Running head: A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 1

A Call for Improving the Healthcare System

Jassmin Aranda

Navarro College

Author Note

This paper was prepared for SOCI 1301, taught by Professor Procopio
 2
A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Abstract
Throughout this essay I will be explaining why it is important that a change needs to be made in

the healthcare system in order to better serve the people. The key points I will be addressing are

the following; high costs of care, lack of insurance coverage, improving health along with other

factors related to healthcare. I will also be talking about ways the federal agency can do to help

provide a better healthcare system.

 3
A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

A Call for Improving the Healthcare System

Over the years I have realized that the older we get we start focusing more on bigger

problems that are going on in the world and how it affects us. Recently I have been thinking

about how if you pay attention closely to how the health care is set up you should see how

messed up it actually is. What is healthcare? Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of

health via the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, illness, and other physical and

mental impairments in human beings. With this being said, the job of the healthcare industry is to

improve the quality of health life of a person but let me just say Americans are unable to get the

optimal quality of medical care they require. The United States does not have a uniform health

system and no universal healthcare coverage. Healthcare is one of the most important systems on

which all citizens depend. Many problems in this complex structure need to be addressed,

therefore, it is necessary to apply a wide range of approaches to improve the performance of this

system.

Let’s start out by showing evidence to prove the healthcare system is broken and action

should be taken to enhance the healthcare system. In the article, “Fixing a broken healthcare

system”, it is said that “Although Americans spend far more on health than people in any other

country do, we often end up with poorer outcomes (Delbanco, 2005, p. 72). What we can gather

from this piece of information is that even though us Americans/citizens pay so much for our

health there are times we don’t gain anything from it since there are people every day who are

dying just because they cannot afford to pay for the medical costs. That brings us to the question,

is health insurance worth the cost?

 4
A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Looking back 20 years ago on a study it said, “According to the Census Bureau, nearly

39 million Americans went without health coverage in 2000” (Blizzard, 2002, p.1). This issue

about the healthcare system has been going on for many many years and till now no change has

been made to implement better healthcare for people. There are still millions and millions of

people without health insurance probably even more than ever because of how the cost of

healthcare just keeps growing and people cannot afford to pay health insurance and medical bills

they receive after a visit at a hospital, clinic, or private office. Dr. Yank D. Cable Jr., president-

elect of the American Medical Association added, “The hard truth is Americans without

healthcare coverage live sicker and die younger … in a great nation such as ours, this is

unacceptable” (Blizzard, 2002, p. 1). The amount of people in the United States just get sicker

due to not having health coverage and because of how expensive it is to go to a healthcare

facility and next thing you know you get a medical bill of over 1k.

“The National Academy of Sciences found that the U.S. has a higher rate of chronic

illness and a lower overall life expectancy than other high-income nations” (Chemweno, 2021,

para. 7). The increased cost of medical services occurs due to the rise of chronic diseases. When

the rate of people who have chronic diseases increases, the more costly services are at a medical

center as it means the availability of more expensive medical technologies and prescription drugs

generate high demand.

In the year 2021, senior faculty editor, Robert H. Shmerling stated, “The current US

healthcare system has a cruel tendency to delay or deny high-quality care to those who are most

in need of it but can least afford its high cost” (Shmerling, 2021, para. 5). Though it is hard to

believe, there are healthcare providers or physicians that have denied on performing high-quality

services and care to people who were most in need but may have decided not to since they are
 5
A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
able to know when a person cannot afford for such services and that is one of the reasons the

death rate in today’s world is so high because of the broken healthcare system we have. The ugly

truth is we do in fact have a messed-up healthcare system and perhaps it may stay like this for a

while longer, but hopefully a few years from now the system will change and I hope for the

better.

What can be done to improve the healthcare system? “If we believe everybody should get

the care they need, then our society has an obligation not only to help provide basic health care

but to offer basic health insurance” (Koller, 2005, p. 12). A good way to start off to improve the

healthcare system in the U.S. is by providing citizens with a universal health coverage in which

they will have access to health services they need without any financial hardship.

Conclusion

To conclude this essay, I will once again state how important the healthcare system is to

people, and it is something that all citizens depend on, therefore, the current policies in this area

should be aimed at resolving this issue. In order to accomplish this task, I believe it is necessary

to address several aspects in depth. The federal government should step in and come up with a

better plan to improve and make a change in the healthcare system as it can help decrease the

number of people dying in this world.

 6
A CALL FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

References

Blizzard, R. (2002). Running for Coverage: Crisis in Healthcare Insurance. Gallup Poll Tuesday

Briefing, 1.

Chemweno, J. (2021, July 27). The U.S. Healthcare System is Broken: A National Perspective.

Managed Healthcare Executive.

https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/the-u-s-healthcare-system-is-

broken-a-national-perspective

Delbanco, S. F. (2005, July 1). Fixing a broken healthcare system: we all know that the

healthcare system is broken. Badly. Healthcare Financial Management, 59(7), 72.

Koller, C. F. (1999). Money & Medical Care. Commonweal, 126(12), 11.

Shmerling, R. H. (2021, July 13). Is our healthcare system broken? Harvard Health. Retrieved

November 18, 2022, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-our-healthcare-

system-broken-202107132542