health coverage, and the problems regarding the management of funds allocated by the government to health care all aspects of the country, such as the political system, the corporate environment, the economy, etc., should be taken into consideration. All possible factors that might be propelled into contributing to a “free-health-insurance-to-all America” should be looked into, such as interfering in the private health insurance and drug industry, employers, and the government. It is a pressing need to look into the matter this way. After all, free health care is a right, and the rights of the people should be protected by their government and this shall be accomplished through total and rational reform.
Works Cited
Alliance of Health Reform. (2004). “Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues
& Proposed Solutions.” Retrieved from Cover the Uninsured. 01 Sep 2008. http://covertheuninsured.org/materials/files/IssuesGuide.pdf.
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. (2006). “Health Insurance Coverage in
America, 2006.” Retrieved from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 01 Sep 2008. http://facts.kff.org/chartbook.aspx?cb=50.
National Coalition on Health Care. (2008). “Health Insurance Costs.” Retrieved from National
Coalition on Health Care. 01 Sep 2008. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml.
Obama for America. (2008). “Health Care.” Retrieved from Obama for America. 01 Sep 2008.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/.