Universal Health Care Reform

The United States is known as one of the greatest world powers: however it is held back by its weak healthcare system. As of 2010 the US healthcare system currently ranks the 37th best out of 190 countries. Before the introduction of the Affordable Care Ac in 2010, the united States had an individual insurance market. It was the responsibility of the individual or their employer, to take care of their healthcare costs. On top of this millions of people could be denied insurance by different agencies due to pre-existing claims. Healthcare was expensive, but the costs were nothing compared to the medical bills owed by an uninsured person. Universal healthcare is a basic right not a privilege. Everyone should be given the opportunity to have health insurance no matter his or her income. Isn’t this the principle of freedom and basic right what America was based on? On half of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to an inability to pay medical bills. These problems all pose a question and the answer Is Universal Healthcare. The federal government has the interest of all American citizens on its mind and universal healthcare is a perfect way of highlighting that fact. The Affordable Care act provides low cost healthcare to the previously uninsured and guarantees continued healthcare in the case of job loss. Many people are still opposed to this act. This new system of universal healthcare will lead to improvements within the lives of American Citizens. There are many

Healthcare should be a right for all U.S. citizens because not only would it drastically lower costs from the current healthcare system for both the individual and the government, but also greatly improve healthcare rankings and satisfy the majority of the population. By expanding coverage to all U.S. citizens, universal healthcare would significantly lower healthcare costs for both the individual and the government. Without a doubt, something should be done to fix the current healthcare system; it is just a matter of what should be done. Over the past several years, the cost of healthcare in the U.S. has risen significantly and does not seem to lower, surpassing “$2.2 trillion in 2007”. Universal Health Care is a "Social Program", not "socialized medicine"; under Universal Health Care, one can choose any doctor(s) or public hospital (A "private" hospital, even in the U.S.A. today, is just that. A hospital that is exclusive to the general population according to the wealth and contacts of an individual. There is no "out of network" doctor, hospital or medical facility in the program.

Although division is seen between the political parties of the Republicans and Democrats, points exist to where lawmakers agree on the reform of healthcare. Lawmakers do, however, have three major points they agree. These points are the banning of underwriting by private insurance companies, providing federal funding to assistance low income families with securing insurance, and by accessing Medicare’s funding to its full advantage to reduce patients billing (Times Topics, 2009). While lawmakers have managed to agree on some points, by drafting a complete healthcare reform that is ethical. This will call for Congress to agree on a bill that fits President Obama’s views, requiring substantial research and planning.

Universal health care coverage is a dream that the majority of Americans have had for many decades. It seemed that the dream could become a reality with a major effort under the Clinton administration in the mid 1990’s. This effort was spearheaded by the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, and would have established a universal health care system for the entire nation. Unfortunately, after years of work, the effort ended in failure due to trying to modernize and finance universal health care at the same time (Rodwin, 2003). When the current President, Barack Obama, campaigned in 2008, one of his cornerstone promises was to develop a healthcare system that would assure affordable healthcare for all Americans through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care. With only a slight majority of democrats in the Senate and a large majority of Republicans in the House, this would prove to be an uphill battle (Moore, 2014).

The latest health care reform has done what few policies manage to do – sicken both republicans and progressive democrats. While we can all agree that a reform of the health care system is sorely needed, we must also acknowledge that “Obamacare” is not the cure-all we so desperately require. Rather, President Obama, like a medieval barber, prescribed a health care reform that treated the symptoms of our flawed system rather than the actual disease. The subsidization of health insurance providers has proven ineffective at providing affordable coverage for all. Certainly one is likely to hear the various incendiary talking points of both the proponents and opponents. Whether it’s the republican candidates blaspheming Obamacare as socialism, or the administration praising the success of health care for all, it is difficult to actually find constructive dialogue. We are purview to many sound bites, but few actual solutions. We have witnessed heated debates, but rarely do we witness intelligent discourse. If beneficial reform is to be crafted and implemented, we must first acknowledge the issues and inconsistencies of the current system and begin to explore alternate methods of providing health care to the American people.

