Change is ok!

If I had 10 minutes I would say:

The U.S. is spending more money than any other country on health care, however we do not have very much to show for it. Our system is clearly unsustainable leaving around 45 million Americans uninsured. We fail to see that universal health care is a good and necessary measure, even though it is working in other countries. The time to act is now, we must take it upon ourselves to help fellow Americans and make it so that no one is denied the right to staying healthy. One effective method we could use is to look outside our borders at what other countries are doing and how it is actually working.

Our system focuses on treatment as opposed to prevention, causing prices to spiral upwards even more so. Instead of putting most of our funding into programs that would prevent, educate, and promote- we wait until the individual gets very sick. Looking at systems abroad, we see how flawed this is. In the United Kingdom, doctors are provided with monetary incentives for keeping their patients healthy. They are rewarded for any preventative measures they implement. I believe this same method should be implemented in the U.S.

In addition, I realize that the U.S is founded upon principles of individuality and capitalism. I understand that this is an integrally rooted part of our culture. We want government out of the picture as much as feasibly possible. However, I would like to say that if we look abroad- the government is very involved in the health care system, and it does not mean that the government has taken over those countries and has left the people powerless. Theoretically speaking, it is the government's responsibility after all to take care of its people, otherwise it is not doing its job and it is failing to address the people's needs. That is why we created government right? To appoint leaders who would voice the opinions of the unheard, to protect the rights of the people, to promote the well-being and success of all citizens, and to implement what is the best interest of us as the people. Why then, are we saying: "government involvement in health care? Heck no! " We need to look at countries such as China, Japan, and Germany and realize that the government is involved and it is not a bad thing. I am not saying that the government needs to take complete control of the system, I am simply saying that the government needs to get involved and we need to be ok with that.

If I had 10 minutes here's what I would say:

The United States is the only Western developed country that does not have universal health care - this is inexcusable given that the US is the richest and most powerful country in the world. How can we be so self-righteous and claim to uphold "human rights" when people die prematurely in the US from poorly managed and preventable conditions or declare bankruptcy because they can't afford their medical bills. How can we take a stance on torture, terrorism, or human rights and be taken seriously? How do we allow insurance companies to discriminate based on gender or pre-existing conditions? Is this really so different from discrimination based on race, religion, or sexual orientation? The United States has a moral obligation to reform its health care system.

Even if one disputes that health care is a human right, our system must be reformed for more practical reasons. At 14.6% of our GDP, we spend substantially more than any other country - Switzerland doesn't even come close at 11.4% of GDP. But are we getting our money's worth for all the extra billions we spend per year? No. Actually for health indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy we're more on par with Costa Rica and South Korea. If we continue on this current path, it will bankrupt our nation.

For both moral and practical reason, we must reform US health care policy and ensure that adequate health care is affordable and accessible for all. There are many different ways to achieve this and we have many examples to choose from. We have merely to open our eyes and look beyond our borders to see the many routes other developed nations have taken to achieve the universal and affordable coverage. Ultimately, the question is not whether to reform our system, but how to reform it.

Looking into other countries health care systems

First, the U.S policy makers should consider the fact that all industrialized countries are doing better than us, and the U.S is not having one of the best health care systems in the world. We must look into the systems that are either closest to ours, like Germany or Japan, or the ones that are working as best, like the French or the UK. I believe that the UK's system, although cost-efficient and functional, is not going to sell in this country at this moment. The Japan's system would make the health care providers, as one of the many interested parties, miserable, and they are not going to let it happen. We should look into Germany's system, with private health care providers and multiple, at times, private payers. Then, in the long run, we can make adjustments from ideas from France and the UK since their systems are ranked better and their people are the happiest with their system.

US needs to think outside its borders

Congress should be reminded that US ranks near bottom in health and ranks highest in GDP spent on health care. To find a solution, US needs to think outside its borders; they need to adopt ideas used from other countries. Does US believe they are a privilege, invincible, free country that shouldn’t have to borrow ideas from any one; the best countries know how to use their resources most effectively. Whatever happened to learning from your mistakes? Also, what about learning from others’ mistakes? In US, majority of people lack health care, people are going bankrupted from health care, people are receiving unnecessary health care (surgery, tests, etc), yet spends most on health care. DUH, there is something wrong with the US health care system. Taking a look at other countries, France, for example, was once ranked first for the best health care system in the world while still having a lower GDP on health care than US. Switzerland, once had a fragmented system reformed itself to having good health care, also while still having a lower GDP on health care than US. Where is all the money going, if not to help the patients? Physicians’ salaries, inefficient administration, unnecessary services, malpractice, specialty physicians, etc? US should take a look at Taiwan, who again, once a fragment health care system, modeled from other countries, learned from what didn’t work, and created a brand new system. If US continues to keep to itself, they are just going to invest more into a broken health care system and with poorer health status. So duh, is it not obvious that they should adopt ideas from abroad?

Drop your EGO, U.S.!

I think the U.S. thinks they are "the best" country out there and just has this ego and is too "good" to turn to other countries for help. If they just dropped their attitude and listened to other countries, possibly they might learn a thing or two. I would bring up first, our errors-for instance, our "health care system" that has left a large part of the population bankrupt and now homeless or in major debt. As well as those who are unemployed and uninsured. Then I would compare our country and similar issues with other countries, for instance, Taiwan or Switzerland or even Japan. I would definitely mention that Taiwan did their research while "shopping around" for a good health care system by turning to other countries and they are doing fine now.
Switzerland made it work also by reforming-so I would basically put emphasis on learning from other countries and stop being so egotistical because as of now, we are not getting any better. I would also mention or show some type of flow chart that proves, if we keep up the way we are right now, our whole country could be in a huge problem-affecting not only the poor, but EVERYONE!

Increase Preventive Care

Having a national or public option can help increase preventive care, thus reducing the number of diseases that could have been caught earlier than to wait until its very late then rushed to the emergency room as most Americans are doing. Learning from other countries who give its citizens basic care, helps its citizens not to worry about beating the system on making a certain amount to remain poor to be covered by the government. The US must act fast because health care alone can cause families to go bankrupt just because of their health condition, not really making this nation the great one it portrays to be.

Health care is very important to the US people and it should be considered as such since its a major concern to families to sit home and get scared to go to the hospital because of the cost after the services received and a major concern to most health professional because they are not able to give out their best to most of their patients.

The question has been the same for years, if the rich can afford their health care how about the poor?

controlling costs!

Although our nation was built based on mainly independence and capitalism, when it comes to the health care it is actually wise and useful to understand and learn what other approaches exist from other nations. We already have bits of every health care system in the world in some sense. There are socialized one which the government runs the hospitals and employs the doctors (VA). And like Canada, there are private health care deliveries via health insurance companies and the government administers through a single payer system (Medicare). Finally, there are private insurance plans that everyone is required to purchase, premiums are paid through tax and the government provides subsidies for low-income citizens (MA State).

Then what is the problem? The major problem is that a large fraction of the U.S. populations are still uninsured or underinsured relatively to the amount of money we spend on the health care. Other developed nations do as well or better than U.S. system on every dimension, while costing far less money.

10 minutes is obviously not enough time to talk about such a major issue like health care reform. At some point we all need to share risk and it does not matter if you are health care providers, insurers, employers, poor or old and to prevent unequal distribution of risk, more people are actually better. I think the main issue in Obama health care reform deals with the controlling costs. Our fragmented system seems to favor supply side of the market and people are paying much higher prices due to this shortage of affordable supply. Therefore we need to find ways to control costs of supply more effectively.