Illness and dying are two key concepts things that most people take for granted. Some people think that you waltz into the hospital, and you either get better or die. This is actually mostly true assuming that you have healthcare to even get the chance to get better. It turns out that there are many different factors to illness and dying. The factor that I am choosing to explore for my final project is paying for healthcare.
This partcular aspect of illness and dying relates to two of the sources from the unit, Sick, by Jonathon Cohn, and Michael Moore’s documentary, Sicko. Both of these sources explain how caring for the ill is usually paid for. In America, most people have healthcare, even though a lot of people still don't receive the care they are paying for. We have a capitalist health care system. Healthcare is provided to the people through their employers. The companies that issue healthcare are called HMOs and they approve or deny certain treatments. From what I've seen/heard they try and deny treatments more to save money. What this means is that the HMOs can decide if they want to pay for operations. As we learned from Sicko, this system is flawed because the incentives for the HMOs are all about maximizing profit which can't happen if they pay for everyones healthcare. The less money they spend on procedures in general no matter how important they may be the better it is for them. People that deny healthcare to patients usually receive a raise of some sort.
One extremely interesting fact from the movie Sicko was when a man had the inhumane choice of choosing between $12,000 to reattach his ring finger or $60,000 to reattach his middle finger. This was because his healthcare provider wouldn't pay for them both, leaving him with this difficult decision that so many people are forced to make.
To extend my knowledge about healthcare coverage I researched the percentage of people that have healthcare. The Daily News reported that the Census Bereau discovered there were 46.3 million Americans without health insurance in 2009. There are also 15.4 percent people in America living without health insurance, 13.2 percent of these people are living in poverty. This is goes together because the leading cause of bankruptcy in America is healthcare debt.
To extend my knowledge about healthcare coverage I researched the percentage of people that have healthcare. The Daily News reported that the Census Bereau discovered there were 46.3 million Americans without health insurance in 2009. There are also 15.4 percent people in America living without health insurance, 13.2 percent of these people are living in poverty. This is goes together because the leading cause of bankruptcy in America is healthcare debt.
Now for bringing these ideas into the real world I wanted to interview somebody that knew somone that didn't have healthcare and how that affected both of the people.This certaintly wasn't hard to find especially in America. I asked my mom if she could ask one of her employees at work if any of them has been affected by these costs. Then she began to cry. I was extremely shocked and didn't know what I could have said or done to offend her, I slowly began to walk away when she said to me " you remember my brother michael right." I felt awkward answering but I did and I answered yes. She said do you remember that he died of AIDS. He originally was HIV positive and didn't have full blown aids. But he didn't have healthcare so he wasn't able to get the treatment and prescriptions that people like Magic Johnson have which has kept him alive for so long eventhoughh he was diagnosed with the same thing as my uncle. My uncle lasted only 6 months. His HIV soon turned into full blown aids and there was nothing they could do for him. My mom tried to help pay his medical expenses but they were just so expensive and she couldn't do it alone. When this happened in 2002 I was very young and had no idea what was going on, I didn't even know what healthcare was. You can easily see how both people were affected in this my uncle died and my mom his sister was emotionally torn and left in debt trying to pay for her brothers healthcare.
This experience that I probably would never have went through if it wasn't for this class basically taught me that things aren’t always what they appear to be especially in America which is why I picked this class. Life also isn't fair bad things happen to good and bad people life isn't biased or fair to anyone. The good guys don't always win and the bad guys don't always lose.America's health care system isn't perfect but neither is anybody elses. I think that there definently needs to be major changes for our healthcare system to be anywhere close to that of France, and Canada. One can also observe patterns between people in America who live in poverty and people who don't have healthcare.13.2 percent of people in America are living in poverty, 15.4 percent of Americans don’t have healthcare, enough said.
This experience that I probably would never have went through if it wasn't for this class basically taught me that things aren’t always what they appear to be especially in America which is why I picked this class. Life also isn't fair bad things happen to good and bad people life isn't biased or fair to anyone. The good guys don't always win and the bad guys don't always lose.America's health care system isn't perfect but neither is anybody elses. I think that there definently needs to be major changes for our healthcare system to be anywhere close to that of France, and Canada. One can also observe patterns between people in America who live in poverty and people who don't have healthcare.13.2 percent of people in America are living in poverty, 15.4 percent of Americans don’t have healthcare, enough said.
Sources
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/personal_finance/2009/09/10/2009-09-10_number_of_americans_without_health_insurance_rises_to_463m.html?page=0
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/personal_finance/2009/09/10/2009-09-10_number_of_americans_without_health_insurance_rises_to_463m.html?page=0
Abdul,
ReplyDeleteSome follow-up research would be a good idea. Effective AIDS treatments began around 1997. Multiple effective therapies (HAART) were being prescribed by 2000.
If your uncle died in 2002 without effective treatment it wasn't merely because the drugs didn't exist or that they were too expensive. I'd suggest you put some of your time and mental energy to;
Step 1: Find out what government and corporate programs are available now to subsidize HIV medications.
Step 2: Find out how a person applies for them.
Step 3: Find out what was available in 2001 & 2002.
Step 4: Find out why your uncle didn't get the meds - did subsidy programs not suffice? Did his doctor(s) fail to arrange it? Did your family know how to navigate the mazes?
Step 5: Figure out from the previous steps other people who currently face similar situations and what can be done to help them avoid similar fates.
Step 6: Write an article about the above for publication.
For Abdul: Your most beautiful line was" One can also observe patterns between people in America who live in poverty and people who don't have healthcare.13.2 percent of people in America are living in poverty, 15.4 percent of Americans don’t have healthcare, enough said. " This is really smart, right here a lot of people are straight up poor, and a lot of people don't have healthcare. That really makes sense, but it's also messed up at the same time. Everybody should get healthcare even the poor people they just shouldn't get as good of healthcare, or maybe they should have to wait in long lines. I don't even have healthcare but it's a tough world out here, you could just leave the country or you could just stay safe and watch yourself.
ReplyDeleteAbdul,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line was: "this system is flawed because the incentives for the HMOs are all about maximizing profit which can't happen if they pay for everyones healthcare. The less money they spend on procedures in general no matter how important they may be the better it is for them." To me this is the most important part when it comes to paying for healthcare. The incentives of HMO's go directly against the need of people seeking medical care. This obviously leads to some clash between the two. I think you did a very good job of showing this. In addition, by using your uncle to show how truly inhumane the healthcare system can be you gave the post not only factual evidence but a personal reality to open up the eyes of people who aren't really aware of these situations. Well done.
Abdul, this was a powerful post. I was sorry to read about your uncle. I agree with Omar that by sharing a personal story you humanized the issue for readers who may not have that kind of experience with the health care system. if you stop by my classroom, I have a book that your mother might like.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, you wrote, "I think that there definitely needs to be major changes for our healthcare system to be anywhere close to that of France, and Canada." I'd like to know specifically which types of changes you'd like to see. What do you think of the health care reform that Obama pushed through (and of Republicans' efforts to repeal it)? Realizing that change is necessary is the first step, calling for change is the next, but offering proposals and alternatives, or at least knowing which ones to support, is necessary to move forward. The health care reform legislation is long and detailed and supposedly difficult to understand, but if you focus on one issue that pertains to you then you could assess the legislation through that lens. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Or, if you are now done with this unit on health, then moving forward as you learn about things that you'd like to see changed in our society, I'd like to hear specifically HOW you'd like them to be changed.