Social Assistance Policies
Social assistance policies
May, 2011
Ethics class
The mixed public-private health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world, with health care costing more per person than in any other nation, and a greater portion of gross domestic product is spent on it than in any other United Nations member state except for East Timor (Roehr, 2008).
As I speak with my father, a design engineer who was laid off for about 2 years, Health care was one of his biggest benefits while he was employed. Although a big chunk of his paychecks went towards health care, it paid off in the long run. Right before he was laid off, my dad had corrective laser eye surgery. He was practically half blind prior to this surgery and had special ordered prescription glasses that were made outside the US. My dad was very fortunate to not have to pay a dime for this surgery and no longer has to go through the hassle of ordering and wearing a set of rather embarrassing glasses in my opinion. For those 2 years of unemployment, my dad, as well as the rest of my immediate family, was covered under my mothers’ employer. My mom on the other hand, did not agree on the idea of health care reform in the United States. She does not like the fact that the life expectancy in the US is much lower than many other countries while we are paying much more in health care than any of those other country. ”It really makes no sense to me, yet it all somehow seems to work”, she said.
In spite of the amount spent on health care in the U.S., according to a 2008 Commonwealth Fund report, the United States ranks last in the quality of health care among developed countries. The World Health Organization ranked the US health care system 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health among 191 member nations included in the study (Murray, 2000). It fascinates me and makes one think after reading these numbers how the United States compares to other countries in the
May, 2011
Ethics class
The mixed public-private health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world, with health care costing more per person than in any other nation, and a greater portion of gross domestic product is spent on it than in any other United Nations member state except for East Timor (Roehr, 2008).
As I speak with my father, a design engineer who was laid off for about 2 years, Health care was one of his biggest benefits while he was employed. Although a big chunk of his paychecks went towards health care, it paid off in the long run. Right before he was laid off, my dad had corrective laser eye surgery. He was practically half blind prior to this surgery and had special ordered prescription glasses that were made outside the US. My dad was very fortunate to not have to pay a dime for this surgery and no longer has to go through the hassle of ordering and wearing a set of rather embarrassing glasses in my opinion. For those 2 years of unemployment, my dad, as well as the rest of my immediate family, was covered under my mothers’ employer. My mom on the other hand, did not agree on the idea of health care reform in the United States. She does not like the fact that the life expectancy in the US is much lower than many other countries while we are paying much more in health care than any of those other country. ”It really makes no sense to me, yet it all somehow seems to work”, she said.
In spite of the amount spent on health care in the U.S., according to a 2008 Commonwealth Fund report, the United States ranks last in the quality of health care among developed countries. The World Health Organization ranked the US health care system 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health among 191 member nations included in the study (Murray, 2000). It fascinates me and makes one think after reading these numbers how the United States compares to other countries in the