Health_Care_Proposal

“Health Care Proposal” HCA210 August 1, 2009 “Health Care Proposal” In today’s current economical turmoil there are many changes that can be made in many areas that can help to improve our current health care situation. Though there are many different points of view on the current health care situation, there is one main concern: Everyone should receive health care treatment that is needed. My vision for the new health care system would be simply the fact that everyone who truly needs healthcare should be able to receive the care that they need regardless of economic stature. This new healthcare system that I would propose would be funded in many different ways. First, a monetary amount would be held from each pay period based on how much a person makes and their age group. As the years pass the amount “held” in that persons name would grow, allowing them access to care that they may not have had access to otherwise. This system would work very similar to the way the current social security system works, except one would be able to obtain benefits when they need them versus waiting until a certain age. The first doctor’s visit would be “complimentary” based on what the ailment is, or basically, diagnosis purposes. Then alternate visits and treatments if they were necessary, would be at cost associated with the type of doctor to be seen. This would allow for the patients that need emergency care to be seen and put through to the proper specialists, and then those that do not have symptoms that would require them to be seen immediately can be treated for mild cases at the first visit. After a certain age, or once an individual has paid into the HSA for a set amount of years it would no longer be necessary for them to pay any longer. They would then have a certain amount accrued that would allow them access to the care that they need, in addition to Medi-Care. The HSA that they had paid into over the years would then fund the benefits that the government would not pay for. Seeing as though they had paid into this HSA for so many years, and have the funds readily available, it would lessen out of pocket costs for the elderly, allowing them a better quality of life due to the now affordability of the care they are to receive. Insurance would still be available, and at costs that are variable with income levels. The higher tax bracket you are in, the higher premiums and deductibles you would pay, and vice versa for the lower tax brackets. This would create a challenge, but it would also decrease the amount of dependencies on the government to pay for medical care; therefore, opening up some of the governmental funds to fund blanketed programs versus individuals. This new system would benefit everyone to some degree, but mostly it would benefit those in the lower tax brackets or those that don’t make much annually. It is crucial to take care of everyone because of the need of medical care at any degree. I am focusing on those that can not afford medical care because everyone needs to have access and at an equal level to those that can afford it. By implementing a mandatory health savings account, it offers everyone the ability to save for the fact that tragedies may happen and it would help to fund any unexpected medical procedures. Populations that would be disadvantaged slightly would be the higher classed individuals that have a very high annual income. They would be slightly disadvantaged because they would be asked to pay higher prices for healthcare. The reason that it would only be a slight advantage is because there would be an annual cap that they would have to pay, based on the types of medical procedures they have done, and what insurance coverage they have. Regardless of income, the mandatory health savings account would still be in tact. Those that are homeless and that do not have any sort of income would be at a disadvantage as well because they would not be able to contribute to the mandatory health care savings account. Challenges that would be solved by this proposal are the need for government assistance in most cases. This challenge would be solved due to the mandatory health care savings account. These funds go into a “pool” account that physicians would be paid from for the services that they are providing, offering a cushion to individuals that are seeking the physicians care. They then would only be responsible for the remainder that the HSA did not pay for. This would take a large financial burden off of an individual to pay for all services out of pocket. Another challenge that this would solve would be the need for employers to offer insurance to employees, if they implemented the HSA each pay period. The employee would already be saving money to go towards prospective healthcare needs. If individual insurance is desired, then it would be at the employees’ discretion to directly acquire that assistance. This system could create new problems, because there are always bugs that need to be worked out in any new system. The fact that those in a higher tax bracket would have to pay more would not be something that is looked upon as something that would be socially acceptable. This health care system is only an idea of what could be; I am sure that there are many different directions as to which it could be taken. There are so many different areas that can be changed, but first and foremost the affordability of it is most important. In order to be able to receive the bountiful care that today’s technology offers, we must be able to achieve it financially.