...Do you believe in Universal Healthcare? COMM 215 Carolina Gasca Universal Healthcare? Healthcare Reform? The United States is considered by most to be the greatest country to ever grace the face of the planet. It has the largest military, the largest economy, freedom of speech and religion, and one of the first “successful” democracies and of course, the American dream. Yet, what is the one thing that most people seem to forget? That the United States of America, the most dominant force in the world, is also the only westernized industrial nation without a Universal Healthcare system. At an astonishing $2.6 billion spent on health care in 2010, or 18% of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product, the United States also spends more than any other country in the world on a failing health care system, only half of which actually goes towards hospital visits and physician care. Clearly, something has to be done, especially as 48.6 million Americans remain uninsured. The question then begs, what can be done to solve the financial woes of America as well as to ensure that no American has to worry about a lack of medical insurance? The most obvious, and actually in many ways simplest, solution is to develop a universal, comprehensive, organized and public healthcare system that covers all Americans for medical necessities, including doctor, hospital, long-term, dental, drug and preventive care costs. As soon as the term “Universal healthcare” is brought to light, the far...
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...unreasonable for being the wealthiest country in the world. Throughout the film some of his main arguments include, the fact that the American health care system is subject to fraudulent decisions, aiming towards governmental funds, rather than the rights of American citizens. He also compares America’s health care system to others around the world, arguing that countries with the benefit of having health care are much better off than those that are not. Throughout the entire film, Moore is making an attempt to get through to the people of the middle class. He wants them to stand up for their constitutional right, health care. You don’t have to accept what they tell you, you should be aware of your rights. Moore uses many methods to support his argument that universal health care is better than government regulated health care. For example, he traveled around the United States to ask many different people about their health insurance. The most touching story was from a mother who lost her 4 year old because the hospital refused to care for the child due to lack of health insurance. If the government and insurance companies can refuse to give treatment to a mother and her sick child something is clearly wrong in America. They know the child is sick, but because he/she doesn’t have the proper insurance they can’t be treated? That is absurd. Ultimately it makes everyone want to have a universal healthcare system, just so they can help other individuals who are stuck in the same situation that...
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...People do not believe in free healthcare until they have an accident and could not pay for their treatment. Some people in the United States consider that healthcare should be the individual’s responsibility. They affirm that healthcare is not essential for the society, and using the government funds and support would diminish the accessibility, quantity, and quality of health care. Also, they think it would increase the government debt and deficit. Contrary to these arguments, most Americans sustain that universal healthcare will contribute to the country in many ways. The United States Government should provide free universal healthcare to American citizens, because it is a human right, improves public health and saves lives, benefits the...
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...The United States faces a long battle to repair its economy. Issues like unemployment, the federal budget deficit, immigration, gun control, etc, seem to create never ending discussions without any resolution. The healthcare system is one of the many issues that have been affected by the economic crisis and according to president Barrack Obama, reform is a must. Besides all economic factors affecting the healthcare system, the system has been blamed for inefficiency, excessive administrative expenses, inappropriate waste, and fraud and abuse. Many Americans today are having trouble keeping up with the continue rise of healthcare costs and many firms cannot afford to provide coverage to their employees. Although the government is working on a reform for the healthcare system, many questions are still pending to be answered. One question that has raised polemic discussions around the country is: should the U.S. government provide healthcare to all citizens? While many feel there should be a simple yes or no to this questions, many others realize that we do have to consider any potential ethical, moral or legal issues that can cause collateral damage to our economy and also the healthcare system. President Obama has been focusing on a reform for the healthcare system prior to his first election and to give a little overview of his reform, according to The White House (2013), see table below: Overview of Health Reform “It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest...
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...course grounds as to why all states do not full support each and every citizen. This paper is supporting the expansion of Medicaid, providing counter arguments against Medicaid expansion, and stating why it is this paper is in support of Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion could assist “About 406,000 Texans with mental illness and substance abuse disorders…” this doesn’t even include those who just don’t have the required income to qualify (Chang, Medicaid). I am for the expansion of Medicaid. Medicaid aids those in need, those who struggle to maintain themselves,...
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...political leaders for many years now. Michael Moore believes America’s health system is morally corrupt which is unreasonable for being the wealthiest country in the world. In many instances throughout the film, he argues the fact that the American health care system is subject to fraudulent decisions, aiming towards governmental funds, rather than the rights of American citizens. Furthermore, he compares health care conditions from around the world, arguing that countries with this benefit are much better off than those that are not. This movie is an attempt to encourage middle class individuals to stand up for what Moore thinks of their Constitutional right, health care. In the movie Moore uses different techniques to support his argument that universal health care is better than government regulated health care. One of which was to interview individuals around the United States about their health insurance experiences. One of the most memorable stories came from a mother whose four-year-old daughter died because she was refused care at a hospital. The way Moore sets up this particular interview is unforgettable. As she begins telling her chilling account, the camera zooms into her face. When the camera zooms out, we see that behind her is a playground full of children. As the woman begins to break down and cry, we realize she is flipping through the pages of a photo album dedicated to the memory of her lost daughter. As you can see Moore uses an immense amount of pathos in...
