I believe that healthcare should be a privilege, and personally I feel the health care reform is a bad idea. I think that if it does happen then the level of care is going to tremendously go down. There are going to be anyone and everyone going to doctors for things that maybe prior to the health care reform they would not have gone for. Getting into a doctor’s office is going to be more difficult. I do not foresee that it is a good thing for the health care field. If health care was made more affordable then more people would be able to have it. With healthcare reform that puts us tax payers in the position where we are going to have to pay for those who do not hold a job but still will receive health insurance provided by the government. According to cnnmoney.com you will lose the five important freedoms that many of us enjoy the opportunity to have. For instance being able to choose what specialist you are able to go to or what premium you are going to decide to go with for that particular calendar year. I think that we should have left things how they were and not have had the health care reform pass.
References
Tully, S. (2009) 5 freedoms you’d lose in health care reform. Retrieved on February 16th 2010 from
http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/health_care_reform_obama.fortune/index.htm
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you think. I think that our forefathers did not want health care to be the way it is going today. In America, you get what you work hard for and hardworking American's should not have to pay more for those who do not hold jobs, may be illegal immigrants, etc. The way I look at it, the more we allow health care to become a right, the more we lose other rights. Like you said, people will have to wait longer lines, won't get the choice of doctor they want to see and probably will not get as good of health care as otherwise. I am aware that Canada offers socialized medicine, however I also hear about Canadian's coming to the U.S. for healthcare. Could that be because the U.S. provides BETTER health care? Well, you get what you pay for. I plan on going into the health field and becoming an Occupational Therapist. It is going to be interesting to see how the health care field ends up.
There are many valid points you make in your blog that I didn't really think about when I wrote mine. I can see both sides of the coin a little better now. While I don't like the idea of us "richer" people having to be told we are going to be taxed to make up the difference fot those that don't work, I also don't like the idea that those without medical coverage rack up tons of bills and possibly never pay them. It makes me think they are getting away with something. I had a hard time separating the right to be healthy vs. the right to have healthcare coverage, because to me, the chances of you being healthier depend on coverage. Make sense? That is sort of how I looked at the issue. Upon further research in your blog and others, I see the negative effects the Healthcare Reform can have. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteWe are/have all paid into the government where social security/Medicare is involved. That money also goes towards Medicaid. In this happy "everyone gets insurance" world, we'd all still pay, probably even more so everyone could benefit. What's the motivation for someone to better themselves when they get handouts to the government? I realize not everyone who receives government assistance is like this, but there are many. The government and everyone else owes them something all the time. I've worked in the health care field for many years now, and I have been asked some crazy questions. One example: A 45 year old woman, "Medicare covered my gastric bypass surgery so I could lose weight and become "healthier" but now they won't pay for me to have an elective cosmetic procedure (abdominoplasty) to remove all this excess skin that the weight loss caused, and now I feel even worse about myself than I did when I was heavier." Why is a 45 year old woman on Medicare? She's disabled... due to depression. Yes, that's where are tax dollars are going, to people like this (and those who actually need it).
And since we're all putting money into the system, why isn't the government paying the physicians? There's been a hold on Medicare payments since the spring. Now many physicians have stopped accepting Medicare because they aren't getting paid and don't know when they will. If physicians don't get paid, they'll have to close their offices. And Medicare patients are trying to find doctors who will accept it now.
Thank you for your post, Melissa!
Melissa, I truly understand your concerns about the health reform. However, I do not feel that this reform is a bad idea. There might be some aspect of the reform that needs to be change but it is not all bad.
ReplyDeleteScenario 1: you didn’t have any insurance ( for varies reason, couldn’t afford, job didn’t offer) but know you can afford to obtain insurance for you and your child. The insurance company will be happy to cover you but will not pay any claims for your child’s asthma. They consider your baby’s illness as preexisting.
Many families are burden with this concern every day. It is not as though you went out and asked to be plagued with a chronic disease and your child surely should not have to suffer for it. The reform now eases this burden for many families. Insurers will no longer be able to exclude children with preexisting conditions from being covered by their family policy.
Scenario2. The scare you had about your nose. If you lost your insurance coverage for more than 2mths, it may be difficult to obtain coverage in the future. Your previous scare about your nose can be considered preexisting condition. The reform addresses this issue for adults, being excluded for preexisting condition stop Jan.1, 2014.
Taxpayers are currently paying for those who do not hold a job (I am talking about those who just do not wish to work). It would be nice to provide affordable healthcare to everyone. However, what you and I consider affordable may be different from our peers and will be different for our elders. Not to mention, those who stand to lose money if healthcare was cheaper. Doctors, hospital, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies etc. no one wants to lose their added privilege of house, cars, yachts, boarding school, vacation homes. Corporate America is not willing to do this.
I truly understand your concerns with level of care and access to specialist. However, we need some change/reform to our healthcare system. Future health educators will have the ability to teach preventative measures and to assist in many more in primary care. We have too many resources in tertiary care and not in enough in primary care.
Keisha
Namaste Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree to disagree,the health care reform is going to cut down the quality of health care Americans will receive.The health care reform will force some families to purchase health insurance that is double what they pay in mortgage; In addition doctor offices and hospitals would be overflowing with people,and when that happens it will take hours maybe days for patients to be seen.
I disagree! with you on health care being a privilege. Our fore fathers wanted us to have unalienable rights...life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness; in order to have a happy healthy life American citizens should have access to affordable health care. The 8th amendment makes it to where even prisoners have proper health care. If you did not get a chance to view the videos in module 2 you should it is an eye opener. There are hard working Americans with small businesses who cannot afford to insure their families because the cost is too high. Some insurance companies will not approve people because they have too many health complications. Does any of that seem right? We have a right as human beings and as citizens of this country to treated humanely and to have the best chance at prosperous life; we cannot do that without support from our health care providers. Health care is not a privilege it is a right.