The Universal Health Care

Universal Healthcare Explained

As people near the end of there lives old age begins to shed its ominous light over every aspect of life. As people enter the twilight years of there lives, earlier than anyone should, they are faced with failing health and no way to pay the doctor bills. The fact that someone who has worked all their life may not be able to obtain adequate medical and dental care because of their station in life goes against all the ideals that have made America great.

Forms of Health Care.

There are several different forms of Healthcare. Universal healthcare is the basic amount of care to sustain a person inadequate health. Some of the more common forms of health care are Home Health Care, Assisted Living, Long-term, and Hospice. All of these forms of health care are known as a whole as Universal Health Care.

Examination.

Throughout the United States, there has been an overwhelming concern as to the status of the present health care system. “Approximately 100,000 people lose their health insurance each month”. Unfortunately, the present system does little to nothing to aid these people. It is for this reason that various managed health care plans have come into existence and use. Managed health care is a system by which an outside body, such as a state or federal government places regulations on the healthcare process. One managed health care plan that has received the most publicity is that of President Bill Clinton. Clinton’s plan calls for universal health insurance, meaning that no one could be denied coverage. When faced with the question of what happens to people now coming into the hospital without any health insurance? The new plan will not let a person be turned away from the emergency room with or without insurance.

“Universal healthcare means everybody in, nobody out”.

One of the major problems that most critics see with Clinton’s plan is that it attempts to provide universal insurance without placing limitations on who can receive certain types of care. These limitations are present in the European, and Canadian plans that Clinton’s copies. An example of such a limitation is dialysis treatment. In the other countries, only people under the age of fifty are eligible for coverage on this expensive treatment. Although the vast majority of Americans see a need for reform in the health care system there are several areas for the reform that they are asking for.

St. Luke/ Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan is currently operating under a managed health care plan. Vickie Powell, In-patient Pharmacy Supervisor at St. Luke/ Roosevelt states that the approach to managed care in the hospital involves a “Gatekeeper”. According to Powell, each patient is assigned a gatekeeper, a general practitioner who will decide if the patient is in need of a specialist. If so the gatekeeper will make a referral to a specialist. Providing the patient chooses to follow the gatekeeper’s referral he or she will be granted the health care benefits covered under the managed health care plan. If they are to go against the referral and see a doctor not recommended they do not receive the coverage that they would under the plan.

How it works.

The universal health care plan would be put into effect by having the federal government pay all claims over $50,000. Statistically, only 1.6% of all claims exceed this amount. The total cost of this program would be about $14.4 billion per year, which is only a tiny fraction of the total health care bill. One benefit of the government paying their portion of the claim is that small businesses can feel comfortable that their company plan would be able to meet the smaller claims of their workers.