Universal Healthcare vs. the Affordable Care Act Essay

The healthcare system in the United States is a subject that is polarizing. One spectrum argues that the country has a health care system characterized by medical technology and facilities. The other spectrum points that the health care system is fragmented and very inefficient often describing that the country expenditure in healthcare surpasses that of any other country in the world. Despite the massive expenditure, there is still a high rate of un-insured citizens, uneven quality in addition to administrative purposes. This means that the current health care system need radical improvements. This paper provides a comparison between Affordable Care Act and Universal Healthcare. The Affordable Care Act also referred to as the Obamacare and assented into law by the then President of the US, Barack Obama (Gaffney and McCormick). It was instituted under the title the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Its details include various provisions such as the expansion of the eligibility, formulation of health insurance exchanges and prevention of insurers prohibiting coverage as a result of pre-existing conditions. On the other hand, there is Universal healthcare which is described as healthcare accorded to all citizens irrespective of their paying capability (Hayes 1). This healthcare system is used in the majority of the civilized nations around the world. It is also known as Medicare for all. This paper compares these two healthcare coverage and provides reasons why the Universal healthcare system is the most appropriate for the US.

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It is important to discuss the Affordable Care Act including some of its progress and challenges. Before it was enacted in 2010, the American health system faced some problems especially in the provision of Medicare and health insurance. This was particularly for the low-incomes families and patients suffering from serious conditions. The Affordable Care Act was formulated to offer better health security through the institution of different health insurance reforms. This has provided expanded coverage, ensuring insurance companies are held accountable, reduced health care costs, increased choices and promoted quality of care (Gaffney and McCormick). There are some shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act. Many Americans remain uninsured under Obamacare. It is forecasted that approximately 28 million Americans by 2022 will still be uninsured and many others will be underinsured which means they will be facing challenges of access and increased risk of financial issues in cases they develop serious health conditions. This health system still enables insurers to remove or change policies leaving many uncovered services and increasing premiums, co-payments and deductibles. There is also an increment in health expenditure which is approximated at 1.1 trillion over a period of ten years. There is an increased layer of administrative bloat to the American health system especially due to the introduction of exchanges that are state-based. Affordable Care Act maintains a fragmented system that does not adequately control costs (Rak and Janis). The gains that the Act has produced in coverage are overridden by the increasing out-of-pocket expenses and bureaucratic wastes. Additionally, there is a lot of profiteering by private insurers. Affordable Care Act still preserves an environment in which insurance companies still deny and limit care and ultimately ensuring restrictive networks. Lastly, it still provides a situation in which health care is unfairly financed through disproportionate payments by low and middle-income citizens and patients with acute and chronic illnesses.

Comparing with the Universal healthcare system, it is essential to show how this is the answer to the healthcare problems that the United States still experiences. The issue of lack of health care insurance that was initially thought to be a problem of the poor has started affecting the people in middle class. This is due to increasing deductibles and co-payments, the shifting of the costs and emergence of managed care networks (Vladeck). Over the history of healthcare in the United States, the idea of Universal healthcare has been introduced severally. Among the industrialized nations, the US is the only country that lacks universal healthcare (Chua). Some of the countries that have universal healthcare include the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. In comparison to these nations, American has been reported to have unsatisfactory patient ratings. A survey conducted by World Health Organization has shown that the US scores 37th in performance concerning its health system. It is quite a surprise that the country ranks this low despite spending more than 13.7% of its GDP on health. This is percentage is more compared to other 191 WHO countries (Hayes 5). In assessing the performance of a country's health three factors are considered, and they include the provision of good health, the capability of persons to contribute towards care and receptivity to the needs of the population (Vladeck). The issue is that while the United States is considered to have the best healthcare, there is a majority of its citizens who are uninsured. Many reasons have been offered to prevent the United States from instituting a Universal healthcare system (Vladeck). The one that has mostly been used is that the United States political climate is not yet ready for universal health coverage. Assessing other nations, they believe that care is a right instead of a privilege, but this sentiment has not yet been appreciated in America.

