Control of Health Care in the United States
Control of Health Care in the United States
The insurance companies have a total stranglehold over health care. They make record profits. They make decisions. They put profits before people and do so at our expense. They give millions in campaign contributions to win reforms that will add billions more to their profits and do nothing for the rest of us. Insurance companies are spending $1.4 million a day to oppose reform because they profit by keeping the system as it is.... by denying claims, raising premiums, co-pays and deductibles at will, making health decisions instead of our doctors, denying care because of pre existing conditions. While health insurance CEO’s took home $690 million, health insurance premiums have been going up four times faster than wages. (NOW!)
The United States has a unique system of health care delivery. It is unlike any other health care system in the world. Most developed countries have national health insurance programs run by the government and financed through general taxes. Almost all citizens in such countries are entitle to receive health care services. Such is not the case in the United States, where not all Americans are automatically covered by health insurance. (Shi & Singh, 2008)
Much of the change in the U.S. system is occurring in the delivery system component. The growth of the health services system, the increasing expenditures required to sustain it, the significant number of people without access to care, and the projections of increased demand from an aging population are stimulating changes in both the financing and delivery systems. The most pervasive change has been the shift away from the fee-for-service delivery system to managed care. (Barton, 2007)
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed comprehensive health reform, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law. Health reform will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to
The insurance companies have a total stranglehold over health care. They make record profits. They make decisions. They put profits before people and do so at our expense. They give millions in campaign contributions to win reforms that will add billions more to their profits and do nothing for the rest of us. Insurance companies are spending $1.4 million a day to oppose reform because they profit by keeping the system as it is.... by denying claims, raising premiums, co-pays and deductibles at will, making health decisions instead of our doctors, denying care because of pre existing conditions. While health insurance CEO’s took home $690 million, health insurance premiums have been going up four times faster than wages. (NOW!)
The United States has a unique system of health care delivery. It is unlike any other health care system in the world. Most developed countries have national health insurance programs run by the government and financed through general taxes. Almost all citizens in such countries are entitle to receive health care services. Such is not the case in the United States, where not all Americans are automatically covered by health insurance. (Shi & Singh, 2008)
Much of the change in the U.S. system is occurring in the delivery system component. The growth of the health services system, the increasing expenditures required to sustain it, the significant number of people without access to care, and the projections of increased demand from an aging population are stimulating changes in both the financing and delivery systems. The most pervasive change has been the shift away from the fee-for-service delivery system to managed care. (Barton, 2007)
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed comprehensive health reform, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law. Health reform will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to