Yolanda Wyche

Chapter 12
Journal
The American Health Care System

Health care spending is the second fastest growing component of the federal budget. (Karger
and Stoesz2014). Medicare is the second largest social insurance program in the United States. ( Karger
and Stoesz). Medicare began in 1966 19 million people were enrolled. By 2010 over 47 million people
were enrolled in part A. There are 44 million in part B and 34 million in part D. (Karger and Stoesz 2014).
There critics to MMA. The critics state that MMA does not curb sky rocket drug cost. The United
States health care cost are higher than other industrialized countries. (Karger and Stoesz 2014). The
United States spend more on health care cost than other industrialized countries.
However, the United States is the only major industrialized country that does not provide health
coverage for all its citizens, yet spending on health care is extremely high. (Karger and Stoesz 2014).
Americans are not healthier nor do they live longer than people in other industrial nations. The Uniteds
States lead the world in the use medical technology. The cost of using this medical technology is high. (
Karger and Stoesz 2014).
Some reasons why health care cost is expensive; there are the administrative cost which
involves processing millions of insurance claims. Hospital cost is up in the billions. Physicians salaries,
The high cost of prescription drugs is driving up health care cost. (Karger and Stoesz 2014). The
United States is the largest pharmaceutical drug market in the world. Moreover, Americans pay more
for medicine than consumers of other industrialized countries (Karger and Stoesz 2014).

Reforming the U.S. health care system is a difficult task because the idealogy that surround
health care is if health care should be a privilege or right. Conservatives believe that access to health
care is a privilege that must be earned through past or present labor force participation. (Karger and
Stoesz 2014). Democrats believe that health care should be a universal right that is not tied to labor
force. Health care should be a birth right for all citizens.