I found a terrific article that paints the big picture of some of the problems with the American health care system. Click here to read it.
During the school year, we will occasionally use a procedure called the Inventional System of Problem Solving. Below are some of the questions that the problem solving model poses. To respond to this post, please address some of these questions, based on the article and any other background knowledge you have on the issue of healthcare and healthcare reform (do some additional research if you need to):
What evidence exists that there is a problem with our healthcare system?
What harm is resulting from the problem?
How widespread is the problem?
What is causing the problem?
Is the status quo (the way things currently are) at fault?
Should the present system be changed?
What are some possible solutions to the problem (either partial or comprehensive)?
What might be some positive outcomes from these solutions?
What might be some negative outcomes from these solutions?
7 comments:
This is a pretty big issue in the United States right now. There is definitely a problem with the health care system that we have right now. The evidence is that 18,000 Americans die each year because of lack of health care or insufficient coverage. This is a widespread problem that needs to be addressed soon or more Americans will die each day from lack of health care. I think the best solution to this problem is a Canadian style single payer health care system. This means that there will be no more health insurance industry and everything will be paid for by the government and everyone is covered.
-Zane Mokhiber
By the way my dad is really into this issue. Here's his website which has a lot of stuff about single payer.
http://singlepayeraction.org/
Zane, thanks for the resource on what single payer means.
Are there any disadvantages of having "everything paid for by the government"? Right now there is a bill moving through Congress that, according to the Congressional Budget office, will cost American taxpayers $1 trillion over the next 10 years, but will only cover 16 million of the estimated 47 million uninsured Americans. Is this too high a price? Where will that revenue come from?
By the way, here is my standard disclaimer: don't be offended or intimidated if I disagree with you on this blog or in class. Whatever you say, I'm probably going to argue the opposite so that you guys can see both sides and then do your thinking for yourselves. Keep up the good work, Zane. :-)
Found a related article about a shortcoming of the Canadian health care system, which is run by the government, and how U.S. Members of Congress are using it to convince their constituents and other Members of Congress not to vote in favor of a government-run plan. Check it out at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/06/canadian.health.care.system/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
One piece of evidence that the health care plan isn't working is that alot of citizens either can't afford health care or they don't have it at all. Since some people don't have health care, they can't afford to go to the doctor or get the kind of meds they need. Thus, they end up dying. Another example is that if someone has a baby when they're young and they don't have health care, they end up being in debt for years. The problem is everywhere, but I would have to say it's in major metropolitan areas. I watched this tv special on Vh1 about how families in Detroit couldn't afford a house let alone health care. People die young because of this. It's really sad! Many people say all of this is caused because of the recession. Alot of people are getting laid off....like I know my family is having issues with this since it seems like SOMEONE in my family is always sick. I think the way things are with the system SHOULD change, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to go through a trial and error time with the new system. If that happens, it could end up screwing alot of people over. I'm not sure how we CAN change the problem...that's not my area of experitse. One positive solution to the change would be more people would have health care and they would be able to afford to go to the doctor. A negative effect would be since more people will be going to the doctor, more people will be living and that would contribute to our population problem.
Everyday people become sick and can't afford health care. This is a problem that increases every year as more diseases are created. Since many people can't afford health care they sometimes reach the point of death. This is evidence that a problem does in fact exist in our health care system. The question is what are we going to do about it? Of course the question of Universal Health Care has come up, but it has also caused controversy. Is Universal Health Care the right solution?
I oppose a government run health care plan for several reasons. First off, the national deficit is insane and the idea of spending more money during this time is completly irrational. Second I am not confident that governmrnt health care will improve the situation. The democrats say that their plan will still allow private options, but elements such as making government health care alot cheaper than private care suggests that the government would eventually gain a monopoly in health care, because private companies would be unable to compete. While it promises to provide everyone with health care, I think government control over the majotity of health care will undoubtedly lower the quaility of care we all would receive. A CBS article came out in March of this year stating that Canada care is in severe crsis; is this the kind of health care we want for America? I believe in the idea of tort reform presented by republicans that would limit the amount doctors could be sued for frivolous lawsuits, allowing private health care cost to go down. Also, the idea of letting people shop for cheaper insurance across state lines would lower costs.
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