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...[pic] Title: Total and State Medicaid Spending Growth FY 2000 - FY 2012 Description: With the expiration of federal stimulus funding in 2011, state spending on Medicaid is projected to rise 28.7% in 2012, while overall Medicaid spending will increase 2.2%. Source: Historic Medicaid Growth Rates, KCMU Analysis of CMS Form 64 Data; FY 2008, 2009 and 2010, KCMU survey of Medicaid officials in 50 states and DC conducted by Health Management Associates, 2011. Topics: Medicaid / CHIP Included in these Slideshows: KFF.org Data Spotlight Slide Date: October 28, 2011 Introduce the issue. Describe the problems in the U.S. healthcare system and how we might use another nation's healthcare system for reform. Evaluate how a new system would improve access to care, quality of care, and the efficient utilization of resources. Define the problem. a. High insurance premiums and out of reach for many American who remain uninsured. b. Drug companies are widely perceived as greedy and insensitive. c. Differences in prescription patterns related to insurance coverage. d. Medicaid patients are more likely to be prescribed generic drugs than patients who have commercial health insurance. e. Unethical behavior by the insurers that shows many institutions have violate fundamental values. f. Negative relationship between the insurers and physicians, personal-satisfaction ratings for health insurance plans, public concern about HMOs in particular and the health care...
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...the United States and Canadian Health Care Systems Canada In the 1960’s, Canada reformed its system providing a universal single payer health care system which covers all services provided by physicians and hospitals it is mostly free at point of use and has most services provided by private entities. Single payer health care is the financing of costs of delivering universal health care for an entire population through a single insurance pool. The government took over full funding of both physician and hospital services, setting minor physician fees and hospital budgets. Everyone is covered at all times. United States of America For the past 8 decades, the U.S. has run its country on a private health care system where the individual pays for their choice of health care. Depending on the coverage of the health care amounts to the cost. In the U.S, government funding for health care is limited to Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers senior citizens, the very poor, disabled people, veterans and their families and children. The United States is the only country in the developing world that does not have a fundamentally public tax-supported health care system. The National healthcare debate is one that has been a continuing arguing point for the last decade. The goal is to provide healthcare to all Americans, regardless of whether they are able to afford insurance or not. In 2009, the U.S. National Health...
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...National Health Care: “Proposal to the U.S. Government and U.S. Citizens” The United States of America (the United States) health care system has been described as most advanced and competitive, but at the same time inefficient and fragmented. According to the United States Census Board, health care system in the United States is ranked thirty-seventh in the world. More than 54% of the American Citizens are dissatisfied with the current health care system, but we also spend more than the citizen of other nations: we spend 15.9 percent of GDP on health care compared to other advanced countries in the world like France, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Australia (U.S. Census Bureau). Assessing the performance of the health care system is the most difficult task. Public and Private Health Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP. U.S. and some selected countries: (from Kaiser Family Foundation) A few years ago, when my mom turned forty years old, she discovered that she has a blood pressure problem. Prior to that she did not have a medical insurance when she found out about her problem. After discovering that she has a blood pressure problem, she applied for medical insurance in five or six health insurance companies, but they rejected her application because she had a preexisting medical condition. Finally, Kaiser Permentant Medical Insurance, accepted her application; however, they charged her twice the amount of monthly payment for her medical insurance. Around last...
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...Although the physician does not directly end the patient’s life, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) occurs when the physician provides the means (i.e. information or drugs) to commit suicide. Patients who request PAS from their doctors usually suffer from terminal illnesses, such as AIDS, cancer, or neurological disorders, in which death is inevitable, and it is estimated that 12% of physicians receive at least one request for PAS per year (Beck, Wallace, Starks & Pearlman, 1996). While some people believe that the ability to end life in those cases is critical for preserving human dignity, PAS is still a controversial topic because others do not consider assisted suicide moral. The main argument against PAS is that it is contradictory to traditional religious beliefs and philosophical systems. For example, suicide has been considered a sin by the Catholic Church because the people believed God was responsible for creating life and was therefore the only one who had the right to take it (New York State Task Force on Life and the Law [NYSTF], 1994). Although that belief cannot be proven in science, some social groups still consider that God is the only one with the right to take life, and their personal beliefs must be respected. In Ancient Greece, suicide had also been regarded as an abandonment of duty, but current trends are starting to favor individual well-being over compliance to social norms and expectations. Some physicians also believe that using anesthetics should...
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...Women’s Health Ethical Issues Research Paper NURS 318P Women’s Health Care A controversial topic that is currently being considered is the application of an early HPV vaccination in younger girls and boys. This sensitive subject has ethical implications and valid points can be argued both for and against the concept. Individuals that are for early vaccination hold that the vaccine prevents transmission of HPV, decreases chances of developing future complications, and is more cost effective in the long run. Individuals that take a stand against early vaccination will say the vaccine promotes risky sexual behavior, is not safe, takes away from parent’s autonomy, and is not cost effective in the immediate period. The following information will give insight to both sides of the argument and a personal stance on the issue. The first example in support of early vaccination is the prevention of transmission of human papilloma virus (HPV). There are symptoms that can occur as a result of having an HPV infection. Gardasil is found to be successful in preventing HPV infections from types 6, 11, 16, and 18 (Donahou, 2013). A benefit of the HPV vaccine is the provision that there is use of accepted medical technology that will prevent serious diseases when possible and minimize pain and suffering (Donahou, 2013). Vaccinating both young girls and boys is found to reduce HPV transmission (Chen, Shepherd, & Becker, 2012). White states “this vaccination may help prevent...
