A Need For Speed

Martin Chen

Mrs. R. Heywood

English 2

26 September 2024

Demanding Justice

Healthcare Cost Should Be Lowered

An entire half of working Americans can’t afford healthcare, and a third of Americans are held in debt’s hand. When someone who lives in poverty gets a disease, they might be sick for a few days and recover. However, if their disease is more severe they’d face life-endangering threats from various factors in daily life with no way to combat it. Their lives are at constant risk, and so is everyone including you and me. Every American should aim to reduce the overwhelming costs of living, such as healthcare. Many of us have witnessed the suffering of the ill who are unable to carry out their regular routine and are at the mercy of other people’s sympathy. While the White House continues to build and strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, it all still falls short in the capability of helping the lower classes. This results in the majority of patients favoring necessary daily expenses over critical appointments, which can lead to detrimental effects.

Nobody can claim that healthcare is inexpensive, and neither can you. This is because many people can’t afford health insurance and hospital bills. The United States’ healthcare aid is one of the most expensive aids in the world at a whopping $13,493 per person as of 2022. In contrast, many countries comparable to the United States, have costs that are less than half. Countries like Japan, Belgium, France, and Canada are examples that prove that healthcare can be given to the less fortunate. Their private insurance companies compete against each other to offer the best benefits while the government provides subsidies to poorer individuals. The American healthcare system needs to be more affordable whether by having competition among insurance companies and/or the government gives us further financial aid and benefits.

Public opinion concurs that the cost of healthcare is exorbitant. I believe that the cost of living in America will continue to skyrocket at an alarming rate, resulting in a new generation of people who will live in extreme poverty. Evidence suggested by “CalMatters” states that since 2008, the average cost of health insurance has risen by a whopping 75% whereas the average hourly wage has only increased by 42%, with a 26% increase in inflation. In order to combat this, we can reduce administrative costs, control prescription prices, and focus on preventative measures such as exercising. With our views aligned, we are informed by sources such as Calmatters that the best way to reduce healthcare costs is to prevent illnesses in the first place.

The American dream shouldn’t be hindered by something as meager as the cost of living standards. We should all aim for cheaper healthcare so as not to be a sickly nation filled with corporate greed and corruption. With our combined efforts, we can spread awareness of the knowledge given through surveys and statistics in order to reduce the waste of resources used up by administration costs and prescription prices.

DMU Timestamp: October 30, 2024 00:42