The high cost of the health care systems always affects the sick as
well as the common people. As compared to the past decades,
American workers have increased their salaries, but it does not
reduce their net pay, and it remains the same as the health insurance
has increased over time (Papanicolas et al., 2018). There are several
reasons for the high cost of the health care system in America, which
includes multiple systems create waste, increase in the drug price,
nurses and doctors are paid more, the practice of defensive medicine
in U.S. healthcare, hospitals are becoming profit centers, and U.S.
prices differ (Knox, 2018).
For instance, in March 2010, the nation's health reform law was
enacted and named the “The Affordable Care Act." This law has
proposed to reform both public and private health insurance systems
(Health Reform. Health reform, 2021). According to Barack Obama,
J.D., significant progress has been seen with 'The Affordable Care
Act' that has aimed to solve long-standing challenges experiencing
the health care system of the U.S. associated with quality of care,
access, and affordability (Obama, 2016). However, The Affordable
Care Act is threatened with repeal. In 2019, the ACA's individual
mandate began with a 2018 tax law repeals, which has many
uninsured millions of Americans and increased insurance premiums.
The Affordable Care Act is very important for Americans because
millions still require health insurance, health disparities, poor health
outcomes, unstable spending, and lack of emphasis on prevention
(Health Reform. Health reform, 2021). Even, till now many citizens of
America are not aware of the large costs incurred by the American
government. Hence, the government needs to spread awareness
about the recent changes in the health care system or health care
policy.
Additionally, the government should give focus on the people
situated in the U.S. regardless of health condition, where they should
have affordable, comprehensive, and understandable health
coverage. Also, the policymakers need to ensure that all U.S. people
should receive patient-centered health care high-quality and
affordable health care. The government should eliminate geographic
disparities, race, gender, and sex in health and health care. Moreover,
the healthcare workforce of the U.S. should continue to diversify and
grow via a sustained national commitment to public health’s
culturally competent and clinical training and medical education
(Warner et al., 2020). Apart from this, public health infrastructure
should be efficient and strengthened to support the elimination of
systemic inequities in the system of health care and to engage more
stakeholders in various healthcare sectors. If the people of America
get aware of the health care policy, they can utilize the facilities at
the right time. Also, the government should consider the high cost of
health care services for the betterment of American citizens.
References
Knox, R. (2018, March 13). Why are U.S. health costs the world's
highest? study affirms 'it's the prices, stupid'. WBUR News. Retrieved
February 9, 2022, from
https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/03/13/us-health-costs-high-jha
Health Reform. Health reform. (2021). Retrieved February 9, 2022,
from https://apha.org/topics-and-issues/health-reform#:~:text=The
%20Affordable%20Care%20Act%20is,law%20enacted%20in
%20March%202010.&text=And%20a%202018%20tax
%20law,millions%20of%20Americans%20becoming%20uninsured.
Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L. R., & Jha, A. K. (2018) Health care
spending in the United States and other high-income countries
[published online March 13, 2018]. JAMA.
Obama, B. (2016). United States health care reform: progress to date
and next steps. Jama, 316(5), 525-532.
Warner, J. J., Benjamin, I. J., Churchwell, K., Firestone, G., Gardner, T.
J., Johnson, J. C., ... & American Heart Association Advocacy
Coordinating Committee. (2020). Advancing healthcare reform: the
American Heart Association’s 2020 statement of principles for
adequate, accessible, and affordable health care: a presidential
advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 141(10),
e601-e614.
