I don't know too much about health care, but I know it will be something major later in my life time. I know that a lot of people in the United States today are uninsured because its rising prices. I did a little research and found out that the price of health care from 2001 to 2005 increased 30% while income only increased 3%. I find it difficult to understand why the price jumps up so quickly and why it costs so much, but I do understand why alot of people do not have it now. I also learned about the underinsured people in health care. These are people who have health care, but stuggle to pay for it. A lot of them are faced with rising health care premiums, deductibles, and copayments, as well as limits on coverage for various services or other limits and excluded services that can increase out-of-pocket expenses. One of my sources says that the number of underinsured has grown 60% over the past four years. This surprises me because that is a fairly large number to reach in a short amount of time.
I get worried when I think about how I'm suppose to afford health care for myself later in the future. I will probably have school loans to pay for, car insurance, gasoline, food, perhaps rent for an apartment, and on top of all of that health care for myself and possibly for a family I have to support. I learned that approximately 50 percent of personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses and that 28% of middle income families haver serious problems trying to pay for health care. I heard that the United States is fast becoming one of the worst health care systems in the world and that not only are they the only industrialized nation that does not provide some form of universal health care to it’s citizens, they have one of the highest rates for health care expenditures. I can only hope the price decreases by the time I have to take care of those kinds of things myself.
"I learned that approximately 50 percent of personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses and that 28% of middle income families haver serious problems trying to pay for health care."
ReplyDeleteThese numbers always jump out at me as well.
I like what you mentioned about being able to afford health care when your older. This something that almost everyone can relate to. We will have just about the same expenses, if not more. It is not going to help if their are less and less jobs also, that would make it hard for us to make money to pay our bills. Health care is expensive, and I do not see how it will get any cheaper. Are they going to stop offering certain packages? That can not be the case, they need to come up with a way that all Americans and business owners can afford health care at a reasonable cost, with out taking things away and cutting corners.
ReplyDeleteI think that the price of healthcare might depend on the economy as well as the quality of education that people in medical services have as well as the new equipment and treatments. For the first idea, if one would pay a lot for med school, they would expect a huge salary, right? They would use that money to pay off their student debt. For the second reason, if there was a new type of treatment for a disease, the cost of it might be high since there is not a high demand for it. (Compare the cost of cold medicine to cancer treatment, for example.) One also has to consider fees that a hospital has to pay, such as energy bills and money toward lawsuits against the hospital. It's surprising how much money people are in debt due to medical expenses.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned not being able to pay for health insurance for yourself and then mentioned getting the uninsured people insured. However, its going to cost people like you me to pay for their insurance through an increase in taxes. Getting everyone covered may be a great thing for us as a country, but it will not benefit the hard working people who are already insured. The middle class has their own problems and costs to pay for, so why should we have to pay for the poor to get health insurance? Universal health care could also lead to higher costs in other medical expenses as well as a decrease in the quality of medical treatment. So although it sounds like a good thing, you should research the effects of it more.
ReplyDeleteWould you consider the current state of health care to be more of an issue of illness or an issue of economic greed? I believe that the big corporations that control are health care have caused our current debacle. Would you rather have a socialist medicine where everyone is covered and paid for by tax money or would you rather have a program like CHIP where only the eligible are covered? It seems to me that programs like CHIP, because they are state run, are more efficient than an over arching government plan. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteIt is in fact a crucial issue for our generation. As we think about our future jobs, life and living without parents' roof over our head, healthcare is a influential matter for us. Since I am very active in dangerous sports and activities, good portion of my parents' income goes to hospital bills for my injuries. As long as I stop doing dangerous and extreme sports, even for my future, i will need a effective health care.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you made the research personal, because you're going to have to deal with healthcare for yourself one day in the future, and so are all of us. I think the numbers and statistics that you found are pretty scary. 28% of middle class families being unable to afford healthcare is a lot, it's freaky.
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