Major Barrier to Healthcare Reform

    


     The healthcare system in America seems to be under constant criticism. I am not someone who keeps up with all of the changes or the hottest political news topics. I honestly probably should much more than I do. However, whenever I do tune in it seems to be that some aspect of healthcare in America is being discussed. There is either some attempted reform going on, or maybe some candidate is using a healthcare policy as their ticket into office. As someone who doesn’t keep up too closely it is hard for me to pick a specific topic to discuss about in regards to healthcare. I did think it possible though, to discuss the barriers that come up whenever healthcare reform is brought to the table.

     The biggest issue when it comes to improving the healthcare system is politics. The political climate in the United States has become just extraordinarily polarizing. The two major parties are now simply refusing to meet in the middle and find a compromise. This is on any issue, not just healthcare. When the two parties that govern the country act this way it makes it extremely difficult to find progress. Unfortunately, the topic of healthcare has developed into a major political tool. Candidates constantly use it as one of their platforms they run on. Promises are made, but with the way politics are those promises almost never come to fruition. 

     Obviously, one specific topic that is often discussed is the possibility of making America’s healthcare system resemble more of a universal healthcare system. There have been expressive proponents for it, and there has also been a very loud opposition against it. I think it is very hard to argue against the idea of universal healthcare. It would be ideal for everyone to be able to have the same access to quality healthcare. However, the biggest barrier regarding a change to this is funding. The money will have to come from somewhere. So far, I have yet to see anyone come up with a legitimate way to fund such a drastic change. With the country's current financial situation it is almost an impossible ask. 

     There have been suggestions to raise the taxes on the wealthy, but that can only go so far. The median household income is just over $70,000. If you make $70,000 in the current tax bracket you will pay about $4,800 plus 12% over $10,276. However, anyone who makes at least $100,000 will be paying at least $15,000 plus 22% over $41,776. Those numbers can jump drastically depending on how much income there is. The top 10% of income earners pay over 70% of the total income taxes. In a study conducted in 2020 by the Economic Policy Institute the bottom half of the top 10% make around the $135,000 mark. I think that much of the public has a muddled view of who the wealthy are. With those statistics I think it is hard to say that the wealthy don’t already pay their fair share. Funding with have to eventually come from somewhere else., but I do not know enough to even make a suggestion. Now I know this topic can go on forever, but my point is that universal healthcare is an astronomical ask for this country to accomplish. With politics and funding, reform will have to take place one step at a time. One very small step at a time it seems.

Sources:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/federal-income-tax-brackets
https://taxfoundation.org/publications/latest-federal-income-tax-data/#:~:text=High%2DIncome%20Taxpayers%20Paid%20the%20Majority%20of%20Federal%20Income%20Taxes,of%20all%20federal%20income%20taxes.
https://www.yahoo.com/now/much-money-top-1-5-100000529.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIn4GQ6QlH2btiMgo5hR-qKyX9yeN3G_s5E6hRS8_vxO6qmbOb0VCLmPADRjjL-MamcyrCHc2l6V_bfBfjxqi0kAWJn8J1GJZRZGQ8hioo1DyC5mBaPaBTG-KRFSW9y2DDKaa9KTgBlh7hFOT7N2fjOgUqIXbgF5E4Vx9paHF__L

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preventive vs. Curative Treatment – Why are Vision and Dental Coverage (often) Separate?

    One aspect of American healthcare (and healthcare in general) is the exclusion of dental and vision services from primary offered services. Medicaid will cover dental services for all children; however, each state will determine which dental benefits adults are eligible for. Most states provide emergency dental services for adults, but a minority provide comprehensive dental care. Since there are no minimum requirements for adult dental coverage, even emergency dental services are not guaranteed depending on which state you're in. In Michigan, routine exams and cleanings are covered under the Healthy Michigan Plan. However, in Florida (my home state) Medicaid coverage for dental exams and x-rays is very limited, and services must be considered "medically necessary" to be covered for those 21 years old and older. Similarly, Medicaid vision coverage differs from state to state, with children being generally covered and no federal minimum requirements for adults.     Thi
Read more

The High Cost of U.S. Prescription Drugs

      Prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher as compared to other developed countries around the world. This is a huge problem exacerbating the cost of healthcare in the U.S. currently and is worsening healthcare in many other ways such as decreased medication adherence. According to a KFF Health tracking poll conducted last year, roughly 3 of 10 Americans reported not taking their prescription medications as prescribed due to cost. Poor medication adherence as you know, often lead to negative health outcomes for patients, which we want to avoid.      The U.S. also spends more per capita on prescription medications in a year compared to our other wealthy first-world country counterparts.  Based on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is comparing data from the U.S. and other comparable developed nations around the world, it was shown that in the year 2019 that U.S. spent $1,126 per capita on prescription medic
Read more

Medical Bankruptcy

Medical care in the American health care system can be incredibly expensive, and complaints about unexpected bills with high dollar amounts are not uncommon. This issue is so widespread that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, with 66% of bankruptcies caused directly by medical expenses. This is a deeply concerning statistic unique to the Unites States where health care is not provided to citizens through a government program at little to no out of pocket cost, as is the case in most other developed countries. Instead patients are responsible for finding their own health insurance, which often ends up tied to ones employer, and there is no guarantee of coverage. There are many reasons that could be pointed to as the cause of these bankruptcies. A major contributing factor is that 27 million people in 2021 were uninsured. Having no insurance can lead to staggering bills should an emergency occur. Another major factor is that the quality of insuran
Read more