I would not trust the opinion of anyone that recieves a paycheck from a healthcare provider. Here's an paper I recently completed and recieved an A- (my thesis was too bold)
Health Care Reform in America
I was raised to believe that we had the best health care in the world. I now know this is not true. If our system is so great, why do we see reports of hospitals, dumping uninsured, homeless patients in front of other hospitals? Or Insurance companies denying claims in the name of profit instead of patient welfare? 18,000 die annually because they don’t seek medical attention due to costs (Moore). The time has come for private control of our health care system to end. However, there is fear that reforming the current system will lead to big government or socialism.
While researching my sources for this essay, I injured my ankle by missing a stair step. I tried to play down how serious it was. I’m one of millions in this country who does not have health insurance. I used to be an insurance agent so I know how important insurance is to have. I simply could not afford to go to the local hospital, since I was not working and going to college. My girlfriend and I just got done paying a bill over $400 for an emergency room visit for her daughter. That was with insurance, which covered 60% of the overall bill, and I feared a visit for me would be over $1,000. Since I am a military veteran, I am allowed healthcare in the VA Hospital system, but I did not know this until after I looked at the Veteran Administrations website. Once I saw they were open twenty four hours, I found a link to a document to apply for reimbursement. My hopes were lifted once I read the statement. “cost-free medical care, medications, long-term care and beneficiary travel for treatment of your nonservice-connected conditions assessed.” (Department of Veterans Affairs). Free medical care, medications, long term care and they will pay my travel expenses? This couldn’t be right. Where is my deductible or co-pay? Who do I have to call to get pre approval? I immediately filled out the document and went to the VA hospital. At the emergency room desk, I explained my predicament and asked how much I could expect this incident to cost. The nurse was courteous as she advised me that the only thing I needed to pay was $7 for any prescription medication. I thought I would be there for half the night, but I spoke with two doctors and had x-rays taken immediately. I was surprised that I was home in an hour and a half. I was thinking of the irony of my paper and my accident and told my girlfriend that I had just experienced Universal Health Care. Why was the service much faster and friendlier than I expected? Why was it not the awful Universal Health Care that we hear in the media? What would I have done had I not been a veteran?
Nearly 47 million Americans do not have health coverage of any type and over a hundred thousand more filing bankruptcy for medical expenses every year. The United States is the only wealthy industrialized nation that doesn’t provide coverage for everyone. According to the World Health Organization, the United States health care system ranks 37th in the world in quality and fairness and has the world’s most expensive health care system (Palfreman).
Some may be inclined to the view that politicians in Washington are acting too quickly and they should discuss the issue more. The debate reported by the media today is nothing new. It has been going on for nearly a century since Teddy Roosevelt campaigned in 1912 (Mclaughlin). The health care reform opponents have instilled fear of socialism in us for decades. They claim we will give up our freedom if we allow a single pay or universal health plan to take over. The American Medical Association preached this fear in 1960’s when Medicare was introduced (Moore). They even had actor Ronald Regan record an LP titled “Ronald Regan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine”. Reagan’s voice circulated through homes telling Americans how we would lose our freedom if the Medicare reform passed (Moore). Even after the success of Medicare, we still see these tactics today. In the final debate of the 2009 presidential election between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barak Obama, McCain said “Sen. Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America through – as he said, his object is a single payer system. If you like that, you'll love Canada and England. So the point is...” (McCain) .
What is so bad about Canada or Great Brittan’s system? There are no medical bankruptcies and everyone is covered. Health care reform opponents tell us that wait times in those countries are unacceptable compared to United States standards, citizens pay higher taxes, and the government makes decisions for doctors (Palfreman). Here in the United States, insurance companies make some of the decisions for doctors, don’t they? Some insurance policies require services and procedures to be preapproved for the policy to pay, even in the event of emergency services. Who has time to wait for coverage to be preapproved before being rushed to a hospital in an ambulance? So we are told to allow corporations to decide for doctors and continue to bankrupt Americans with outrageously high bills? What about health care in other countries like Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, and France? They all have desirable features. So why can’t we put together a plan that takes some of their features and works in the United States (Moore)?
