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Healthcare and Poverty in America Free Essays

The Dire Need for Universal Health Care The United States is considered by many to be the greatest country in the world. However, when it comes to health care the US is ranked behind 36 other countries, according to the World Health Organization. If one was to do any research at all, they would find that an overwhelming 34 of these 36 countries all have one thing in common. We will write a custom essay sample on Healthcare and Poverty in America or any similar topic only for you Order Now They all use a universal health care system. This is not just a mere coincidence. The problems and outrageous cost within the US healthcare system causes over 700,000 Americans to go bankrupt every year. This staggering problem simply does not occur in any other industrialized countries. Accounting for these facts the United States needs to move quickly to embrace the ideas and adopt the policies of a universal healthcare system. Not only will this help improve the quality of care but will also improve the life of its estimated 16. 3% or 50 million citizens without any healthcare insurance at all. An almost overwhelming problem caused by the United States’ current health care system is that those with low incomes can’t afford the necessary health care and thus already rely on occupations or government programs to receive coverage. This is evident if not by merely recognizing that 50 million citizens don’t have any health insurance, but also because the statistics clearly show that it is very uncommon for health insurance to be purchased directly by the individual. Using statistics taken by the US Census Bureau in 2010, we can conclude that of the 83. % of people with health insurance, the majority 55. 3% had it through employment –based benefits and 31. 0% were able to receive it through government funding. This compares to the measly 9. 8% of people that purchased their insurance directly from a provider. After examining this, it is evident that the vast majority of people rely on their employers or the government funding to keep health insurance. This fact clearly causes some problems when someone might be laid off or just simply makes a career change. Entire families can lose their health coverage due to the breadwinner being released from their job. The National Center for Health Statistics claims that over 50% of individuals lacking health insurance directly blame cost. Roughly 24% of uninsured people claim reasons related to a lost job or a change in employment. It is interesting to note that around 8% of people claim ineligibility for family insurance coverage due to age or leaving school. The primary reason for lacking insurance is money, and it could also be argued that money is directly or indirectly involved in almost every circumstance causing a family to lack the necessary health insurance to provide care. Several years ago in 2005 the NCHS began a study that found well over 40 million adults claiming that they were in need of but did not receive one or more of the health services that follow: medical care, prescription medicines, mental health care, dental care, or eyeglasses. The best reason these 40 million citizens didn’t receive such basic forms of healthcare was simply that they could not afford it. The United States is the only industrialized country that does not provide some type of universal health care to its citizens. Furthermore, they have one of the highest rates for health care expenditures in the world. As a matter of fact, health care expenditures in the United States are by far the highest of any developed country. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development the United States health care expenditures is at 15. 3% of GDP. Next highest in spending is Switzerland, at only 11. 6% of their national GDP. This leads one to believe that the United States does not spend health care money very efficiently. Even according to the Congressional Budget Office in 2006 there were an estimated one-third of health care expenditures that did not help improve health outcomes. That’s roughly 700 billion dollars, and represents nearly 5% of the United States entire GDP. The best solution that is currently being made to the United States healthcare system is what people informally call â€Å"Obamacare. † The actual name for the bill is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (abbreviated to PPACA or ACA). The PPACA has implemented a large amount of new rules and regulations regarding health care, with the purpose of making health care more affordable for everyone. There are some that stand in opposition of the PPACA. They argue that they believe these new rules and regulations take away too many freedoms and force people (both individuals and businesses) to do things they shouldn’t have to. However, politicians have concluded that the positive effects of the PPACA far outweigh any negatives. The positive effects that will come about from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are so numerable it would take hundreds of pages to discuss. One important change will come about by lifting the patent protections on prescription drugs. The bill allows the Food and Drug Administration to approve more generic drugs, thus causing competition in the market to drive the prices downward. This in itself would lower the United States drug prices from being an astounding 35% to 55% higher than other countries to actually being competitive at a fair market value. The PPACA has also made new regulations that place a limit on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they’re not price-gouging customers. Obamacare† uses the philosophy that strictly regulating insurance companies profit margins will help prevent the health insurance price-gouging that has been running awry all over the United States. Helpless customers that desperately need to be insured have formerly had little to no control over the greedy insurance providers. The PPACA stepping in and regulating should be viewed more as a protection for the consumer that a hindrance to the insurance suppliers. The PPA CA also places new regulations on what new health plans have to offer. For example, insurance providers are now required to provide preventive care without requiring any sort of charge at all. Before this new regulation was put in place many health providers did not cover cost or still charged fees for things such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and many other forms of screening that would be unaffordable to many in the lower class. Requiring preventive care coverage should better the quality of health care provided in the US, especially to those at or below the poverty line. In conclusion, upon seeing the problems the current United States healthcare system creates for citizens struggling in or right above the poverty line, upon taking a glance at other countries healthcare systems that seem to be more efficient and less expensive, and upon already experiencing the positive changes that have come from implementing rules and regulations that create a universal healthcare system, Americans should begin to finally agree that healthcare reform should be at the forefront of our minds. Not only to help all those stricken with poverty to receive care, but to improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans. Word Count: 1197 words How to cite Healthcare and Poverty in America, Essay examples

