US Healthcare System: Challenges, Weaknesses, and Issues, and Universal Health Care Model

Almost a decade ago, the US healthcare system was pronounced to be disrupted and broken. Despite a series of actions by the US government and its new policies, the healthcare system in the country has still not improved. The government has failed to fulfill its promises and revise the structure appropriately. At present, nearly 45 million US citizens are uninsured and those who are insured are often faced with high premiums that they have to pay. The US healthcare system is under these challenges and obstacles and it needs strong reforms on an immediate basis. This paper aims to study shortfalls of the present healthcare reforms and how this inhibits open access to healthcare. The concept of the universal health care system is also elaborated. Moreover, a few other issues regarding the healthcare system and various reforms are also discussed in this paper.

As the US government is finding ways to counter healthcare issues and cater the uninsured or underinsured citizens, shortfalls in the healthcare system are increasing at the same time. The increase in cost and poor results of the healthcare treatment are serious topics to discuss. It is believed that in the coming decade, these issues and problems will double and will get even worse giving way to further unexpected challenges. It is clear that the technological advancements being made in the health care would increase the level of competence, but at the same time pressure will be exerted on the cost of treatment and access to health care.

As already discussed, it has been more than 10 years that the US healthcare system is unable to provide adequate and efficient services to patients / citizens. Despite being the only nation which spends more than any country in the world, the death rate due to illnesses and injuries is the highest in the world. According to a survey, in 2010 the US spent $2.6 trillion. This can be called as the deficiency of the healthcare reforms. The present healthcare reforms are putting barriers for delivery of healthcare services. As a consequence, conflicts between patients and the healthcare staff are becoming common in this country. Recent polls have proved that Americans are not satisfied with the quality of the healthcare system and services provided to them (Sultz & Young, 2010).

Comparison of America’s GDP with other states.
Figure 1: Comparison of America’s GDP with other states.

It is very significant to understand the public’s opinion regarding the present healthcare system of the US. This will help the present government work towards better reforms and successfully implement them. It will be easier for the government to recognize gaps and find ways to counter them. However, nothing as such has been evidenced from the present government and present reforms are in no way supporting or helping the Americans for acquisition of high quality healthcare services (Fernandez, Chaikind, & Peterson, 2009).

The present reforms, however, invest handsomely every year on each individual healthcare, but the strategy and poor implementation makes it almost impossible to fulfill the needs of the patients effectively. It can be easily understood that the present healthcare system of USA is in disarray. Due to this, the Americans distrust for healthcare system is increasing gradually giving way to complex issues and creating a huge gap between the public, the healthcare industry and the government (Wood, 2011).

The reason why Americans do not get the highest standards of care and service they deserve is because of the poor reforms and their pitiable implementations. In order to make the system work in the right direction and for delivery of better services to the public, a major change in reforms is required. Investing huge amounts in the healthcare system when the public cannot utilize them in an appropriate manner is completely useless and a waste. Preventive care is not being utilized by the healthcare industry. This ultimately results in huge investments in advanced and complex diseases. The chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart diseases and diabetes etc. are often left neglected or are not treated effectively. Patients are also not given self management services tutorials so that in case of emergencies they can manage themselves until they receive proper medical service. This results in the failure of health services and care given to patients by healthcare professionals. Change in reforms should be made addressing the issue in a way that proper investments are made in the right area and at the right time following the right setting. To be more effective than reforms should be introduced which allow changes in the service outcomes and the covering expansions, both at the same time. Through this, it might be possible that this change will influence people in a positive way and will help build a healthy America.

Universal Health Care is a healthcare system in which the government covers medical expenses of every citizen. Healthcare and health insurance is given to every citizen. The basic aim of this system is to ensure better health outcomes and improved health services for every individual. Universal health care does not ensure that all facilities will be offered to all people. Various factors affect this decision including what to deliver, which group to serve and how to serve. The system is not present in the US, and the healthcare system of the US is not in any way similar to this. However, goals of both systems are somewhat similar, but their outcomes are completely different form each other as patients and public are not satisfied in the US.

It can be undoubtedly said that no one is against the expansion of healthcare services, but a way to achieve it is yet to be decided. If the present stance of the US government is observed then it can be easily concluded that it is ready to invest and is already investing a lot in healthcare sector, however, what needs to be focused are the reforms which are poor and inefficient. My personal experience regarding the healthcare expansion is not so good. According to me, a lot can be done with the introduction of proper reforms. With the formation and implementation of improvised and better reforms, healthcare sector may jump to a better level where it can provide high quality health services to patients and that no conflicts among doctors and patients will take place. Unfortunately, the death rate in the US due to diseases and injuries is the greatest in the world; this keeps the country far behind in the international race and making me and many other people sad and concerned. It has been almost two decades that the healthcare of the country is in a mess, but no appropriate reforms have been put forward or applied. This experience is surely negative, but I believe that if the government works on the healthcare system then it can be improved, and its expansion can be beneficial to many Americans in remote, rural, and urban areas.

References

Fernandez, B., Chaikind, H., & Peterson, C. L. (2009). Health care reform: An introduction. Washington: Congressional Research Service.

Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. M. (2010). Health care USA. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Wood, C. (2011). The US healthcare debate: A History and Implications. Web.

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