US Healthcare: Both Good and Bad

US Healthcare: Both Good and Bad

By Christine Cho

I think that there are both good and bad aspects of US healthcare. The bad part of US healthcare is how it fails to meet the levels of other developed countries while still somehow being more expensive. I think it is very concerning just how expensive everything can be for the patient, and yet the US has higher infant and maternal mortality rates in comparison to other developed countries. When I see Europeans comment on America, there is almost always someone who comments on how expensive US healthcare is (and usually in a somewhat mocking way). I often see internet posts complaining about the cost to the patient - for example, there was one post showing the cost of treating a rattlesnake bite without insurance and it was $153,161.25. US healthcare also feels very much like a business that prioritizes profit over the patients at times. I noticed this when I watched The Good Nurse over spring break and looked into the history of Charles Cullen, a serial killer nurse. It seemed outrageous that he was able to transfer to so many hospitals only because every hospital he worked at wanted to cover for themselves rather than taking proper action to ensure that he could never harm another patient again. I understand that it is necessary for hospitals to protect themselves as a business so that they can uphold their reputation and keep treating patients. However in this case, the hospital administrations that hired Charles Cullen and just let him go after noticing issues made the wrong decision and failed to uphold patient safety. Overall, I do understand that healthcare currently does need funding as they can’t manifest money from nothing, but there has to be a balance where the patient’s health is still prioritized over profit.

            I have discussed a couple of negative parts of US healthcare, but I want to note that I see positive parts of healthcare in America too. When you google “top hospitals in the world” or “top hospitals for research in the world,” much of the percentages of the lists you find are hospitals in America. America has a reputation for leading research in university-affiliated hospitals, and I believe that should be seen as a good part of US healthcare. When googling positive aspects of the US healthcare system, it is notable that America appears to have better health outcomes for cancer as well. In conclusion, American healthcare definitely needs improvements, but it has positive aspects that stand out from other developed countries as well.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rural Healthcare Access

Various barriers to healthcare access impact rural communities such as lack of public transportation combined with increased distances to health services, lack of cell service and internet access, and fewer healthcare providers compared to urban environments. Due to lower population density in rural regions, healthcare centers are often located in centralized areas. This can result in lengthy travel times required for doctors’ visits. In addition, these areas do not typically have consistent or reliable public transportation. These factors can lead to patients choosing to go for longer periods without seeking medical attention or only going in the case of emergencies. Over the past few years, especially since the start of COVID-19, telehealth services have grown in use and quality. Unfortunately, there are still large areas of the country that do not have access to cell service and/or internet connection. While telehealth seems like it could be a solution to the lack of transportation ...
Read more

These Kids Are Too Expensive

As someone who's interested in women's health and fascinated by labor and delivery, I have a lot of mom and baby-related recommended posts on my social media feeds. More recently, I've been coming across Instagram posts where American mothers share their outrageous hospital bills after having a baby and compare the costs to countries with universal healthcare. Even the television series The Office touches on this, with Pam trying to "hold in" her baby girl till midnight because her health insurance only covers a two night stay at the hospital. In 2022, the average cost for having a baby in America was $18,865 (without insurance). If you are having a cesarian section, you can expect to pay closer to $26,000. These prices are exorbitant compared to somewhere like the Netherlands, for instance, where in 2017 it cost an average of $3,600 to have a baby via standard delivery. For those in the US who have health insurance, costs are greatly reduced, but with roughly 26 ...
Read more

What even is insurance?

  What even is insurance? As a young child still under the age of 26, I still have a lot to learn. I was even told I needed to ask an adult before using the blog site. As a result, I still don’t know a ton about the inner workings of insurance or how to use it effectively. When I moved to Michigan for school, I put off finding new healthcare providers for quite awhile because the prospect of trying to find providers covered under my parents’ insurance seemed too daunting. It can be surprising to find out how much my doctor’s appointments are after each visit as well. To me, copays never seem consistent, and they don’t often make sense. I am certainly not looking forward to navigating choosing what insurance to go with when I get kicked off my parents’ insurance.               I’m still confused about many aspects of the US healthcare system, and I’m learning to be a part of it. We even had a class that taught us abo...
Read more