So who’s to blame for America’s healthcare problems? In part 1 or my 2 part series, I had told you the reasons why I feel that individuals and physicians and health practitioner deserve some of the blame for our systems complications.
Note: www.charlesclarknovels.com made a wonderful comment on part 1, highlighting accountability (if you’re interested go back and read his comment on part 1). In an industry dominated by tiers of power, responsibility plays a part. However, accountability may be more important. Its one thing to be responsible for your actions, its another to be accountable for the way in which they effect others. And yes unfortunately, Stark is taking a very long nap, and many individuals are taking advantage of his slumber.
Moving on, I have two more culprits to add to my first two. Here it goes…
3.) Insurance companies
Insurance costs and the industry’s connection to employment (which is unpredictable and unstable) make private health insurance primarily available only to the middle and upper class.
As companies began to focus on experience rating and classifications of employment, individuals with minimal income or chronic health conditions have been increasingly pushed out of the private insurance arena. The cost burden of private insurance has been shifted to the employers who continue to push the additional costs directly to their employees. Individuals with the increased burden of medical problems are having to additionally handle the increased cost burden of the industry.
Arguably though, the biggest problem with insurance companies rests in their organizational structure. The solutions this industry was intended to provide have alternatively enabled the rising cost of healthcare. Rising costs have directly led to higher premiums and deductibles that place a financial burden on the individuals with private insurance.
4.) The Government
All and all, I would have to argue that the government deserves most of the blame for America’s confounding healthcare problems. Though Medicare and Medicaid have improved care to the elderly and the impoverished, the programs simply fall short of providing a solution. Still to this day, after Medicare and Medicaid were created more than 40 years ago, a large number of patients remain unaware of the services and care options afforded to them through these government programs.
Not only are patients suffering from the lack of a unified and reliable government healthcare program, but the institutions providing the care assume the burden. Under funded and struggling with the uninsured, many institutions are taking responsibility for individuals’ lack of coverage. Unfortunately there isn’t even a set amount of government money given to health institutions to defray the cost and burden of treating the uninsured. This places many medical institutions on the verge of closing every year, which would only furthers the burden on the system…
Recently Michael Moore attempted to tackle “who’s to blame?” As many of you know he has quite the art for blaming big institutions like the government and insurance companies. Unfortunately, its not that simple. Practitioners and individuals deserve some of the blame as well. But ultimately I must point my finger at the fact that our government has allowed individuals and practitioners to absorb the burden of their continued lack of unified involvement. If the government were to take more responsibility for the current problems of our system, then the other parties could not opt out of the blame. Each of these sectors, individuals, practitioners, insurance companies, and the government, contributes to the problem in their own unique way.
Our healthcare system needs a reevaluation of responsibility and collective reform of the system in all four of these sectors. Individuals need to begin to take more responsibility for their health, practitioners need to follow up and stop blaming the system, insurance companies need to consider alternative methods of coverage, and most importantly the government needs to begin to view healthcare as a basic human right before any real changes could be made.