Toils of American Healthcare

 Part I: 

            Healthcare in America has been known to be the epitome of many low income families in the United States. Most fail to make enough money to meet the annual insurance fees and are not able to receive healthcare. Currently, there are roughly 50.7 million citizens who are not able to afford medical insurance ( Wolf, Richard ). This is almost a two percent increase of the American population since last year. A causation of this most unprecedented fact is the recent recession in the U.S. economy. Never in history has there been such a deteriorating factor amidst our country. America is also the only developed country in the world that fails to provide a universal government sponsored healthcare system. Many can say that the quality of being a Laissez Faire nation being deeply embedded in our roots has created this problematic health insurance monster, yet it is definitely one of the United States’ most symbolic characteristics. Having a healthcare for Americans all over the country will provide and without a doubt, will generate better communities. Many have criticized the system and health insurance companies for its outrageously static prices that apply to all citizens regardless of monthly income. By creating a new healthcare system and replacing the current one, we, as a nation, are able to fix parallel issues such as poverty. Many have already figured out that they simple cannot afford the current price for insurance, so they do not even bother getting it. While some may interject to declare that this idea is preposterous and that a proper healthcare plan should be placed at the top of priorities list, not having any insurance may not be such a bad idea for low-income families. There are many pharmaceutical products being researched today and countless reliable drugs are being produced to help insure annual well-being. Not to mention over-the-counter medicine is proving to be more and more effective. With all of this in mind, the only problem remains with the mindset and responsibility of the individual. If one takes daily precautions and have a safe mentality, there should be no reason for injury. However, unlike a perfect world, accidents will and do occur and sometimes even spontaneously. By entering an emergency room without health insurance is where most families meet their downfall. Bills from the emergency room are sky rocketing and cause  major downward spikes for many family budgets. As stated by George Anders, “Each year Americans pay about 100 million visits to hospital emergency rooms, visits that generate about $14 billion in bills” ( Anders, George p.133 ). Ultimately, this is why healthcare may not seem like a benefit for low-income families, but when the risk factors and the cost factors are weighed, pay for insurance seems reasonable. Subsequently, even some of the better, more costly health plans do not cover every problem one encounters in life. In response to this problem, around 900 thousand citizens in the U.S., in 2010, resorted to something called Medical tourism ( Jain, Manoj ). Surgeries relating to dentistry and even eye care have become so expensive in the United States that citizens decide to travel to other countries, such as India, to get the procedure done correctly and for a much more affordable price. For those who are not able to do this, the only choice for them is to actively support political leaders in our nation who propose adjustments that will help them toward this goal of cheap if not free healthcare. Present Obama is exactly the symbol of hope for this particular issue. During his campaigning period and his first few years of presidency, he has hoped to achieve the seemingly impossible with Obamacare.

Part II:

            The most devastating part of this situation is how it arose. In the mid 1900s, Medicare and Medicaid were introduced into the U.S. system. Originally it was geared toward the elderly, but Medicaid advanced even further. States were required to pay for five basic services which included inpatient and outpatient care, laboratory, x-ray, and nursing home services ( Kronenfeld, Jennie Jacobs ). This began the trend for the development of more and more corporations. Now, as prices on coverage are increased by the insurance companies, it directly affects and escalates to the threshold of many customers who are willing to pay for insurance. As the pool of insured patients decrease in size, the costs will continue to rise in hopes to retain profit. In conjunction with the declining economy, the change becomes more drastic. As a result more and more patients are forced to go without insurance, enter the emergency, and leave with big-numbered bills. President Obama has therefore created Obamacare coming into his presidency in order to hopefully optimize a system that lowers financial insurance of United States citizens classified as low income households. The Patient Protection  and Affordable Care Act passed on March 23, 2010 after long hours of devotion by Obama to try and convince senate members to vote in the bill’s favor. This bill focuses mainly with the Medicare program of America and targets at “provide better coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, improve prescription drug coverage in Medicare and extend the life of the Medicare Trust fund by at least 12 years” ( Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act ). In addition, this act is mainly directed at those who supported President Obama during his campaign for presidency in 2008. A majority of the aspects incorporated into this law provide advantageous solutions to small business owners and white collar workers of America. And so, a greater amount of people are qualified for Medicaid while states cannot restrict their opportunity without losing federal funding ( Medicare and Medicaid ). Nevertheless, there were and still are dissenters of this March law such as Judge Roger Vinson of Florida. He believed that it was unconstitutional to force Americans to buy health insurance and “that the so-called individual mandate was ‘inextricably bound’ to other parts of the legislation” ( Health CareReform Follow-up ). The driving force behind the rationality of this act was that the increase in taxes was going to be the main fuel to reimburse the United States government in terms of funding. However, with President Obama’s 2011 tax cuts in order to please the resentful Republicans, national debt has started to rise once again. In a report released by the House of Energy and Commerce Committee, “the cost has increased from an already staggering $938 billion price tag to $1.445 trillion” ( Kessler, Glenn ). In unison with the already built up dissent among Congress and now the increasingly higher-than-estimated cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama is going to have to formulate a balance between the people and the political leaders of this country if he wants his healthcare plan to succeed.

