Health Insurance Reford

Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with ensured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage for all is pretty simple. This country needs the United States congress to act out legislation assuring essential health care coverage for all.

Considering that the United States ranks low in health status, the percentage of its population covered by health insurance is also low. Health care should be a right that all Americans has, not a privilege. (McGovern) With this in mind, everyone should work to extend that right to every American. “To succeed at it, we must find common principles that unite us and move beyond what divides us.” (Sweeney) We must work together to make coverage accessible to everyone. As a nation, we are all facing a crisis of the uninsured, and if it doesn’t get fixed, then the problems will never go away and the percentage of uninsured people will keep going on a rise. (McGovern) Preventative care, total overall costs, and morality are just some of the few arguments for getting coverage for everyone.

A lot of people that go without preventative care treatment would most likely prevent them from suffering later down the road. Seventy percent of uninsured men who are the correct age for prostate cancer screening don’t have these tests done. Is it such a wonder why they don’t do this? Maybe it is because there isn’t any insurance to cover these tests. Also, forty six percent of all uninsured women who are the correct age for mammograms don’t have them. It’s such a shame that these people go without these, which in the end could detect diseases and prevent it all before they get sicker. (Sullivan) Consequently, people who are uninsured die earlier than those who are insured. They simply don’t get the care that they need, and if they even did, it gets delayed. (McCabe)

Things like routine physicals, mammograms, and HIV tests could prevent major problems. It doesn't only affect the health of the patient, but the overall cost of the system. Preventative medicine only cost a fraction of a full blown disease, which means it would still cost a lot for a patient to deal with in the end. (Messerli) Thinking about this, it shows that if the preventative care of testing would lower the cost of the medical bills. But also, how would they pay for the bills in the first place? Both preventative care cost and the overall cost without getting the care would equal out, because the patient couldn't pay for it either way. It would just put them in debt.

The preventative care also follows to Medicaid problems. As Medicaid only covers some people like children and people with disabilities, it only covers half of the medical expenses. For the elderly and the disabled, it doesn’t cover long-term nursing home care or prescription medications. (Reese) If things weren’t bad enough, Bush administration has opposed broad cuts to Medicaid by up to ten billion dollars. This is

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going to force Medicaid programs to cut services and enrollment. (McGovern)

Most of the people who are uninsured are the working poor, which the overall costs of medical care can hurt them. By the means of doing their best, these people just can’t afford the insurance. Health care has become increasingly unaffordable for businesses and individuals. (Reese) Premiums grow several times the rate of inflation, and many businesses are choosing not to offer a health plan. Even if they offer a plan, it passes more cost to the employees. Facing these high costs are basically denied and go without, since it may be better in the long run since they will go into debt. It has been known through research that the millions of medically uninsured pay a heavy price for their limited access to the system. They get less screening and preventive care. Also their diagnoses are delayed, which makes them sicker and die earlier than the insured people would.

At one point, the uninsured use to be able to get treated at most public clinics and hospitals, but the surplus revenues are no longer there for doctors and hospitals to provide uncompensated care. Prior to this, care was achieved largely through cost-sharing that was cycled into care for someone who couldn’t afford