Local Issues

College of Western Idaho

Health Care in America

Janel Swallia

0093399

English 102 035W

Leslie Jewkes

October 17, 2012

Abstract;

This paper will describe the different types of health care the government has to offer. It will analyze different diseases that the United States is currently experiencing with. It will look at AIDS, Obesity, and Cancer more specifically. It will also show that the government has a lot to offer when it comes to treatment for these problems. It will also show that this new “ObamaCare” wasn’t necessarily needed because people without insurance still have other options to look at.

            Talking about health care in the United States tends to always be a touchy subject. Some people have nothing but praise for it, boasting that we have the best health care in the world. Others on the other hand have very little good things to say about it. These individuals are always complaining that the U.S. government needs to be doing more, or that they need to be spending more money on research. Some argue that we need more health care options for people without insurance that have pre-diagnosed conditions, and that this new thing called “ObamaCare” is the only answer. This paper is written to defend the works of the government, and to show that “ObamaCare” wasn’t necessarily needed because of the other options our government already had to offer. It will also examine the current status of the governments work on current diseases like AIDS and Cancer.

            AIDS and cancer have always been two major problems that have loomed over the United States. These two diseases are with out a doubt frightening because we have yet to find a cure for them, and also because they are really common. In 2010 it was found that 1.3 million Americans were suffering with HIV/AIDS. On a government website it also showed that 1 in 5 people are unaware that they have HIV and that every 9.5 minutes someone has become infected with the disease. Obesity is something that has also been running rampant in the U.S. The Center for Disease Control mentioned that 35.7% of Americans were obese. They also found that “obesity can lead to different types of conditions. Some of them being: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.” It was found in 2008 that 11,958,000 men and women had been diagnosed with cancer.  According to the government website, aids.gov, it talks about the new HIV/AIDS Strategy that the president has come up with to help stop the spread of infection. On July 13^th, 2010 President Obama came up with three goals that he wanted to achieve, which that being to, “Prevent New HIV Infections, Increase Access to Care and Optimize Health Outcomes, and Reduce HIV-Related Health Disparities.” He then when on to state that this strategy shouldn’t just be the government’s responsibility, but that everyone should join in on the effort. This means that citizens would reach out more to people with these diseases, getting messages out about how to protect yourself from contracting infections, and also more funding from everyone through charities and non-profit organizations.  

In spite of what most Americans think, the government is doing what it can to help out. Just recently, in April of 2012, the Health and Human Services gave 68 million in grants to just woman, children, and youth that are dealing with the HIV virus alone. Millions of dollars in grants are given every year just for the fight for AIDS. This money doesn’t just go to finding a cure, but it also goes to help people that are currently are dealing with it. In 2010 the HHS (the Health and Human Services) gave out 1.84 billion dollars for the health care of HIV/AIDS and for medications.

            Now with all this money going to the funding of AIDS, one would think that the government would have forgotten about cancer, but this is not true at all. When talking about the budget for this upcoming year 2013, the American Association for Cancer Research’s progress report stated, “The current NIH (National Institutes of Health) budget is $30.6 billion for FY (Fiscal Year) 2012, having peaked in FY 2010. The President's Budget Proposal and a House-passed measure would provide flat funding for FY 2013, whereas the current Senate proposal would provide a $100 million increase.” The government has not taken these issues lightly, and has continued on funding these diseases. In fact the government spends roughly 17% (Christopher Chantrill) of its budget on healthcare alone. In conjunction with that, it was found that in 2011, that the government spent 103 million to target chronic diseases. It was stated that chronic diseases are the number one reason for killing citizens in America. “Chronic diseases are responsible for 75 percent of healthcare costs in the United States, according to government statistics. The root causes of chronic disease are often related to economic, social and physical factors such as tobacco use or a lack of places to exercise.” If we got rid of things like tobacco in the U.S., people would be able to live longer, also if more places were provided for means of exercise then that might also help out the problem with obesity and all of the health concerns that come with being overweight.

