Healthcare coverage

I think that it is well past time that universal coverage healthcare plan is installed in the United States. Over 44 million Americans are uninsured and that number is likely to increase if nothing is done. There are several major consequences of this. People are increasingly waiting until the last moment to go to a physician or the hospital to treat their illness because it is too expensive for them to do so on a timely basis. This is exceptionally true for the poor and lower middle class sector of society. It is well known that early treatment is most diseases leads to a better potential outcome. When patients wait to get tests done to diagnose cancer for instance, it may be too late for anything meaningful to be done for that patient because the cancer more than likely has metastasized to other parts of the body. Had that patient come into the physicians office sooner, the cancer could have been caught earlier and the patient would have had a higher probability of survival. That person not being tested early does not result from his or her being stubborn more than likely it is due to the cost of visiting the doctor especially if one is working on a minimum wage job. So ads that urge people to seek tests early to catch these things remains empty when the cost is the thing that is preventing some people from being able to find out if they have that disease.

Another major effect of people not being insured is that when they do come to the ER with a problem, they obviously cannot pay for the expensive cost of staying in the hospital and services rendered. The hospital knows this so it transfers the cost to the insured which raises the cost on the insured population. This raises their rates and could drop those people into that 44 million plus category. This will exacerbate the problem instead of solving it.

In short it is time to realize that everyone deserves to be treated when they are sick and at bear minimum there should be insurance to cover every single member of society. This doesnt mean that we are going to become a socialist society or become like the USSR because the poor can afford healthcare. Hopefully with the incoming democratic presidency (I hope) this problem can be solved. It is obvious that the republicans favor the current system which is spiraling out of control. People shouldn't be turned away because they cannot pay the bill. At the same time, doctors require compensation for their services. The solution to this is to provide affordable insurance coverage for people who are now uninsured so they are able to see the physicians and receive the quality care that they deserve.