1).Group one presented the class with information about the American Health Care system, along with the health care systems of other leading Countries which includes: Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. We learned some scary statistics about how our countries health care system stacks up against these other countries. As presented on the poster board by Jenna, out of the five different health care systems we learned about today, the United States health care system ranks the lowest. How can this be, are we not one of the superpower countries of the world? I heard on the radio yesterday while driving to school that “Fifty million dollars is being spent on new uniforms for the TSA”. (Fox News) How is it that our country has the means to spend fifty million dollars on new uniforms when there are many uninsured or underinsured citizens with serious medical conditions not being treated or receiving inadequate care? To me fifty million dollars sounds like a lot of money, I’m sure to anyone fifty million dollars is a lot of money. In the American Health Care system, fifty million dollars would hardly make a difference. Annually there is “seven hundred and fifty billion dollars being wasted” (Marissa) in different areas of the health care system. Out of the five different countries presented, the United States was the only country without some form of universal health care. Even though we are the only country out of the five presented who do not have universal health care, we currently have the most expensive health care system.
So why is our health care system so much more expensive than the other countries that have a universal health care system? “The United States Health Care system uses about 17.9% of our gross domestic product (GDP).”(Marissa) Which may not seem like much, but “Germany’s health care system uses only 10.5 % of their nations GDP”. (Marissa). The US health care system is much more expensive for many different reasons. I believe one of them to be that the health care system is a business in the United States. “Providers largely charge what they can get away with, often offering different prices to different insurers, and an even higher price to the uninsured.” (WP) When you go to the doctor’s office even the emergency room, you are charged for every test given, you are even charged an administration fee for the paper work being done. Other reasons why health care is so expensive in the US are: the cost of new technology and the price of the ever increasing prescription drugs. We have the access to cutting edge drugs and treatment; it’s being able to pay for it is the problem. Although the United States has the most expensive health care, we also are the leading country in healthcare research and cancer treatment. “Chronic diseases that require long term, expensive treatment contribute to majority of costs.”(Marissa)
Even if you are insured in the United States that does not necessarily mean that you will receive the highest quality care. You even may be required to pay for some portions out of your own pocket. “In the United States 25 million are underinsured (19-64) which is a 60% increase from 2003.”(Marissa) Medicare and Medicaid are two government healthcare agencies who provide insurance. “Medicare is available for those 65 and older and Medicaid is available for those who are below poverty.” (Hinderer CN) “Medicare only has a reimbursement rate of about 40-60%; so many different providers will not accept this form of insurance.”(Hinderer CN) With these two you will not receive a very high quality of care; many providers who accept this form of insurance have a lower quality of care and have a higher percentage of patients to be treated then some of the other providers. Recently Obamacare or the Affordable health care act was established, which forces every person to have some form of healthcare insurance. If you do not comply you will have to pay a fine for not having healthcare insurance. There