Philosophical and Political Stance

Health care in the United States is in need of a major reform. Our health care system has some giant flaws that are debilitating to millions of Americans. There are approximately 41 million Americans without health insurance. That means, 41 million Americans could potentially be stuck with a bill that they will never be able to afford, and will be forced to file bankruptcy. As a country, most individuals would agree that everyone is entitled to health care, but how does the US finance such a huge market? Financing health care in this country will not be an easy task. How do we provide affordable access to millions of Americans? At the core of the topic of financing, there are three beliefs and three values that need to be addressed.

First up is that health insurance should be available to all. Without health insurance, Americans are forced to pay out of pocket what a hospital would charge for each procedure performed. When these individuals cannot pay for the services, the hospitals are stuck with the costs. They are forced to raise their price of procedures in order to cover the costs. Insurance companies will also not be allowed to turn away people based on existing conditions

This leads to the idea that health insurance should be affordable. If hospitals begin charging more for care, then insurance companies are going to have to pay more to the hospitals. This will eventually raise insurance cost, causing the public to pay more. If the price increases are high enough, people may eventually drop their insurance carriers due to lack of funds, leaving them uninsured.

To help avoid problems such as this, all health care costs should also be affordable. If costs of procedures and hospital visits are more closely regulated by the government, then not only could insurance companies cut costs for premiums and insurance plans, but those that choose not to be on an insurance plan could use health care more effectively. In cases where people leave or lose their job that was currently providing insurance, the government should implement a program that allows those who are currently between jobs, but do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, get temporary coverage for an extended, yet reasonable period of time. This allows individuals seeking employment to have a safety net of health insurance without having job security at that time. If individuals do choose to leave their job and purchase their own insurance, the government should provide them with certain tax breaks that will make the cost of health insurance comparable to the cost of an insurance plan you would be paying for through an employer. This will allow insurance companies to compete for both companies and individuals more effectively.

Lastly, the government should begin strengthening existing programs. As our society rapidly ages, growing costs to programs such as Medicare can be expected. Improvements in these programs will allow effective transitions to changes in our society and without them; the nation could end up paying billions to fix this problem later.

With these six main beliefs and values, cost of access will dramatically decrease, the amount of those without access with also dramatically decrease, and the overall quality of the U.S. healthcare system will improve due to the increased number of Americans now having basic access to healthcare. Financing healthcare in the U.S. is the most crucial aspect of healthcare reform.

As every topic has its importance, without money there would be no system. We live in a world where affordability directly affects availability of not only health care, but everything we own. The perspectives from a financing point of view not only affects those who have will access, but the quality of care they will receive with the access. There are going to be people out there that will believe that the government should not play such a big role in the U.S. economy. But they should know that the government is already a major financer for health care. With programs like Medicare or Medicaid the government is considered a major contributor and regulator in the health care system. It is important that we understand the implications that financing has on the U.S. health care system and realize it has the most direct relationship with health care in this country.

As we are taking ideas from all political parties we would not classify our group as having an affiliation with any particular political party. We would consider ourselves moderates.

Chris Johnson

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