There is no perfect health care model. Take for instance the German health system that has both private and public options. Approximately 90% of the population is enrolled in the public health care system. Germany allows those who can afford to purchase private health care to opt out of the public system. Even though the private health companies are not allowed to make a profit, it does not mean they won’t try and cut back on service. Author Anita Raghavan, in her article “Somewhat Socialized Medicine” published in Forbes, describes a comparison of health care service between two German citizens with the same illness, but different health plans. The citizen with private insurance continuously battled with his insurance company for treatment; while the citizen with public insurance had no problem with getting items and service recommended by her doctor for treatment. There was one exception, the public option would not cover an inexpensive balm to prevent bed sores. In comparison, the private insurer attempted to deny their patients breathing apparatus on grounds that it wasn’t specified in his policy. The patient stated “My insurer would like to see me dead.” Despite this, the German system has positive sides and is highly accepted by its citizens for good reasons. For one, there is no such thing as medical bankruptcy. Everyone is covered; medical procedures and drug costs are kept down due to the government forcing insurance and drug companies to compete with each other (Raghavan).
Unlike the German system, Taiwan does not allow anyone to opt out of the public healthcare system. They have no gatekeepers, meaning patients can go directly to a specialist without seeing a general practitioner first. And there are no wait times. Taiwan also has the lowest administration costs in the world at 2% of their Gross Domestic Product or GDP. Unlike the United States which spends nearly 15% of its GDP. Taiwanese are highly satisfied with their health care and have no medical bankruptcy. The new system was implemented in 1995 and still has room for improvement, but it is the most promising model for the United States to follow due to similar forms of government (Palfreman).
Everyone is covered in Japan. They have the lowest infant mortality rate along with the longest life expectancy in the world. There are no gatekeepers or need for appointments, and all prices are the same everywhere. Also, Japan only spends about 8% of its GDP for administrative costs. There are more private hospitals than in the United States. So, why would private companies in the United States not want to follow the Japanese model? One reason may be that nearly 50% of private hospitals in Japan are having financial difficulties. This is because the government negotiates a fixed price from every medical procedure to drug. Because the prices are set so low, the government would simply have to raise the prices at the next negotiation. Japan seems to have an opposite problem of the United States, where it is patients who go broke; doctors and hospitals are going broke instead. The private companies in the United States do not want to become like their Japanese counterparts (Palfreman).
But who would oppose something that would help so many? Medical attention should be given to anyone who needs it, not just to those who can afford it. Health organizations that make a profit in the United States don’t agree with this logic. The United States is the last wealthy, unregulated, price market left in the world. If prices of drugs, medical procedures, and insurance are regulated similarly to other countries, those businesses have reason to not want reform. In the other countries mentioned, insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit. During recent reform in Taiwan and Switzerland the major opponent was the health care industry itself (Moore, Palfreman).
If one looks at President Obama’s plan outline, he clearly states he would also not allow insurance companies to make a profit. In fact, Obama’s plan sounds very much like taking ideas of what works well in other countries and developing a system that will work in the United States (Obama). The health care industry representatives know if they still want to continue to be profitable, they need to defeat Obama’s bill. They rely on exploiting the fear people have with the loss of freedom in this country. They also state that reform will cost too much. But at the highest administrative cost in the world, who would it cost most? It would be the loss of profit to companies rather than the people of this county. If they succeed in keeping healthcare privatized, the insurance and drug companies will continue to make decisions based on profit or loss. We should not make the same mistake Germany did when it kept a private health care option. We need to have a single public system where everyone pays into with one option. That option being, that if you want more you can buy a supplemental private policy. The United States does not need to give up democracy or capitalism as health care reform opponents tell us. We already have socialized programs in place such as libraries, postal, school teachers, fire, and police services. The health and welfare of our people needs to be in the hands of the people, not corporations.
Works Cited
Amy Scanlan, et al. “A Comparison of US and Canadian Family Physician Attitudes toward
Their Respective Health -Care Systems”, Medical Care, 34.8 (1996): 837-844. Print
McCain, John. Barak Obama. United States Presidential Debate. Hofstra University. Hempstad,
19 Oct. 2008. Debate
McLaughlin, Neil. Talked to death. Modern Healthcare, 39.31, (2009) 20-20. Print
Obama, Barack. Joint Session of Congress. United States Capital Building. Washington DC.
9 Sept. 2009. Address
Raghavan, Anita. “Somewhat Socialized Medicine.” Forbes. 184.5 (2009) 86-94 Print
Sick Around the World. Frontline. Dir. Jon Palfreman. Correspondent. T.R. Reid, Documentary,
PBS. Sioux Falls.15 April 2008. Television
Sicko. Dir. Michael Moore. Dog Eat Dog Films 2007. DVD.
Sioux Falls VA Medical Center. United States. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009. Web. 26
September 2009.
