Say Yes: Adopting the National Health Insurance Program
Specific purpose: To persuade my audience that the United States should adopt a program of national health insurance.
Central Idea: Adopting the National Health Insurance program will benefit every American, as well as improve the American economy.
Introduction
America spends more on health care compared to other Western countries, but the quality of health care provided was worse than in countries which spend substantially less.
I am and I’m here to talk about why America should adopt the National Health Insurance program as the absence of it poses a serious threat to the health and safety of all Americans.
As an American citizen myself, who may require medical and health care in the future, and who may also be in danger of contracting diseases that some people may leave untreated due to restricted access to care, this issue bears direct consequences on me.
I am here to tell you how adopting the National Health Insurance program will prevent the uncontrollable increase in the costs of health care, and provide the Americans with better access to care.
Connective: Today, the health care industry is one of the major problems of the country that urgently needs to be addressed in order to prevent future related problems from developing,.
Body
Main point 1: According to Lance Brown, by adopting the National Health Care Program in the country, all Americans, regardless of age, profession, or income, will be covered by public health insurance.
Subpoint: Today, majority of the American population is covered by private or employer-based insurance. It is the employer who shoulders the majority of the insurance premium, while the individual will just pay a deductible once the policy is used. In the event that there are losses, both the company and the employee share the burden of paying.
Subpoint: However, one main issue that this system raises is that the unemployed, the elderly, and the disabled are left uninsured. The government then is left to deal with this insufficient coverage through the public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Subpoint: Despite helping these people through the programs mentioned, there is still a big number of Americans who do not have insurance, and these are those whose employers do not offer insurance, with their income higher than what’s required for them to qualify to access Medicaid.
Connective: People who don’t have health insurance are left vulnerable in terms of developing or acquiring diseases.
Main point 2: Acording to Kerrey, without insurance, people are discouraged to go and seek doctor’s help even if they feel that they are sick, because they will have to pay the full price for a visit.
Subpoint: This may lead to medical problems that may worsen because of the lack of medical attention to treat it from its early stages. As a result, people will then be pushed to pay more expensive fees for the treatment of serious illnesses that have developed.
Subpoint: The number of uninsured people who enter the hospital for treatment are those who are pregnant, or those with health conditions related to pregnancy. Cicconi and Strug stated that this group makes up 28.9 percent of all those who are uninsured.
Subpoint: The remaining percentage, which is more than half of the total number, have health conditions involving the respiratory, circulatory, the digestive, the nervous system, or those with muscle or bone disorder. Some of these diseases can be contagious, and because they do not get the treatment that they need, they may endanger others.
Connective: These problems resulting to a lack of systematic health care programs are too serious to ignore, which is why an effetively solution should be applied in the soonest possible time.
Conclusion
The absence of a solid health care program creates several problems to the health of the people that when left unattended, might lead to a spread of diseases. In the same way, the issue of lack of insurance for the majority of the Americans also have adverse effects to the economy of the country, in that the government is left to shoulder most of the health expenses of those supported by the Medicaid or the Medicare.
As such, to prevent the country from being a nation of the sick, with a crippled economy, America should adopt the National Health Care program.
References
Brown, L. (2004). Why the US should adopt a univrsal health care coverage program. The
California Journal of Emergency, (3), pp.59-61. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906993/pdf/cjem5-59.pdf
Cicconi, L. and Strug, K. (1999). Universal health care in the US. Ethics of Development in a
Global Environment. Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/universal.htm
Kerrey, R. (1991). Why America will adopt comprehensive health care reform. The American
Prospect. Retrieved from http://prospect.org/article/why-america-will-adopt-
comprehensive-health-care-reform
