Introduction
The US healthcare system is considered to be the best in the world. However, as illustrated by the article it turns out to be the most expensive and complex one in the world. Though vast funds have been spent in the improvement of the system, it has not been able to achieve high standards. In addition the insurance sector has also not been efficient in the provision of health covers to the citizens.
Myths of US healthcare system
The US healthcare system is the best in the world
This is the alpha myth that most people believe all over the world. It follows that Americans are not satisfied with the quality of health care they receive as it is to other citizen who go to seek medication in the US. According to the World Health Organization annual health report in the year 2000, the United States was ranked 32nd on the infant survival and 24th in life expectancy. This is quite surprising because the state is expected to lead in provision of health service as it is believed. There thus occurs a great disparity between the believes and the facts of this healthcare system and it follows that countries like France, Japan and Spain provide quality health services more than the United States (WHO, 2000).
A certain population segment remains uninsured
A misconception exists that most of those people that are uninsured are unemployed. However, this is not the truth. One of the reasons for the rise of uninsured persons is the decrease in unionized factory jobs. This is because the unions have health insurance coverage but those employees that work in service industries do not have. Moreover employees are required to make high contributions by their employers to obtain and retain health insurance. This discourages the employees from obtaining medical covers and thus the rise in the rates of uninsured.
The uninsured have equal access to medical care through the emergence room
It is believed that both the insured and uninsured have equal access to medical care in the emergency department. However this is quite the opposite because the uninsured receive poorer health care in this department due to the high cost that would be reflected in the national budget.
A free market leads to high quality health insurance at low cost
The current US healthcare system is not a free market but a for-profit system that is operated by the employers and the private insurance companies. It is unfortunate as the consumers are not involved directly and thus they are unable to influence cost and quality of services through their buying power.
It is not possible to cover everyone
The US believes that it cannot afford to provide a health cover to its entire citizens as much cost will be involved. However this can be possible through introduction of painless cost control measures like decreasing drugs prices and reducing administrative costs in health insurance.
Conclusion
I think the article has just highlighted some and not all of the issues that arise in the provision of health and insurance services to the citizens. However there is still room for debate on how to improve the health sector and relieve the citizens of the burden of incurring high costs to get access to quality health care. As a health care professional I would embark on sensitizing the citizens on the importance of taking preventive measures to reduce the rate of infection. As much as it is good to obtain health cover, it is much better to live a healthy life through eating a balanced diet, avoid substance abuse, maintain good hygiene and exercise regularly to avoid illnesses. Otherwise many lives will be lost if we keep on waiting for our healthcare systems to improve or change.
Reference List
World Health Organization. (2000).The World Health Report-Health Systems: Improving Performance. Geneva, Switzerland.