The Ideal Health Care System

ANSWERS

The Ideal Health Insurance Policy in the United States Today, in a country where private and public-sector forms of health insurance are required to access a highly sophisticated healthcare system, the number of people without health insurance approaches 47 million. Lack of health insurance has been linked to limited or no access to comprehensive medical services, poorer health outcomes, financial ruin for many families, and financial difficulties for many service providers. Every March, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts an annual social and economic supplemental survey, the widely cited Current Population and Economic Survey (CPS), in which respondents are asked about their insurance coverage over the previous year. The CPS estimated 47 million uninsured people in 2006. (Smith, 2008).
The number of patients who lack insurance when they need services is the relevant measure of the uninsured for healthcare providers. Hospitals categorize patient accounts as either charity care (no payment is expected after determining the patient’s inability to pay) or bad debt (efforts to secure payments prove unsuccessful). Determining eligibility for some social programs based on demographics is fairly straightforward. Employer sponsorship is critical to insurance coverage. While employer-sponsored health benefits remain the norm, changes in the labor market and the cost of healthcare coverage have eroded this foundation. Although those in low-income jobs are less likely to be insured, working middle-class adults have seen the greatest recent increase in the number of uninsured people. Approximately half of all uninsured workers are employed by companies that do not provide coverage (Smith, 2008). To create an ideal U.S. health insurance system, we must examine our current system and the factors contributing to the high percentage of uninsured people.
In the United States,

QUESTION

The Ideal Health Care System

What would be the ideal health care system?