National Health Care System for Insurance Program in America

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Table of Contents

Important Requirements for a National Health Insurance Program
The State of Insurance in the United States
Health Care Expenditure and Quality of Services
Conclusion
Works Cited

The American health care system has been regarded as a failure and one that does not meet the direct needs of ordinary American citizens. The ever increasing cost of health care is believed to have led to the existence of scores of uninsured Americans (Himmelstein and Woolhandler 1).

Unlike most other nations, it is alleged that the United States spends a huge chunk of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care services. According to analysts, what the United States spends on health care should be sufficient to cater for the needs of all Americans (Boychuk 15). This, however, is not the case given that many Americans are still unable to benefit from the apparent heavy expenditure on the provision of health care services by the US government.

As noted by Laham (13), many patients continue to suffer despite more than 20% of America’s GDP being used to meet health care costs. In the year 2012, for example, several individuals and families became bankrupt as a result of spending quite heavily on health care services. Ostensibly, insured individuals have not been spared considering that their health insurance covers are inadequate to meet all their medical expenses (Laham 14).

For this and many other reasons, it is obvious that the United States needs a national health care insurance program that can effectively address health concerns of its citizens. The heavy allocation of the national budget to the provision of health care services certainly needs to be justifiable.

Important Requirements for a National Health Insurance Program

It is imperative for the US government to identify various stakeholders who can be consulted in the process of designing an effective national health insurance program. Stakeholders may be individuals, private and public organizations or community heads. Apparently, leaving out key players in the process has been seen by most medical practitioners as a hindrance to effective delivery of health care services to US citizens.

Rather than denying them an opportunity to be heard, they should involved at every stage in order to alleviate loop holes that may be hidden within policies put in place to govern the provision of health care services. Presumably, the involvement of key stakeholders in policy making will eliminate any form of bias in the health care system and ensure that it can meet the needs of all Americans equally.

Unfortunately, institutions such as the American Medical Association (AMA) have been accused of working against the implementation of plans meant to benefit individuals who may be unable to meet the cost of insurance (McCanne 115). Instead of promoting fairness AMA has been on the forefront of those accused of promoting unfairness. By and large, this has made it possible for greedy individuals within the medical sector to gain heavily while millions of Americans are denied the opportunity to access affordable health care services.

The high cost of health care services in the United States can thus be linked to the activities AMA and other like minded organizations. Allegedly, these organizations have contributed to the suffering of many by being biased and only focusing on the affluent in the society while ignoring families and individuals who cannot afford the cost of insurance services.

It is thus critical for the US government to constitute a group that is well balanced and able to represent individuals at all levels in the society. The group must be include people of strict morals who will treat everyone the same and show favoritism to no one. Of paramount importance is to protect the interests of all patients regardless of their status in the society. Whether poor or rich, every individual should be able to access affordable health care services.

Apparently, many people are poor to such an extent that they can not afford the cost of health care services. A number of physicians have argued that the US government should take up the responsibility of funding health care services instead of leaving everything in the hands of private health care providers. In this way, the government will guarantee fairness to all individuals and ensure that everyone benefits.

The State of Insurance in the United States

Scores of people in the United States are subjected to poor health conditions as a result of lack of a well organized insurance program. Without access to affordable insurance cover, the health of individuals will progress from bad to worse. In a worst case scenario, some of the patients eventually succumb to death (Kovner 52). The case is, however, different for those able to access medical insurance. Considering that they can access insurance services easily, they seek highly specialized medical attention that makes it possible for them to recover from their health challenges easily and go on to live for even longer periods.

The increased cost of insurance also has ripple effects that are felt by both individuals and employers. While a certain percentage of the Americans can access insurance, it is alleged that insurance covers may not be sufficient to meet all their health care needs.

Employers are equally affected as they may not be in a position to effectively have their employees covered due to the escalating insurance costs. Due to lack of affordable medical care, sick employees fail to get adequate treatment and this affects their performance at work. Decreased performance on the job later creates a situation where employers do not get value for their investments.

Health Care Expenditure and Quality of Services

As stated earlier, the huge expenditure by the United States on health care in comparison to other countries world wide does not necessarily imply that Americans are all well taken care of medically (Yamagishi 45). As a matter of fact, many citizens face serious challenges when it comes to accessing affordable health cares services. In addition, the heavy spending on health care by the United States does not automatically lead to high quality services for its citizens.

From an international viewpoint, the United States is rated poorly in terms of both life expectancy and infant mortality. While the US government has continued to increase its expenditure on health care, the level of quality has not improved with an equal measure (Mayes 35). Many are persuaded to believe that this is the outcome of an imperfect health care funding system.

To a large extent, health care funding in the United States is channeled through private health care service providers. Apparently, the situation would be completely different if the US government took up the whole responsibility of funding health care services through out the United States. Most health care plans are devised to meet the needs of the affluent in the society and this leaves many poor people at the mercy of unscrupulous business men and women.

Conclusion

Certainly, the United States needs an insurance program that can effectively answer to the needs of all its citizens. More often than not, lack of access to insurance and affordable health care services denies most patients the chance to seek early medical care. This leads to poor health conditions and in some cases, death of patients. Arguably, past efforts by various stakeholders to come up with an all inclusive insurance program are yet to bear any fruit.

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that the society if full of people who are only interested in pursuing their own selfish interests and pay very little attention to the cries of the poor. Greedy business men and women often find their way through a flawed system leaving the poor to suffer the negative consequences of their actions.

Given that an unhealthy population will contribute to national development as expected, it is imperative for all stakeholders to come together and devise a health insurance program that is all inclusive. As explained previously, the US government should consult widely regarding the delivery of health services for all Americans.

Rather than channeling its funding for health care services through private institutions and allowing them to be in charge, concerned individuals have pointed out the need for the US government to be fully involved in the whole process of delivering health care services to Americans in order to ensure that no one is taken advantage of by dishonest business men and women.

Works Cited

Boychuk, Gerard. National Health Insurance in the United States and Canada: Race, Territory, and the Roots of Difference. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008. Print.

Himmelstein, David, and Stephanie Woolhandler (1989). “A National Health Program for the United States”. The New England Journal of Medicine. 320.2 (1989): 102-108. Web.

Kovner, Anthony. Jonas and Kovner’s Health Care Delivery in the United States. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, 2011. Print.

Laham, Nicholas. Why the United States Lacks a National Health Insurance Program. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993. Print.

Mayes, Rick. Universal Coverage: The Elusive Quest for National Health Insurance. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004. Print.

McCanne, Don. “A National Health Insurance Program for the United States”. PLoS Medicine. 1.2 (2004): 115-118.

Yamagishi, Takakazu. War and Health Insurance Policy in Japan and the United States: World War II to Postwar Reconstruction. Baltimore, MA: JHU Press, 2011. Print.

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