Steven Brill’s Bitter Pill: “Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” by Angelina Salikhbaeva Summary: Steven Brill in the article “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” clarifies his opinion about the costs of healthcare services in the United States. The author writes about different stories of how families become bankrupt or unable to pay the total cost of the treatment to the US hospitals and related medical facilities. According to Steven Brill’s article, the US hospitals prescribe too much health care to patients.
(par. 2), “one local hospital charged an uninsured patient $29,000 for an appendectomy that would have cost an insured patient $6,783.” (par. 5), and “the uninsured account for only 2 percent of its patients, but 35 percent of its profits” (par. 5). The details and numbers build an appeal to logos and influence the reader that health care is a
Summary of “The American Healthcare Paradox” “The American Health Care Paradox” focuses on health care and how the United States is suffering compared to their peer countries. The United States has spent billions of dollars in health care and the problem is still growing. The government is responsible for not following or ignoring the issue that we suffered with, in today’s society the healthcare system is failing drastically. The health care system has been a problem for several decades now, even though it seems that things are getting better it’s not.
“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 author really did not mention any positive examples of American medical insurance system’s work. It creates a feeling of prejudice as the system should have positive results to exist for so many years. However, Moore gave enough examples to show there are severe problems in the American medical insurance. Mentions of numbers, historical recordings and people, who decided to share personal experience, support author’s
This essay will discuss the United Healthcare Organization. The readiness of United Healthcare to address the health care needs of citizens over the next decade will be addressed along with what could interfere with network growth. Finally this essay will take a look at patient satisfaction and resource management. In 2014 healthcare coverage begun being a requirement for all United States citizens.
In the United States, healthcare is primarily a for-profit organization, this has resulted in unreasonable costs. Additionally, the lack of universal healthcare coverage and insurance options for low-income individuals heightens the problem. These issues have led to a system where access to healthcare is a privilege rather than a right. By viewing the high cost of healthcare through the lens of sociological imagination, I can understand it as a symptom of larger societal problems.
When it comes to health care systems, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for every country. Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the success of a system depends on many factors such as the country's economy, demographics, and cultural values. In terms of economics, there are two main types of health care systems: the market-based system and the single-payer system. In this essay, I will argue that the single-payer system is better in terms of economics.
The film, “Escape Fire” highlights important problems of the health care system today and the roots of these problems. One of the first problems that the movie brings up is the cost of health care The US spends more than 2.7 trillion dollars per year on health care, which is a strikingly higher number than spent in other countries and yet other countries who spend much less have a higher life expectancy and overall health in their populations. I found this very shocking, because while I knew that the government spends a lot on health care I didn’t realize that, despite the exorbitant costs, our overall health was actually much worse than other countries. The movie examines the reasons for this discrepancy and notes that most of the money
The real debate is how can we accomplish the goal of universal healthcare in the most affordable and sustainable way. The United States is evaluated as a wealthy country, yet there are more penurious countries who provide health maintenance, paid through higher taxes. “In the United Kingdom and other European countries, payroll taxes average 37% - much higher than the 15.3% payroll taxes paid by the average US worker” (Gregory). With this data, the only reform would be to end the private health insurance companies of dominant health services, and incorporate a single payer system. Conversely, it is factual that taxes will rise, but the implementation of universal healthcare will better the health of American citizens.
One of the things i found a bit surprising and a little alarming is if a person is healthy and can 't exactly pay for insurance for affordability reason then they may not obtain health insurance all together, also if a person has a specific illness or disease they are practically forced to pay high prices for their medication and appointments and monthly premiums and in turn may not be able to provide food for their families because they have to decide to but medications and try to stay alive or buy food and try to survive. Both interviewees seemed frustrated disappointed with the inequality of the health care system and the rates associated with receiving care and health care insurance. Something i noticed between the two was that they both were extremely passionate on finding a way for the United States to receive some sort of universals health care system that was inexpensive but preferably free. When the topic of cost came about they seemed to give detailed experiences dealing with the health care system and how it wasn 't affordable to them and how there were times they couldn 't receive the needed care get the needed
Health care should not be considered a political argument in America; it is a matter of basic human rights. Something that many people seem to forget is that the US is the only industrialized western nation that lacks a universal health care system. The National Health Care Disparities Report, as well as author and health care worker Nicholas Conley and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), strongly suggest that the US needs a universal health care system. The most secure solution for many problems in America, such as wasted spending on a flawed non-universal health care system and 46.8 million Americans being uninsured, is to organize a national health care program in the US that covers all citizens for medical necessities.
As what Karen Ignagni, Pres. & CEO, America's Health Ins. Plans stated in the video, “… And from a perspective of productivity, social policy, and what is the right thing to do, we need to prioritize health care reform and we need to do it urgently.” In the video, the summit participants, like the doctors and hospital and small businesses, etc., all agreed that they would lend a helping hand and they are primed to reform the healthcare system. Furthermore, people in the video are joining forces to work together for a solution.
The most estimates of US spending on healthcare are between 17 and 18 percent, while most European countries range around 8-11 percent. World Bank (2015) estimates put the UK’s healthcare system around 9.2 percent. Many of the private healthcare systems in the developing world have higher costs than public systems but for the purposes of this essay, the US-Europe comparison will be utilized for consistency. According to one report, higher spending in private healthcare systems cannot be “attributed to higher income, an older population, or greater supply or utilization of hospitals and doctors” but instead to “higher prices and perhaps more readily accessible technology” (Squires 2012, pp. 1). Ironically, the report also points out that obesity in the US is one of the main causes of more expensive healthcare, but this point is also important to understanding why private healthcare can be so expensive.
Healthcare is something everyone needs and should be able to get, but right now that is not happening. In America there are millions of people who don’t have healthcare insurance. This is because some can’t afford the insurance plan. There are also millions more who have health insurance, but can’t afford using it. This means that they are paying for an insurance plan, but the deductibles are so high they can’t afford to go to the doctor.