Reflection of Encounter Between Aztec and Spanish Civilization

Question: Discuss about the Reflection of Encounter Between Aztec and Spanish Civilization. Answer: Being a conquistador, it gives me an immense pleasure to explore new and unknown realms. This adds to my experience as a soldier. The word soldier binds me within the commands of my master, the emperor of Portugal. The period of discovery was a golden age for soldiers like me. This is in terms of excavating different trade routes for earning profit (Scolieri, 2013). The task that we are entrusted to perform is so strenuous; however, the provision of motivation and encouragement of the emperors generated an urge within us to expose our duties and responsibilities in an effective manner. Along with this, the diversified and cultural heritage of Mexico attracted me very much. Perceiving the whole scenario from the Spanish conquistador, I feel privileged that I along with my co-warriors have emerged successful in conquering the ravished capital of Aztec. I can give two connotations to this issue. The three things that struck me about the Aztec civilization are religion, architecture and its tragic collapse. In case of religion, I feel sympathetic to the native people as they are God-fearing and superstitious. It makes me wonder that for satisfying the Gods, the people do not even hesitate to sacrifice people. The mesmerizing artifacts make me wonder about the capability of the craftsmen at that time. The creations are an indication of the labour put in by the artisans to produce such masterpieces. Lack of control over such a rich cultural heritage resulted in the tragic collapse. Rebellions were a common feature in the Aztec empire. However, Tenochtitlan overpowered the Aztecs, which turned the rich cultural heritage into ruins. Herein, lays my sympathy for the helpless condition of the Aztec soldiers to preserve the culture, tradition, symbol of their native land. Delving deep into the issue, lack of consciousness of the soldiers towards the hostile intentions of the Tenochtitlan can be considered as the major cause behind the conquest of the Aztec civilization. Absence of the leader aggravated the complexities of the soldiers in terms of handling the crisis period. Scarcity of food and epidemics added to the already collapsed empire of Aztec. This situation is a typical example of how a rich, cultural heritage collapsed to ruins. On one hand, it enhances my personality in terms of overpowering upon the Aztec On the other hand, somewhere in the core of my heart, I feel sympathetic for the soldiers, due to their helplessness (Abad, Davies Zanden, 2012). Countering this, failure of the enemy is the only suess for a soldier. This motive qualifies me as an efficient soldier, which enhances my personality. However, my victory in Tenochtitlan is the one of the other shades of my victory. When I revert back to my performance at conquests, I feel that it is my responsibility to salute to my motherland, Spain. This feeling is the major drive behind penning down this reflection, which enables me to question my performance as a conquistador. Delving deep into the matter, conquests means an addition to the stock of territories in case of the emperors. This connotation bears resemblance with my case. My capability to conquest the capitals of Aztec and Tenochtitlan, glorifies the name of my emperor in the whole of the Spanish sands (Kennedy, Cohen Piehl, 2016). This signifies my broad mindedness in terms of my emperors success. Sometimes, I feel if it had been my success, I would have been happy and contended. Pondering upon my plight, returning back to Spain might open new avenues, before me. Effective utilization of these avenues might uplift my position from an ordinary soldier to a high ranking official. Behind this objective lies the vision to bring back the diversity and cultural heritage of Mexico, which vanished in the encounter with the Spanish emperors (Pennock, 2012). One thing that I want to bring back is the feather headdress, which has become obsolete due to the collapse of the Aztec civilization. This restoration would restore the lost glory and culture, which is the symbol of customs and tradition of the Aztecs. Viewing it from other perspective, restoration of the part of costume would simultaneously restore the lost glory and honor of the Aztecs in terms of their encounter with the Spanish soldiers (Len, 2012). The hope of restoring the diversity and cultural heritage enhances my individuality as a soldier. This motive might create a good image within the minds of my relatives, peers and others. As a sequential step, this would at as an opportunity for me to create history in terms of my individual existence. References Abad, L. A., Davies, E., Van Zanden, J. L. (2012). Between conquest and independence: Real wages and demographic change in Spanish America, 15301820.Explorations in Economic History,49(2), 149-166. Kennedy, D. M., Cohen, L., Piehl, M. (2016).The brief American pageant: a history of the republic. Cengage Learning. Len-Portilla, M. (2012).Aztec thought and culture: A study of the ancient Nahuatl mind(Vol. 67). University of Oklahoma Press. Pennock, C. D. (2012). Mass murder or religious homicide? Rethinking human sacrifice and interpersonal violence in Aztec society.Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 276-302. Scolieri, P. A. (2013).Dancing the New World: Aztecs, Spaniards, and the Choreography of Conquest. University of Texas Press.