Only Certain Groups of People are Entitled to Specific Medical Care - Essay Example

Topic: Only certain groups of people are “en d” to specific medical care (be critical and evaluate with respect to US) The health care system inUSA is not a socialized health care system as in other parts of the world. In USA, people get medical benefits only if they own medical insurance claims or pay for the treatment on their own. According to the health care reform law, it is mandatory for every citizen of USA to have medical insurance policy in his name. The health reform bill that was upheld by the federal court in USA aims to improve the infrastructure and quality of the health care system and make medical facilities accessible to everyone in USA. Health care not considered a right in USA in the past In USA, health care in not considered as a fundamental right. A person can avail the services if he can pay for it but he cannot force any person to provide him the service even if he desperately needed it (Health Care Is Not a Right, 1993). So, it was only the rich and the affluent that could pay and avail the medical services. Unlike a hair cut service which is provided for free in USA, medical services had to be earned. To provide medical facilities to a person without paying was considered as charity. It was thought that if medical care became a right the quality of medical facilities and health care would deteriorate. Health care system in USA Before the health care reform became valid in USA, there were many loopholes in the health care system in USA. Life expectancy in USA was less than most of the other developed nations. The average spending on the medical facilities by an American often exceeded the other costs (Medical Care in the USA, 2012). People went bankrupt because of the high amount in the medical bills. Companies provided for medical insurance policies but often went beyond the profit margins of the company. According to a survey by the US census bureau, around 46.3 million American citizens remained uninsured in 2008. Health care expenditures reached $2.2 trillion in 2007 which was 16.2% of the US economy. 62.1% of all bankruptcies in USA in 2007 were related with medical bills. Despite of being the richest nation, it had the highest number of people suffering from cancer. With the passing of the health care reform act in 2010, there is hope of bringing in changes in the system. The health reform law- a critical evaluation On 23 March 2010, the Affordable Care Act in USA was upheld by the federal court and was declared a law. This was also propagated by the present president of USA. The law covered areas like providing insurance facilities to those without such claims or with a pre existing medical condition, reducing the spending on medical care, making health care facilities affordable for all Americans (HealthCare.gov, 2012). The health care law also has facilities for unemployed and people holding small business. According to the law, any business company having up to 50 employees is considered as a small business. These companies are entitled to receive tax credit b benefits if they pay an average annual wage of less than $50,000 and also provide health insurance to its employees. The law also provides benefits t o self employed people depending on the state in which the person resides. This shows that medical benefits are no longer restricted to a few sections in the American society. There are many people who favor the clauses mentioned in the health law. They proposed that the law would help to improve the condition of public health. In USA, health care is the largest industry and majority of the medical units are owned by private bodies with a few controlled by the governments or federal bodies. The law would reduce the pending on medical care which would then prevent bankruptcies from occurring. The proponents also stated that America had the highest number of people suffering from prostate cancer. This was due to the poor facilities in the public health care system. In contraction to these facts, were the opponents who believed that generalizing heath care facilities would reduce the quality of health care in the states. They did not consider the government to provide healthcare to every citizen. They also pointed out the socialist dimension in the law which said that using tax revenue paid the working class to provide health care to all Americans would demonstrate a socialist behavior. It would be unfair to use the revenue paid by the people who work for the people who contribute nothing in it. It would deteriorate the quality and availability of health care for the people who work hard to get their medical benefits (Right to Health Care, 2012). They were of the opinion that it was the responsibility of an individual to ensure a disease free life ad not the government. Ensuring a general health care system would increase the waiting time which can threaten patients suffering from chronic diseases. The people in favor of the law said that right to health care should be made a civil law. Nobody should be discriminated against receiving medical benefits. Health care is essential for sustaining a society just like the water and drainage facilities. The opponents contradicted it by saying that health care should not be allowed to be controlled by government. They should continue to be run by the private bodies that would ensure better service and efficiency. Besides, it would put additional pressure on tax expenses thus affecting the individual and economy as a whole (Right to Health Care, 2012). After the affordable health care law got enacted in 2012, it became mandatory for all employers to provide health care benefits to the employees. But a recent report has shown that there are many employers who are still not clear about the law. Though t he law has been accepted in most states, many employers cited that they do not have a proper strategy to implement the law’s 2013 provisions which included features like distributing summaries of healthcare facilities to the employees and reporting of the value of health coverage on the W-2 forms of 2012. The employers were also not ready for the expansion of the Medicaid programs in the states. According to this program, the states need to cover almost all people with earning up to 133 percent according to the federal poverty level. States like Florida and Texas have rejected to implement the Medicaid program in their states. This would mean a large number of the poor people living without any health care facilities which in turn, would increase the cost for the employers. The law also laid down measures like paying penalties if an employer fails to provide health care benefits to its workers (Employers Are Caught Up in the Five Stages of Health Care Reform Ruling, 2012). Benefits of the US healthcare reform Despite of all the negative sentiments that the health care law had received, it was approved by the USA government finally. There are many ways by which the law could help an average American citizen. The healthcare reform bill would help to relax the burden on US hospitals especially in the emergency wards. It would also help to increase the number of primary care physicians. The law also predicted that an estimated 32 million people in USA would be receiving health insurance over the next 10 years. It guaranteed quick medical aids to people before they become critically ill. The law would also help the hospitals in getting their payments on time from the patients who cannot afford to pay their medical bills. It would also provide reimbursement from the US government to the bottom line doctors who accept the Medicaid program and treat the poorest people. This would encourage new interns to become primary care physicians. Lastly, senior citizens would be hugely benefitted from the law as it would enable them to receive aids for purchasing their prescribed drugs or medicines. This shows that the medical care facilities were accessible to everyone in USA. Conclusion USA generates its highest revenue from the health care industry which is also the largest industry in the nation. Every human being has the right to live happily and in healthy living conditions. But in USA, health care facilities were meant for only the affluent section of the society. Providing health care to people who did not have the capability to pay for it was largely discouraged by the American people. But after the enactment of the Affordable Health Care act in 2010, there were many changes in the health care scenario of USA. Medical insurance policy became mandatory, payment of medical bills became easier, insurance claims were provided to people like the firemen in USA who were not entitled to such benefits before. The condition in the public health care system like providing reimbursements to primary care physicians was introduced. Thus, it becomes clear that the Affordable Health Care act of 2010 dismissed most of the claims of the people who were against it thus making the health care facilities available for every American citizen. References Employers Are Caught Up in the Five Stages of Health Care Reform Ruling, (2012), retrieved on July 21, 2012 from: http://www.workforce.com/article/20120719/NEWS02/120719925/employers-are-caught-up-in-the-five-stages-of-health-care-reform# HealthCare. gov, (2012), retrieved on July 20, 2012 from: http://www.healthcare.gov/using-insurance/employers/index.html Health Care Is Not a Right, (1993), retrieved on July 20, 2012 from: http://www.bdt.com/pages/Peikoff.html Medical Care in the USA, (2012), retrieved on July 20, 2012 from: http://www.rapidimmigration.com/1_eng_coming_medical.html Right to Health Care, (2012), retrieved on July 21, 2012 from: http://healthcare.procon.org/#Background Read More