Due to my interest, I volunteered at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland for community service. During my four years of volunteer work at Kaiser, I have been fortunate enough to meet people very different from the folks in the Contra Costa county and definitely those who harbor a much more difficult life due to their current economic position. By tending the Surgery Information Desk in the main lobby, I had met with people young and old, who, regardless of how far they lived from the hospital and how distant the relationship to the patient, came and asked for directional help. Simultaneously, this volunteer service I happily performed gave me a sense of pleasure from helping those in need and taught me communication skills in a professional setting. This opportunity invested in me and other volunteers is all thanks to the consideration of Kaiser, one of many health insurance companies available. However at the same time, I’ve also had the chance to experience displeased and infuriated patients while working in the emergency room. During my month of training in the emergency room of filing papers and such, I’ve witnessed tantrums of countless patients who have come to complain about their bill. I cannot vouch for outstanding quality of service for each and every patient, but I know that Kaiser has a reputation of outputting satisfactory care. Nevertheless, let it be major or minor injures, the cost of this “good service” comes at a hefty price for those without healthcare. This situation is a direct correlation to how corporations function in America in order to gain the most profit. Without sacrificing the quality of care as one of the top hospitals in the nation, it perseveres to gain most of its income from the emergency and patient stay departments. Fully taking advantage of those who do not have health insurance with Kaiser, it charges high prices, even though sometimes it’s rightfully justified for the amount of labor required. This serves as a warning and justification for patients to consider and sometimes convince families to apply for an insurance plan. As a result, corporations such as Kaiser have successfully lured more and more prey looking for survival into their trap.

Part III:

            During the past year and even today, healthcare costs have ceased to stop rising and are estimated to continue their ascend upwards, slowly but steadily, as President Obama tries to counterbalance this phenomenon. The primary problem is that President Obama has been very restricted in seizing opportunities to reach out to the people about his cause. Many do not understand these increases in health insurance and are, more often then not, corrupted by the opinionated lectures in news reports and one-sided columnists. Obama must try to slowly release information to support why it is important to stick to our insurance plan and not drop out short. If successfully done, President Obama can worry less about the nation’s general poverty and uncontrollable corporations and focus mainly on reducing the national debt and refining his health reform. Similarly, the government and medical corporations needs to focus less on emergency procedures, but rather more on methods that can be passed on to the general populous so that they can check and keep a constant check on their own health daily before a serious problem occurs. Americans even ranked the idea of prevention to be one of the top desires out of the medical reforms in this nation ( Thompson, Tommy G. ). When one can appropriately monitor their condition and possess the knowledge to continuously counteract the illness, the value in this procedure becomes invaluable. Our nation, similarly to a soda machine, just keeps on taking more and more money and returns unhealthy results and products which then fuels this unconscious cycle, mainly corporations, of addiction. On the more localized level, doctors or even employees can formulate ways of saving money in their own hospitals. One example is that they can “challenge overly stingy treatment guidelines and push for wiser standards” ( Anders, George p.245 ). At the same time, many potential advocates can even suggest more obvious solutions such as going against medical extravagance to save funds and get rid of inefficient working methods.

            As a freshman in high school, I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to gain experience working in a hospital because I want to pursue the medical field of work as a life goal. Attending this volunteer program at the Oakland Kaiser has been one of the greatest choices of my life. Every hour I have volunteered, I have meet new and interesting people as well as learn how to accommodate with different types of visitors. Gaining social communication skills along the way has been invaluable. I also received the chance to mature in a corporate medical facility and to build my patience with difficult-to-handle people. The most rewarding part of this job included training new volunteers at the information desks located around the Kaiser block. Not only did I receive such a great opportunity, but I am able to share the toils I had to go through and forewarn these students so that they may achieve success quicker. The most invaluable part of this volunteering experience is the time I got to train and hold my own in the emergency room. Here, nobody has anytime for slackers and unless you learn to be quick minded and quick handed, there is little to no hope in such a professional environment. I had witnessed first-hand how proficiently large corporations such as Kaiser Permanente takes precautions for the safety of their customers by constantly improving the quality of their programs. Not only does Kaiser prioritize the health and well-being of it patients through its medical resources, it also spends the time to improve the environment of the hospital to hopefully make the visitors navigate easier. This medical corporation, Kaiser, has particularly given me a clear vision of how money flows toward the rich. Not only are they able to achieve such a high level of service due to reliable workers, they are able to expand their parameters to reach an even further and higher horizon those without such funds.