Imagine one of your co-workers comes to work with a hacking cough. Neither he nor anyone around him thinks that anything is too out of the ordinary. But out of concern, you suggest that he go to the doctor and get himself checked out. He turns to you and says that he’ll be fine. In fact, he is carrying a new strain of Swine Flu, and he refuses to go to the doctor because he has no health insurance!
Situations like this could be playing out all across the United States. Medical experts agree that diagnosing the new strain of Swine Flu in its early stages is essential to containing it before it spreads and turns into a full blown epidemic. However, those Americans without health insurance are less likely to get themselves checked out at the first sign of sickness, and waiting until they end up in the emergency room could be putting the entire country at risk.
Key Facts about the Uninsured in America
According to the National Coalition on Healthcare, over 46 million Americans are living in the United States without health coverage. Still many more Americans have inadequate health coverage. This fact is alarming, especially in a day and age where diseases can spread throughout the globe in a matter of days thanks to modern technology. Uninsured Americans:
- Have higher mortality rates from illnesses
- Are more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages of a disease, hampering treatment
- Are more likely to infect family members and others if the disease is contagious
- Cost the U.S. government $100 billion a year in free health services that could be done cheaper by ordinary physicians.
Case and point, uninsured Americans pose a serious risk to the welfare, not only of themselves, but of the entire nation. Thankfully, U.S. cases o Swine Flu have been mild and there have been no American deaths. However, America in the future may not be so lucky and all Americans must be able to have access to affordable healthcare to avoid a more devastating global pandemic.
President Obama’s Health Care Reform Plan
President Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to make health care affordable for all Americans. His strategy for health care reform consists of a combination of tax cuts, tax raises for wealthier Americans, and federal regulations to force insurance companies and businesses to provide health care. These reforms include:
- Creating a tax credit for small businesses that offer health coverage
- Forcing insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
- Lowering insurance premium costs by introducing more competition into the market
- Lowering drug costs by authorizing the sell foreign made drugs in the U.S.
President Obama envisions that his health care reform plan will lower existing health care costs by an average of $2500 per American and make access to health care affordable and attainable to all Americans. It remains to be seen if the President will be able to get his plan approved by Congress, but the stakes have never been higher, and thousands of American lives could be hanging in the balance.
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