            These aspects of health care are not the only solutions that the government is working on, . When I was doing some more in-depth research I found that there are numerous healthcare programs for people that already have pre-existing conditions. It is a common myth that people with pre-existing conditions cannot get any health insurance. This in fact is untrue, the government has provided many options for people with conditions to receive healthcare. According to Emily Main, “One provision that you may not have heard about is the establishment of Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs). The plans are intended to help people who have pre-existing conditions and were previously denied coverage to get insurance between now and 2014, when the law will make it illegal for private insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.” Because of the PCIPs, people could have low-cost insurance that would cover their pre-existing conditions. This was something that was put into effect before the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010. Another thing to note is that the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 or “ObamaCare” forces Americans to purchase health insurance, but a federal judge in Virginia pronounced that this was unconstitutional. The opinions of the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 are undoubtedly split, “A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found Americans split down the middle, with 41 percent approving of the law, and 40 percent saying they didn't like it” (Joshua Holland AlterNet).  According to this article it says that Americans are misinformed on this Act. It explains the benefits of it; it will make the richer Americans pay more taxes, that it will cut down on the deficit, and that communities will be getting more money. This article further explains that most Americans will like the Act once they know more about it. But the Act was not necessary. As stated above, Americans had plenty of options to choose from, and they would have known about these options if it had been more properly advertised. The solution isn’t to make more health care plans, but to advertise the ones that are already in effect. If those plans do not work then it would be time to implement a new one to try out. The research did not show a reason as to why these programs are not advertised, but a problem with the lack of advertising is that money is wasted on programs each year that people are not even using. If they were able to reach out to people more that are in need of this health insurance, then we would not even need the Affordable Health Care Act. They would be able to save money, and in turn use the money for different programs that are in need of it. One-source talks about how the government would be able to save money instead of using the costly “ObamaCare”. “The federal government should create a nationwide rule (which states would implement) allowing the continuously insured to move from one insurance group to another, including individual market plans, without facing coverage exclusions or premium adjustments based on the development of potentially costly health conditions since they first gained coverage.”(Tom Miller and James Capretta). 

            During an interview with a registered nurse from Boise, Idaho, Celina Abernathy has had quite a bit of experience in the medical field and she has seen first hand some of the options that hospitals give to their clients without health insurance. It was first asked if she had to deal with people without health insurance, and what the experience seemed to be like for them. The next question was if the hospital had any options to give their clients if they did not have any insurance. “There were several people without health insurance. The experiences seemed stressful for them because it came out of their pockets. We would either set up a payment plan for them or go by their income (which includes pay stubs from your employer) and if they are living in poverty we would charge them by their monthly income.” The last question then went on to ask her what her opinion on “ObamaCare” care was and if she thought if it would be useful or not, “I feel it is your choice as a American to have healthcare or not. You should not be penalized for not having it, but I do feel there should be more options for more affordable healthcare for those who do want it. I feel it could be useful in a lot of cases but should not be forced.” Lastly I asked her if she believed that the U.S. government was doing what it could to provide programs to those in need and if they were spending their money usefully, “I do believe the government helps out quite a bit for people without healthcare. There are several programs that will waive your fees, but a lot of people don't know about it. There are also doctor offices that will charge you by your monthly income or not charge you at all if your income is low enough. In all of these situations the government covers.”

            Despite what most Americans believe the government does help out as much as it can. It gives grants and billions of dollars every year to help out with diseases like AIDS, cancer, and obesity. Obama has laid out a strategy to help those dealing with AIDS, and has created a program where people can talk about their experiences with AIDS freely without being judged. The government laid out different solutions of healthcare to those with pre-existing conditions, and it was found that “ObamaCare” wasn’t necessarily needed. There are so many programs that are swept under the rug and government money is wasted on these yearly. One thing that they needed to do however is to expand on their advertising to get these programs out in the open.

Works Cited:

1. “HHS awards $68 million in grants for HIV/AIDS care for women, infants, children and youth.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 14 August 2012. Web. 2012.

2. “HHS Awards $1.84 Billion in Grants for HIV/AIDS Care and Medications.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 05 April 2010. Web. 2012.

3. Holland, Joshua. “10 Reasons Most People Like Obamacare Once They Know What's Really In It.” AlterNet. Holland, Joshua. 03 July 2012. Web. 2012.

4. “Global HIV and AIDS Estimates, 2009 and 2010.” Avert. UNAIDS. Web. 2012.

5.  “HIV in the United States.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 06 June 2012. Web. 2012

6.  “Cancer Prevalence: How Many People Have Cancer?” The American Cancer Society. 23 October 2012. Web. 2012.  

7. “Adult Obesity Facts.” Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 13 August 2012. Web. 2012.

8. Chantrill, Christopher. “Estimated FY 2012 Spending for Governments in the United States.” Web. 2012.

9. Griffin, R. Morgan. “Getting Insurance When you Have a Health Problem.” Karriem-Norwood, Varnada. Web. 2012.

10. Main, Emily. “The Low-Cost Health Care Option You Never Heard Of.” Rodale. Web. 2012

11. “Federal Appropriations for the NIH and NCI.” AACR Cancer Progress Report. Philadelphia. 2012. Web. 2012.

12. Monegain, Bernie. “$103M in Government Funding Targets Chronic Disease.” Health Care IT News. Monegain, Bernie. MedTech Media. Web. 2012.

13. Miller, Tom & Capretta C. James. “Curing the Pre-existing Conditions of ObamaCare.” The American. American Enterprise Institute. 10 September 2012. Web. 2012.

 14. Goodnough, Abby. “Liking it or Not, States Prepare for Health Law.” The New York Times. 23 September 2012. Web. 2012