CSUS Transfer StudentAmerican Governments Health care costs is a major epidemic in the United States. The major focus of concern is access to health care for low income individuals. If we can switch the focus off government reliability nationwide, and focus more on non-profit organization partners hips assistance, we can contribute more financial stability for this major epidemic in our country while maintaining health care budget and preventing anymore debt from our high per capita costs. Compared to other highly developed country, United States was the least successful in mortality rate, yet we spent the most money per capita as stated earlier. Patient care should be a priority, yet the federal government is reluctant to organize our health system.
Congress had repealed a 2017 tax bill which charges a penalty for not having health insurance. This is affecting the vulnerable population who may not be able to afford the skyrocket costs of health insurance premiums, service fees, and out-of-pocket deductibles. The impact causes people to be more at risk from of ignoring a serious disease due to the intimidating costs. Our vulnerable population is greatly impacted by expensive health care costs. Our vulnerable population are groups of individuals with increased risk for developing adverse health outcome s (elderly, racial minorities, single parents, refugees, veterans, mentally ill, unemployed, etc). Many non-profit organizations will acknowledge their disparities while our government programs may resist the biases in health care affordability by limiting availability of assistance while increasing taxes on the middle class. Non-profit hospitals have prioritized assistance in their policies such as Mercy San Juan Medical Center. Ultimately, the current U.S. health care system is not working if an entire population is being neglected. We must be creative enough to design and organize more non-profit organizations that are not entirely reliant on our government who will fund mainly certain projects and research. We can deliver health care without relying on taxes and funding by the support of banks and non-profit organizations. Partnerships between non-profit organizations can create new programs with resources for those whom may not be able to afford quality health care. We would be able to resolve the different challenging dynamics in our health care system. There has been a substantial decline in health care coverage in California during 2016 and 2017. Nonetheless, state policymakers have been trying to expand health insurance for Californians while maintaining current coverage plans. Health care plans must be supported by the state because that is where plans receive their financing. Majority of the health coverage is from Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and Covered California which was established by the Affordable Care Act. Medi-Cal has lost many members due to their strict government policy to maintain under a certain income. Covered California is an option to those individuals, however, monthly premiums are based on income which does not take into account other factors such as car loans, monthly rent, and other financial responsibilities. Medi-Cal and Medicaid is where the majority of health care spending occurs. Total cost of health care spending has reached the trillions! Per capita, our spending has reached around $6,000 per patient according the Centers of Medi-Cal and Medicaid services and National Health Expenditures. Citizens are burdened with increased costs as we continue to increase our health care spending. Tax increases may deplete public health leading us into a vicious cycle of poor health and an increase in national debt. Financing through funds with the partnerships would make money available for health care programs. These programs could focus on a wide arrange of health issues for people who may not have access to expensive health care. For instance, we can create a public health program that focuses on preventing cancer to those who are at a higher-risk or we can create a program that assists cancer patients by providing health screenings and chemotherapy. There are a variety of possibilities if we focus on working together to serve humanity. Although we can improve with great strategies for health care reform, we must also appreciate and become fully aware of the opportunities in our own community . There is a substantial amount of people working hard to prevent diseases and assist people with their health concerns. It is important for people to feel like they are a part of a community who cares about their health socially, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Once people feel that they are encouraged to seek help, then we can prevent health conditions early on which will eventually lead to decreased spending on health care overall.
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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