Creating the Ideal Health Care System

In order to create the perfect health care system, it is necessary to understand some of the basics. Most notably, in America, health care is privatized, not public. That means if one wants health care, they are required to carry insurance, either themselves or by an employer, or pay for all health care costs out of pocket, which, at this point in time, really is not feasible for the average American. In fact, studies show that in the 90's, millions of Americans received not just sub-par healthcare, but healthcare that actually exacerbated negative symptoms. It has only gotten worse since then. Thus, a start reworking of the health care system is necessary to combat the floundering state of the U.S. healthcare system.

It is important to begin with the basics. One of the most basic parts of a health care plan is the role government will play in it. For this health care plan, the federal government will only supply some of the funding. The rest will be handled by state and local governments. This is necessary because this plan combines socialist health care (that is, health care provided largely by the government) with privatized health care. This health care plan, essentially, will split the cost of health coverage between private citizens and the government, with all citizens paying a monthly tax, regardless of how much health care they have received that month. For starters, it will be necessary to do away with all private insurance providers. The government will provide much of the funding necessary, but also will supply health care insurance if the citizen chooses for the government to pay for the entire cost of health care. The actual nature of doctors and hospitals will be largely unchanged. However, there will be less competition, since the government will be providing much or, in some cases, all of the funding required. This means hospitals and the like will not be forced to compete for particular customers. It will create a pseudo-non-profit atmosphere among health care providers, and lead to a more trustworthy atmosphere among health care patients: something that is sorely lacking today. As for healthcare for those with low income and the like, the government will provide the health care, but only on a loan basis. If the patient is unable to pay, the government will attempt to tax the family for the remainder of the cost. If they are still unable to pay, they will be permanently blacklisted and will be denied further health care in the future. This is a somewhat remorseless solution, but it is important that these types of solutions are necessary for long-term sustainability.

In terms of overall regulation, it will be moderately regulated. That is to say, while the government will not restrict what health care certain patients may or may not receive, it will, however, regulate the rates of doctors, as well as require hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities to meet certain standards in order to stay in business. This will ensure a uniform experience no matter where a patient chooses to go, while also ensuring consistent quality. Similarly, there will be no regulations on things like organ and sperm donation or surrogacy, as these issues, at least at first, will hopefully be self-regulating, although this remains to be seen, and changes may have to be made to this policy if that turns out to not be the case.

In terms of tradeoffs, there will be many, but that is to be expected. Most notably, it will put the government largely in charge of healthcare, which brings with it a substantial loss in freedom. In addition, this health care plan requires everyone; even healthy individuals who do not need care, to regularly pay health care tax. These tradeoffs are necessary simply because some sort of major change is required in order to change the current trend of debt that the health care system is causing. At present, it is simply not sustainable.

Work Cited

Aday, Lu Ann. At Risk in America: The Health and Health Care Needs of Vulnerable Populations in the United States. Vol. 13. Wiley.com, 2002. 18.