Introduction
In general, health care reform refers to a set of governmental policies with the objective to increase the overall quality of services and decrease the cost of health care. The traditions and methods of medical treatment have been thoroughly developed and improved since the very introduction of health care as a formal institution. The continual reforms have shaped the medical industry in the United States leading to its present state.
Debate question
Should the American people be satisfied with the current state of the healthcare system, or is it necessary to reform it?
Position
Naturally, there is still room for improvement, and it is vital to implement health care reforms to increase the overall quality of health care in America.
Problem
Unfortunately, the current health care system has a large number of flaws and inconveniences that negatively affect the cost of services, and insurance, and decrease the overall quality of health care. For instance, the statistics demonstrate that the USA takes the top place in healthcare expenditure and has been experiencing a steady increase for the last century (Ortiz-Ospina, 2016). Despite the immense amount of money put into the industry, the USA is frequently criticized for having the worst medicine among the developed countries (Amadeo, 2020). The recent research supports this evidence and demonstrates that, compared to the rest of the developed world, American citizens desire a complete renovation of the health care system (Papanicolas et al., 2018). People are primarily dissatisfied with the cost of the treatment, waiting time before the appointments, and social inequity (Papanicolas et al., 2018). Lastly, the American health care system was not prepared for the challenges caused by the pandemic.
Benefits of the Health Care Reform
Having acknowledged the existing flaws of the healthcare system, it is essential to continually improve the state of medical treatment and implement health care reforms. First of all, it is necessary to address the increasing cost of health care services and complications caused by the pandemic. The price issues primarily emerge due to the high cost of pharmaceutical goods and administrative payments, which could be better regulated by governmental policies (Papanicolas et al., 2018). At the moment, more than 60% of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills, which is a critical number for a major industry (Djordjevic, 2021). Health care reforms might also be implemented to create more preventive programs and promote a healthy lifestyle (Amadeo, 2020). As mentioned before, American citizens have little trust in the health care system; therefore, client-focused reforms might have a great impact and change the image of the industry.
Furthermore, it is necessary to address the flaws of the system that were revealed by the pandemic complications. According to the research, more than 11% of American citizens do not have health insurance, which leaves them highly vulnerable due to the cost of the treatment (Amadeo, 2020). This problem was further complicated by the COVID-19 consequences that revealed the grave state of the health insurance system (Djordjevic, 2021). Moreover, the pandemic has led to more than 3000 deaths among medical workers, implying unsafe conditions of treatment (Djordjevic, 2021). Ultimately, there are still a large number of problems concerning the health care system in the US, and it is necessary to implement effective reforms to reduce the overall cost and improve the quality of medical treatment.
References
Amadeo, K. (2020). Why do we need to reform US health care? Web.
Djordjevic, N. (2021). 34 eye-opening healthcare statistics to know in 2021. Web.
Ortiz-Ospina, E. (2016). Healthcare concentration in the US. Web.
Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L. R., & Jha, A. K. (2018). Health care spending in the United States and other high-income countries. JAMA, 319(10), 1024-1039. Web.