Ugh, speech

I have a low grade seizure which causes me to pass out, or faint. Now, had these gone unchecked I could have gone on to develop a full epileptic seizure, causing me not only to pass out, but to shake uncontrolably as well. The American healthcare system, while supposed to fix these problems, sometimes only causes them to get worse. The system needs reform, and I'm not saying it has to come in the form of Universal healthcare, but hey it's an idea.

Of all the countries recently polled America is least likley to be satisfied with their helathcare system. Over 16% of the nation has no form of health insurance. That's nearly a quarter of the population who have to go without some kind of medical service the majority of their life. And thinking about that, we still spend the most per patient at $6697, the second being Canada at $3326, and that's an average of those who do receive care. Did you know that 25% of americans don't visit the doctor because they can't afford it. 23% skipped a test, 23% more didn't fill a prescription. It's true, I've experienced it. My mom, just this year, didn't fill her prescription for her flu medicine because she had already filled mine and my sister's. She was actually sick for about three weeks, that's three weeks she NEEDED to work.

Another problem in our system, lack of quality. Doctors aren't paid based on the quality of their work. Many Americans would say that their doctors don't even listen that well. Americans are frequently victims to medical error, be it a misdossage, or a wrong prescription. If we are paying so much more, and getting so much less out of the care don't you think the quality should be better? My mom has had multiple surgeries done over the past two years, because of the same basic problem. Now, it's not from lack of effort by her to change, it's problems with the communication of the doctors, or the quality of their work. She just had a surgey that was supposed to have, along withb fixing the problem, prevented her from burping, she burped just last night. Has something gone wrong with the surgery? She's afraid to get it checked out for fear of the price, and for the fear that she may have to go throough another invasive surgey to fix a problem that has been "fixed" multiple times.

There are so many problems with our healthcare system, what is the solution? Does it have to be something as radical as Universal healthcare? Can we fix it internally? The answer lies in us, the American people. Can we give up some of the luxuries of our healthcare to assist those who can't afford it? Or do we have to have a government run systme where we all pay through taxes? I believe, if possible, we need to make changes with our current system. A radical change, like the single payer insurance system, could bankrupt our economy, but paying almost 10 G's a patient, for only 75% of our population could also bankrupt our economy further than it already is. The problem our health, the solution is change, reform, but how big? And at what cost?