Medical costs are getting too expensive. Ever fought with your insurance providers because they refused to pay for care, or struggle to find an “in-network” provider? I know a woman whose name I will change for her privacy and the struggles she is going through are a perfect example of an issue many people face when dealing with insurance; Nancy’s (name changed for privacy) story is a perfect example of how our healthcare system is no longer working for the people. Nancy is this woman whose husband recently passed away. Nancy used to work for county and county workers cannot receive social security; and Nancy is too

The debate over whether or not universal health care is an achievable reality in the United States has been a longstanding one. Most of us have heard people from both sides of the political spectrum duke out the logistics of the Affordable Care Act, but what’s really the deal? Despite us being the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care, there are still a lot of conservatives and insurance companies who argue that universal care is an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Why exactly are Republicans in such vehement opposition? Let’s find out:

Long before the 1990s when Ms. Clinton fought for a Universal Healthcare system in America, the issue of America’s healthcare had been a political quandary. The enactment of the Republican administration’s Health Management Organization Act of 1973 was a weapon meant to address that crisis, yet, it did little to fix the problem. While the liberal Democrats are fighting for Universal Healthcare coverage for all Americans, the conservative Republicans are fighting to maintain the current private health insurance, however, with some revamping of the system, which preserves the capitalistic element of the status quo. The reason for the two opposing views stems from their differences in political ideologies, which theoretically is like pitting socialism against capitalism. While the liberal Democrats’ endorsement of Universal Healthcare system is socialistic in practice, the conservative Republicans’ fight to retain the private or market based plan is unarguably in support of their pro-capitalism stance. The truth, however, is that, though almost every American believes in capitalism, yet, almost none would vote to disband the Medicare and the Medicaid programs, both of which are socialistic. In that light, the argument of a pro-capitalist nation is negated, as we do already have a socialized healthcare program for the seniors and the poor. Extending that concept to include

While the Affordable Care Act itself was supposed to be a solution to the healthcare issues in current America, many are calling for a solution to the Affordable Care Act due to the fact it isn’t as effective as promised and hoped for. From its inception, as seen by existence of the Supreme Court trial, Republicans have said the solution to the act is to overturn and remove it. Republican candidates running for office at every level of government, from state legislator to President of the United States, has discussed their intent to overturn or work around the Affordable Care Act. While the majority of Republicans agree on a solution, Democrats are split on what is the best solution, if one is even needed, to the current Affordable Care Act. One of the most discussed solutions by Democrats is to build off the success of the

At the moment, President Obama, Republican and Democratic members of Congress, the American Medical Association and America’s Health Insurance plans all agree that a change is needed to the current system. There is little debate that the health care is necessary but a lot of debate on how the change should be done.

The article illustrates that how republican candidate, Donald Trump, wants to change the aspects of health care. As mentioned in the article, Trump wants to make vast decisions on health care and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Wilensky, 2016). The Affordable Care Act was created in order to help individuals obtain insurance. The Affordable Care Act was created during Obama’s presidency and is a part of Obamacare. If Trump is elected, he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which can cause a variety of issues for those individuals who depend on it. There has also been a discussion about raising the Medicare eligibility age of 67, which would make it difficult for individuals who need the help before the age of 67. Individuals rely on the Affordable Care Act and Medicare because it allows them to have access to the

Democrat and Republican Platforms share different yet similar views on government funded healthcare, Democrats are all for universal healthcare while the Republican Platform disagrees. Since the Democrats helped pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in 2010 commonly referred to as Obamacare, over 20 million American's gained healthcare coverage and was ensured that they wasn’t denied coverage for a pre-existing condition (Our platform, 2017, pg.31). Also, under the Affordable Care Act Americans could access public coverage through a public option, and those that are 55 years old could opt in to Medicare (Our Platform, 2017, para.2). Medicare and Medicaid were the two programs that were passed under the Affordable Care Act. Medicare covers

U.S. health care reform is currently one of the most heavily discussed topics in health discourse and politics. After former President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform in the mid-1990s, the Bush administration showed no serious efforts at achieving universal health coverage for the millions of uninsured Americans. With Barack Obama as the current U.S. President, health care reform is once again a top priority. President Obama has made a promise to “provide affordable, comprehensive, and portable health coverage for all Americans…” by the end of his first term (Barackobama.com). The heated debate between the two major political parties over health care reform revolves around how to pay for it and more importantly, whether it

“We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year.” The preceding is a powerful statement from the newly elected President Barak Obama. One of the main aspects of both political campaigns was health care reform. The above quote shows passion and encouragement, but the quotes about health care do not end there. Georgian republican gubernatorial candidate and health care policy maker John Oxendine expressed: “Their proposal would virtually devastate the private healthcare sector in this country along with competition and patient choice, by replacing it with bureaucratic planning and government control. The result of this plan and its one trillion

Currently, the issue of health insurance has been a bone of contention for the public regarding whether the United States government should provide this health plan or not. People often possess different perspectives and refer to pros and cons on both sides of the spectrum. While some believes a universal healthcare system will set a foundation for a lower quality of service, increasing governmental finance deficit, and higher taxes, others do not hold the same thought. A universal healthcare system brings enormous advantages rather than disadvantages, such as all-inclusive population coverage, convenient accessibility, low time cost, and affordable medical cost, all of which not only provide minimum insurance to the disadvantaged but also improve the efficiency of medical resources distribution.