Introduction
Since the USA gained independence, it has had social, political, and economic issues. The white house has been boastful about creating a strong economy to no avail. Among the social issues is the healthcare system. According to Crowley et al. (2020), America’s current healthcare system is not only inefficient and high-priced but unmanageable and unreachable to many. Not all Americans can access healthcare facilities and services with ease due to the high prices in these services. According to the highest population, America’s healthcare system is messed up, and nobody understands how it works. Due to these reasons, I located two news articles, both addressing why the US’s healthcare system is costly despite the US being an industrial country. The two articles that I identified are news stories, and they address why there is an increase in healthcare prices compared to other countries.
Article #1: Why is Healthcare so Expensive in the United States?
The media company that published this article is the NBC news media under the “Today” program. The author of the article is Maura Hohman, and he edited the article on 22nd September 2020. Immediately after reading the article’s title, I assumed that healthcare services are expensive in the USA. I also concluded that after reading the article, I would know why healthcare is expensive in the US. Before I started reading the article, I started asking myself some reasons for the high healthcare costs, making my mind work. However, I was unable to think of some of the reasons behind the hike in healthcare prices. I believe that the US has plenty of resources and should cater to all citizens’ healthcare needs without struggling.
From the article, it is clear that healthcare costs are high in the USA, and the main cause is the insurance system, which is profit targeting. In the USA, private companies are the ones that run most of the health insurance. Therefore, the individual seeking medical assistance must pay for the medical insurance themselves, thus making healthcare services expensive. Such companies are after money; they will do what it takes to earn money and do not mind increasing prices for their clients. From the article’s explanation about the increased insurance costs, I second that the main cause of the rising healthcare prices could be the insurance companies. Insurance companies, however, claim that they charge according to the services that they offer.
Judging from the article’s tone and writing, I believe that the article targeted the government for them to make amendments to health insurance and take control. The article could also be targeting insurance companies to show them that they are the reason behind the increasing costs of healthcare in the country. Drawing evidence from Crowley et al. (2020), it is evident that the USA’s healthcare price increases, leaving some Americans without access to healthcare since they cannot afford the services. The news article by Maura Hohman also elaborated on why the USA’s healthcare system is expensive. Therefore, there is a need to revisit the insurance system if the government wishes to bring healthcare in America to an affordable level.
Article #2: What Contributes to High US Healthcare Spending?
The media company that published this article is Xtelligent Healthcare media. The author of the article is Jacqueline LaPointe, on 7th October 2020. Before reading the article, some of the assumptions I made before reading the news article include; there are known reasons why the healthcare system price in the USA is high, there has been very high spending in healthcare in the USA. The article explains that as of 2018, the USA spent twice as much on healthcare than other countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. There was an expenditure of $10,637 per person in the USA, while the other countries spent $5,527 per person. The article shows that the USA spends more money on healthcare from the figures that the article presents.
It is unbelievable how the USA spent a lot of money on both the outpatient and inpatient payments. The total amount accounted for almost thrice the amount spent in other countries. Although there is quite a high spending, the services are not yet available to everyone, and most citizens cannot access these facilities. I believe that the high healthcare costs are the drivers to the government’s increasing healthcare spending, and the government should, therefore, make reforms. The prices in the outpatient and outpatient were high, therefore, making expenditure high as well. Another contributor to the rising expenditure is drug prescriptions and the high cost of medical goods. You will find a single patient spending more money just on prescriptions and goods.
When writing the article, the author targeted government agencies in the healthcare sector. The article tries to compare the spending in the USA and other countries, which is a challenge to the USA since other countries have less expenditure on healthcare alone. For example, the article talks about Trump’s government trying to reduce prescription drug expenditure. The government has offered options, for example, Medicare, but they do not seem to work as healthcare is not considered a moral right in the USA (Da Silva, 2018). Some of these aspects are the cause of the rising healthcare costs in the USA, and the government should partner with the relevant personnel to ensure that they reduce the price in healthcare, which will reduce the amount spent by each patient. The news article’s delivery was recommendable, the points were well elaborated, and it was easy to understand.
Conclusion
In the peer-reviewed article, Da Silva (2018) explains that healthcare in the USA has been lagging in developments since there have been debates on whether healthcare should be a moral right or not. If it were a moral eight, it would be easier since the government can control the prices and regulate where necessary. If the current government system does not look into rising healthcare costs, the USA will continue experiencing healthcare challenges. Some of the citizens will enjoy healthcare services while leaving out a great deal of the population. In the USA, healthcare bills have made most individuals bankrupt, which is a big blow to their families. Therefore, the government should take the necessary measures and make sure that they implement healthcare policies to allow each citizen to enjoy healthcare services.