Health Insurance In The United States

Health, an issue that is timeless for any generation at any point in history. Some of great epidemics that have impacted history are the bubonic plague, ebola, the swine flu and the zika virus Here on United States soil, there many illnesses that affect our population, such as cancer, Hepatitis C, Shingles, Diabetes, tuberculosis, STDs, etc. Unfortunately, our government will intervene with other countries with medical aid, but they decide to make it harder for our citizens to receive the attention needed. Until 2010, when President Obama passed the affordable healthcare act(Obamacare). Majority of U.S. residents agree that, under this act; it has become more affordable to have health insurance. This has created lower prices for the care plans,
and in turn lower income household are able to afford them. According to survey done by Gallup-Healthways Well-Being index, to show how many adults now have coverage, 90 percent of adults have received or been able to sign up for health insurance. In the same study, by the year 2015 there was an enormous drop in the numbers of people without coverage. From the year 2013-2015 there was a 7% decrease of uninsured citizens. More centers and sign-up locations have opened up, creating more jobs as a result. More government involvement would ensure that more people are insured, with increased coverage for low income families, availability to U.S. citizen with pre-existing conditions, and 12.7 million people have the opportunity to get their coverage renewed under the newly passed law. The main problem that americans face, is the fact that based on income, we are not able to pay for the insurance. With the passing of the "Obamacare" act many of its recipients are legal immigrant residents that are not citizens and, those who are citizens. Many which include Hispanics, Latinos, and African-Americans, who recently suffered the high prices of medicare or medicaid, are know able to receive the necessary attention at a affordable cost. David cutler, an economics professor at Harvard University, describes the positive effects of this law. "The law has clearly reduced broad measures of inequality.These are people who blend into the background of the economy. They are cleaning your hotel room, making your sandwich. The law has helped this population enormously."(David Cutler). We are a country with extreme diversity of ethnic groups. The number of immigrants and minorities in the country will continue to rise, and these people are seeking opportunities that are not available anywhere else. As a result of its availability, more clients with pre existing circumstances are being allowed to sign-up for the health care plans that are provided. In an article by Joel Mathis, he talks about a man named Brent Brown who wrote a letter to President Barack Obama. "I have a 'pre-existing condition' and so could never purchase health insurance. Only after the ACA came into being could I be covered. Put simply ... I would not be alive without access to care I received due to your law."(Brown). With the actions taken toward this act, the annual health care rate has decreased drastically. In the same article, “As of 2015, the annual rate had dropped to 1.1%, the lowest it has ever been since 1990.”(Mathis). Brown is one of the few thousand clients that benefit from this act and from these types of plans. Those with tragic disabilities, such as our veterans and personnel in the armed forces, return to civilian population in search of a happy and peaceful retirement. This is a plan that can offer the affordable care they truly need.
This is a plan that was put into action, not only to aid the lives of our fellow americans, but to enhance the health and image of the country. The United States in known as one of the most obese countries in the world. Our own allies are exceeding our health standards, when their standards are lower. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, as of May 2006; "White, middle-aged Americans are substantially less healthy than British citizens.” Attached to this article is a political cartoon that depicts the monument of stonehenge in England, that spells out "FREE HEALTH CARE" and surrounded by tourists. Their heads are filled with thoughts of "why are people in England healthier than people in the United States?" as they stand there in awe. This simple representation of the matter at hand, goes to show how fortunate we are to have the necessary plan of action and how unfortunate because of those that yield their power to make it nearly impossible for our citizens to thrive. The Milwaukee Journal also states the in the United Kingdom, health care is at a more affordable rate, than in the U.S.
On average, our friends from across the pond will pay roughly about $2,200 for coverage and we as American pay a little more than double that price. Our annual cost for health care coverage is close to $5,300. Our country is based off the notion that, if people have jobs they are making enough to pay these prices. The focus for the health care in England is to achieve the absolute basic form of the medical insurance for all adults, then after, they focus on the specific circumstances. Some of which include certain medical expenses and rare forms of financial situations. The Obamacare Act of March 23, 2010; is intended to aid the financially disadvantaged families and households, with lower prices. President Obama wanted equal coverage regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion. This action that has been taken on our country will help the citizens of our states, the legal residents that qualify and our overall economy of the country. Coverage that is affordable so that all people of all ages can be taken care
of.
In spite of all the positive effects regarding this issue, some would argue to say that the nation as a whole is far better of without it.
Some of these disadvantages of the act is that the government is using their own funds, sending them to big name health insurance providers to pay for the discounts that are given to clients across the country. In an article from the Wall Street Journal titled, “Health Law Suffers Another Setback” by Brent Kendall, Stephanie Armour, and Anna Wilde Mathews; explains the details of how this issue is directly affecting the nation’s economy. In the first stanzas of the editorial they state, “A federal judge on Thursday dealt a blow to the Obama administration's health law, ruling the government improperly reimburses insurers to cover discounts to low-income consumers. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated will amount to about $130 billion from 2017 through 2026.”(Kendall, Armour, & Mathews). The quote explains that within year not only will the federal budget decrease but also case the national deficit to increase exponentially. We need a plan that will fill the hole to get us out, not make it deeper. In addition, they also explain how this act will not only affect the national deficit, but also increase the number of uninsured citizens. In another stanza they state, “Some insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other companies have already said they are withdrawing from the exchange marketplace because of financial losses. Other
Insurers would likely significantly raise premiums, which some health-policy analysts say would cause the low-and moderate-income consumers to drop coverage.”(Kendall, Armour, & Mathews). The U.S. government is covering these so called discounts with money from the nation’s budget, leaving nothing for military spending and causing the taxes to skyrocket. The profit margins of these corporation will decrease, thus casing a shutdown of the competition. The ones left in the market are left to raise prices, to those who could not afford it to begin with. This will not only result in lack of coverage, but a rise in penalty fee for those that do not have the insurance and a rise of inflation do to the lack of money in circulation.