It is important to look at what is Universal health coverage, and it is the solution to the healthcare issues in the United States. Universal healthcare entails healthcare that is availed to every citizen in a country irrespective of their ability to pay (Chua). Healthcare organizations should then recognize the necessity for high turnover rates, better turnarounds for hospital stays and reduced emphasis on quality and inappropriate practices concerning the treatment of those citizens unable to pay. Health insurance companies have contributed to the issue of access for all since despite requiring people to pay costly premiums, they are unable to accord the insured the same level of consideration while looking for care (Averill 11). One of the misnomers concerning Affordable Care compared to access to all is the idea that majority of the citizen access care through their employers despite them being needed to pay an amount to the insurance. This means that those people that are uninsured and underinsured constitute a small segment of population characterized by the poor, homeless, disenfranchised and those with no employment. It has also been reported that there is an increasing number of the working class families and children among the uninsured and underinsured (Lance 59). It is important to point out reasons why the United States lacks a universal healthcare system. One of the reasons is that the country has a unique political culture. The country was founded on the backs of minority immigrants in the absence of a feudal system to establish a rigid social structure. This means that most of the people tend to be individualistic. Americans and most conservatives portray classical liberalism and the notion there should be minimal involvement in the society. The universal healthcare goes against the spirit of individualism and limited government; it is the likely reason it has not been instituted in America compared to other developed countries. Another reason is that the idea is opposed by interest groups which are essential in influencing the political process. It is also very hard to enact entitlement programs in America.

However, it is imperative to say that universal healthcare coverage would be the solution to the healthcare challenges facing the country. There has been an increasing number of uninsured persons below the age of 65 even during the time of economic growth. The uninsured adults and children do not access care required leading to their suffering and have a higher likelihood of dying younger compared to those with universal coverage. The proper implementation of universal care system would be beneficial to the public of the United States. To establish the potential benefits of universal healthcare, it would be prudent to look at the influence it would from multiple perspectives which include the uninsured family, the insured family, the emergency physician, the consultants and ultimately the taxpayers (Lance 60). The uninsured families would benefit from this healthcare system since it would be easier to manage various conditions. It would be possible to get appointments with primary care practitioners and the costs covered by the health system. Families' financial conditions would not be destabilized by acute, costly conditions. Considering there is approximately 43 million uninsured individuals in United States, the impact of universal coverage cannot be understated (Lance 60). Compared to the uninsured, the benefits realized by the insured are not so obvious. It would be important to note that in cases such individuals resides in areas with high population of the uninsured, the local healthcare may be less equipped or close down due to being less funded. The institution of Emergency Treatment and Active Act mandates emergency physicians to perform medical screening examinations to all emergency cases irrespective of their paying ability. Since there is no payment for the treatment accorded to the uninsured people, implementation of universal coverage would mean payment for the services offered by the emergency physicians. Similar to emergency physicians, consultants are called up to offer services in the treatment of uninsured patients in emergency cases. In such cases, the consultants do not receive any pay and universal coverage would ensure they are paid for their services (Lance 60). Critical assessments shows that insured taxpayers are less likely to support universal healthcare since their taxes would need to be increased to pay for healthcare expenses of others. However as already discussed, the implementation of universal health coverage would benefit everyone. Additionally, the country spends a lot on the current health system and this would be saved while using universal health coverage. This would save the taxpayers a lot of money (Lance 60). It can therefore be concluded that Universal healthcare system offers more benefits compared to other health systems have been implemented and particularly Affordable Care Act. It is imperative to say that the United States is ready for a universal healthcare system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it has been noted that lack of insurance is related to the reduced utilization of the health care system. For the uninsured, their primary source is care is from the emergency and quite expensive those with chronic illnesses cannot get the help they need. The uninsured are known to not follow-up on treatment. It is a serious case since the uninsured are increasing each day. A problem that was previously thought to affect the poor and homeless is now affecting the middle class. The current Affordable Care Act despite some of its benefits does not help in the reduction of the uninsured in the country. Since its institution, there is increased expenditure on healthcare compared to other industrialized nations. The universal healthcare coverage can negate the challenges imposed by the Affordable Care Act. Appropriate implementation of universal health coverage would alienate the current health care challenges the country is experiencing. It would lead to increase coverage since healthcare would be available to all citizens irrespective of the ability to pay. There would be improved quality since healthcare practitioners' j...