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...Executive Summary The health care in the United States has often been credited with being some of the best money can buy, though with the caveat that it does not provide health care to all its citizens, and millions are left with woefully little or no health care coverage. However, in Canada, universal health care serves its entire population, though there is also criticism that the care it does provide lacks the quality of the most expensive health care services in the U.S. This paper will examine the truth behind the quantity and quality argument between the universalized health care in Canada and the health care system in the U.S., while also taking into account the recent reforms made to the U.S. system and how it impacts such a comparison. Canada and the United States Comparison of the health care systems in Canada and the United States are often made by government, public health and public policy analysts. The two countries had similar health care systems before Canada reformed its system in the 1960s and 1970s. The United States spends much more money on health care than Canada, on both a per-capita basis and as a percentage of GDP. In 2006, per-capita spending for health care in Canada was US$3,678; in the U.S., US$6,714. The U.S. spent 15.3% of GDP on health care in that year; Canada spent 10.0%. In 2006, 70% of health care spending in Canada was financed by government, versus 46% in the United States. Total government spending per capita in the U.S. on health...
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...Age Discrimination and Age-Based Rationing of Health Care Crystal LaShae Hunter HMP671 – Ethics in Health Care - Fall II 2015 (Week 6) Valparaiso University Author Note: “I have neither given, received, nor have I tolerated other's used of unauthorized aid." Age Discrimination and Age-Based Rationing of Health Care Health care as a social good, requires a tremendous amount of a nation’s expenditures; and health care is not the only social good that a nation must consider, there are also the social goods of defense, education, public health, and infrastructure, to name a few. In the United States alone, the percentage of the GDP spent on health care over a three year period, from 2011-2013, averaged 17.066% (17.1%, 17.0%, 17.1%, each respective year) (The World Bank Group, Inc, 2015). In retrospect, despite the passing and subsequent implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, with the final aspects of the bill effective January 1, 2015, the ever-rising cost of health care may never truly subside, as the nation’s baby boomers continue to age and subsequent chronic conditions often associated with aging such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, and certain cancers increase with the aging population. In fact, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2015), Medicare accounted for 20% of total US health care expenditure in 2014, growing 5.5% and expected to “accelerate after 2015” in direct correlation to the expected increases in use of medical...
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...A GUIDE TO ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL This matrix has been prepared by a group of Catholics who feel that a systematic comparison of the arguments for and against the reproductive health (RH) bill may still serve some purpose at this juncture. It may help to bring the debate from the emotional temper which has characterized it thus far, to a more rational temper in which both sides attempt to comprehend each other’s perspectives. It is hoped that this presentation will allow each side to view the other’s argumentation as the legitimate offering of reasons in good faith which ought to characterize a democratic process of deliberation. Such a process must be valued equally by all who are committed to living together in a democracy, be they Catholic or non-Catholic, pro- or anti-contraception. Questions in the final column are provided to aid further reflection, with a view to clarifying positions and, perhaps, to building compromises that are morally and politically acceptable to both sides. Eleanor R. Dionisio ISSUE ANTI-RH BILL PRO-RH BILL QUESTIONS I. LEGISLATION OF AN RH-BILL Necessity of RH Bill 1. Overpopulation 1. Overpopulation is not the problem. The problems are government corruption and the unequal distribution of wealth and resources. 1. Managing population growth is not the sole solution to poverty but is part of the solution. Are overpopulation and graft and corruption mutually exclusive issues? Or ought they to be addressed...
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...Ethical Dilemma From Current Events Ethical dilemmas are everywhere in healthcare. They range from whether to vaccinate children to life and death issues. They cover the lifespan from birth (or I should say conception, as abortion is a big one) to death (no matter what age that may occur). For the purpose of this paper, I purposely stayed away from life and death issues. I have a strong moral and ethical stance on allowing patients to die with dignity. Keeping patients alive or giving treatments to prolong life without quality is so against my morals. If the patient chooses to become a DNR or refuses "recommended" life sustaining treatments, they should have the autonomy to do so. A recent example in the news is the death of Steve Jobs. Now that he has passed away, everyone and their brother are saying that he was a difficult patient. They say he refused lifesaving treatments and surgeries. This is easy to say now that he has passed. We cannot go back now and do a Whipple on him to compare how much longer he would have lived. Whipples are extremely involved procedures and can lead to many complications, with no guarantee of prolonged life. Monday morning quarterbacks are a dime a dozen. The ethical issue that I choose to use for my paper is the recent dilemma of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for boys. Vaccinations in general have always been on the list of ethical topics in healthcare. From parents of newborns who believe in the false link between vaccinations...
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