American Health Care Time For A Change Essay

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While there are many terrifying things in the world today, there is one thing that I fear more than anything else, medical care. But why, doesn’t the United States have some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world? While that may be true, the fact is that their services cost a lot of money. The cost of health care in America is growing exceptionally larger every year, and is currently a multi-billion dollar a year business. Companies are turning huge profits while poverty stricken people struggle to get the help they need. The rich stay healthy while the poor get sicker simply because the wealthy can afford to buy these services. Even having adequate insurance to help cover some of the cost can be challenging for most during these troubled economic times.

Between the rising rate of unemployment and many employers simply not carrying any kind of coverage to conserve costs, many people are stuck trying to pay for medical insurance out of pocket. I myself have absolutely no health insurance at all due mainly to the fact that I simply cannot afford it and that is why I fear needing medical attention. In the event of a severe medical emergency I could still go to the hospital and legally they would be required to provide stabilizing treatment, but if more serious attention was needed or if I needed to be admitted I would be stuck without the necessary support.

A good example of being stuck without support can be illustrated by Nick Cassavete’s film John Q. [2002], starring Denzel Washington. The movie is about John Q. Archibald, a father whose young son Michael collapses during one of his baseball games. Michael is rushed to the hospital and is later diagnosed with an enlarged heart and needs a transplant. However, because the company John works for dropped him from full-time to part-time, this changed his health insurance from a preferred provider organization (PPO) to a health maintenance organization (HMO) and the new policy will not cover the surgery. The administrative director of the hospital tells him that the only way to ensure his sons name is placed on the list of likely recipients is to pay $75,000 in cash. The family tries to raise the money by selling their possessions, but is only able to raise a third of the necessary funds. Eventually the hospital gets tired of waiting for their money and decides to release Michael, essentially creating a sure death sentence for his little boy. In an act of desperation, John takes a busy Chicago emergency department full of patients captive until the hospital puts his son's name on the recipient's list. Throughout the film we see changes in the views of the cardiologist and hospital director, from the “pay-to-stay” attitude to the “lets preserve life at any cost” outlook. At the end of the film, his son receives his life saving heart transplant and John is sent to prison for his crime of kidnapping.

Now while I do believe that taking hostages to get your point across is extremely unprincipled, I feel that I should point out that this film is based on a true life story. That means that at some point in time, there was at least once, a parent told that because they couldn’t afford to pay the bill their child was going to die. That seems more unethical to me than taking extreme measures to save the life of someone you love. It shouldn’t matter how rich you are, if you are ill and you need help, complete care should be provided regardless of financial requirements.

People come first, that’s why I feel a universal health care (UHC) system would be prudent to adopt here in the United States. Some kind of plan that guarantees comprehensive health benefits for all American citizens and legal residents,...

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