Health Insurance Crisis Research Paper
The Health Insurance Crisis in America
Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet behind old Irving fill-station receipts and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection. Medicine and other health services are expensive without these important conveniences that many people lack. These …show more content…
In the U.S., 12 percent of "white" Americans are without insurance, 21.5 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Hispanic Americans are without health coverage (NRHA 2). The trend of "the less money you make, the less likely you are to have insurance" is consistent in these statistics. According to a national survey of America's families, it is known that, on average, African Americans make less money than white Americans and Hispanic Americans make less money than both groups (Staveteig and Wigton). These people are employed somewhere, however, and they are making money, even if it is barely enough (or not even enough) to keep them above the poverty line. With jobs come benefits, and a common benefit that many people expect and desperately need is health …show more content…
The new plan would be functional due to higher taxes to be paid by the Oregon residents. In Oregon, 423,000 people were uninsured, and this plan would change that by making health insurance freely available to everyone (Cain, 1). The opposition to this program came from insurance companies, the health care industry, and big businesses, who would have been taxed up to 11.5 percent (Cain, 1). Of course, Oregon would not necessarily set the standard for the rest of the country. It is currently the only state to allow physician- assisted suicide, and medicinal marijuana use was legalized there in 1998. Most people had little faith in the insurance proposal, due to the huge amount of influence that big businesses and health care corporations have. Health care providers make money off of people that are uninsured, and health insurance companies make money because of the huge amounts they charge for insurance. The only ones losing out in the current situation are the people who are being charged through the roof for health insurance. Needless to say, the Oregon proposal did not pass. Apparently, the state, like the country, was not ready to accept the idea.
The opposition to universal health care and insurance comes from those that feel they should not have to pay higher taxes so that other people can be insured. The
Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet behind old Irving fill-station receipts and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection. Medicine and other health services are expensive without these important conveniences that many people lack. These …show more content…
In the U.S., 12 percent of "white" Americans are without insurance, 21.5 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Hispanic Americans are without health coverage (NRHA 2). The trend of "the less money you make, the less likely you are to have insurance" is consistent in these statistics. According to a national survey of America's families, it is known that, on average, African Americans make less money than white Americans and Hispanic Americans make less money than both groups (Staveteig and Wigton). These people are employed somewhere, however, and they are making money, even if it is barely enough (or not even enough) to keep them above the poverty line. With jobs come benefits, and a common benefit that many people expect and desperately need is health …show more content…
The new plan would be functional due to higher taxes to be paid by the Oregon residents. In Oregon, 423,000 people were uninsured, and this plan would change that by making health insurance freely available to everyone (Cain, 1). The opposition to this program came from insurance companies, the health care industry, and big businesses, who would have been taxed up to 11.5 percent (Cain, 1). Of course, Oregon would not necessarily set the standard for the rest of the country. It is currently the only state to allow physician- assisted suicide, and medicinal marijuana use was legalized there in 1998. Most people had little faith in the insurance proposal, due to the huge amount of influence that big businesses and health care corporations have. Health care providers make money off of people that are uninsured, and health insurance companies make money because of the huge amounts they charge for insurance. The only ones losing out in the current situation are the people who are being charged through the roof for health insurance. Needless to say, the Oregon proposal did not pass. Apparently, the state, like the country, was not ready to accept the idea.
The opposition to universal health care and insurance comes from those that feel they should not have to pay higher taxes so that other people can be insured. The