The Case for Universal Health Care

David Colton

ISBN 10: 194976205X / ISBN 13: 9781949762051

Editore: Clarity Press October 2019, 2019

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• Titolo: The Case for Universal Health Care
• Editore: Clarity Press October 2019
• Data di pubblicazione: 2019
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 194976205X
• ISBN 13: 9781949762051
• Rilegatura: Trade Paperback
• Condizione: USED Good
• Cataloghi dei venditori:
  • MEDICAL Health/Care Systems

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Riassunto

With the exception of the United States, all developed nations provide their citizens with quality, affordable health care. And, despite its having expanded access through such programs as Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and the Affordable Care Act, nearly 20 million Americans still do not have health insurance. Worse, efforts by the Republican Party to dismantle the ACA and increases in premiums could leave millions more without the financial means to afford treatment when needed.Countries that guarantee health coverage to all their citizens have done so recognizing the health of the nation is dependent on the health of their people. This has not occurred in the United States, not only because powerful forces have mounted a vast campaign against it, but also because no plan with clear solutions and guidelines has yet emerged.Starting from the premise that health care is a societal responsibility, David Colton’s The Case for Universal Health Care contends that universal health care should not only be guaranteed by the government, it should be organized and administered by a federal agency and funded through a new, health care transaction tax. This will ensure that the national health care program is focused on quality and is fiscally sustainable for current and future generations of Americans, ridding it from cost over-runs and service denials due to the search for profitability.Colton provides a clear understanding of each facet of the present, flawed health care system: how it is structured and organized; how we pay for health care; what factors influence access, quality, and affordability; and contrasts it with approaches taken by countries providing universal coverage.Thus prepared, the reader is taken through an in depth explanation of Colton’s proposed alternative approach to universal health care, including a description of how an American national health care program would be organized, what treatments would be covered, and how it would be funded.The role of quality improvement, utilization review, and evidence-based medicine in controlling costs is examined as is the economic and moral case for universal coverage. The cost of providing care in the United States will soon be unsustainable. It surely makes sense to consider an option that ensures health care is accessible to all its citizens and is fully funded regardless of vicissitudes in the national economy. This book is a must read for all concerned.

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The United States is facing a tipping point because the spiraling cost of providing health care is unsustainable. These costs have been creeping upward year after year and now account for about 18% of annual GDP ($3.5 trillion in 2017). Attempts to stem these rising costs, through the PPACA, Medicare regulations, and even efforts by the health insurance industry have at best slowed the increases. Consequently, we may be reaching a point when employers can no longer afford to provide employer-based health insurance (despite financial penalties under the PPACA), and when health insurance cannot cover the full cost of treatment (which is happening already), requiring Medicare to cut back on coverage and raise the age of eligibility in order to remain solvent. And even these Medicare reductions may be stop-gap measures. Conservative Michael Reagan once noted health care is a privilege; the treatment we receive should be based on what we can pay for; and if we can't afford it, that's not society's problem. Without a radical change we appear to be headed toward his conservative vision.This book proposes a different path starting from this basic premise: health care should be universal, available to everyone in this country, not only citizens, but also individuals working and studying in this country under visas and green cards, foreign visitors here on a passport, and yes, even to undocumented workers. What is proposed here is an entirely different approach to funding health care, which will ensure the system is accessible to all and fiscally stable for current and future generations. It's not just a problem of access or cost. America provides some of the best health care in the world. We can save premature babies, cure many forms of cancer, inoculate the entire population against infection, remove a gall bladder or appendix through two tiny incisions, save a life by transporting someone to an emergency department by helicopter, and treat and cure many illnesses through use of medications. And yet, care is disorganized and disjointed: we test for illnesses when there is little evidence early diagnoses save lives, and when doctors do have electronic medical records they cannot communicate with providers outside of their computer network. And often it’s downright dangerous: annually tens of thousands of individuals die of hospital borne (nosocomial) infections and medical errors (there are still cases each year of amputations of the wrong limb).