Essay On Cancer Insurance

It is terrifying to discover that you have terminal cancer. What is more terrifying is being left uninsured. This is what happened to one Californian. He lost his job due to recession cuts and tried to get onto his wife’s insurance coverage. However, she too lost her job and insurance. So now this man is left at home writing in pain because he cannot access pain killers. With his economic background, it is difficult to access federal coverage. There are problems like this occurring every day. I believe that we need to improve not only the amount of people covered by health insurance, but the quality as well. To illustrate this, I look to Kaiser Permanente, who I have both volunteered and been a patient with, for the model of

Health insurance and the affordable care act is a major topic in the United States today. This being said, there are many questions that run through one’s mind when the topic is discussed. Questions such as, what exactly is health insurance? What is the Aetna-Humana merge, and how beneficial is it? Should healthy citizens help pay for citizens with prior known health issues? Should people with preexisting conditions even have the option to purchase insurance to help cover medical cost? Although the Affordable Care Act has been in effect for a few years now, there are still some problems today the health insurers face because of this law.

The America’s Health Insurance Plans is identified as the national trade association and represents the health insurance industry. They advocate for a variety of public policies and seek to promote prevention and wellness, they partner with providers, and help patients become more informed about their health and manage chronic conditions. They address the causes of such high health care costs and spending because greater than one-sixth of the US spending is in health care. We found this to be beneficial in understanding the significance of eliminating

The Affordable Care Act requires every citizen to have health insurance, therefore no matter what; health care costs are cheaper when receiving care (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Headquarters, 2013). The Affordable Care Act mainly focuses on helping the funding for individuals and ensures that everyone has the assistance that they need. Through this act, small businesses and individuals have the opportunity to compare their plans and determine if they should apply for financial assistance. These health care plans are required through the Affordable Care Act to cover ten of the essential health care benefits and also require plans to provide their patients with no-cost preventive benefits; therefore no insurance has the opportunity not to cover

Imagine paying $500, $600, $700, or $1,000 monthly for health care insurance only to realize these payments were for naught. The health care insurance provider that received these monthly installments has decided whatever is ailing you will not be covered due to a pre-existing medical condition. What if you couldn’t have the luxury of health care insurance at all due to the basis the health care insurance provider has concluded you have a pre-existing medical condition? These are the dilemmas facing millions of Americans

It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost

Recently the Untied States top priority has been to provide accessible and affordable health care to every American. Those that lack access to coverage find it much more difficult to seek proper treatment and when they do they maybe left with astronomical medical bills. The CommanWealth Fund found that one-third or thirty three percent of Americans forgo health care because of costs and one-fifth or twenty percent are thus left with medical bills that have problems being able to pay. The federal government, through the Affordable Care Act (2010), has mandated that every person have health coverage in order

The number of Americans without health insurance is still high enough that the negative consequences outlined above pose a significant threat to many people. As of January 2015, the percentage of uninsured Americans stood at 12.9% of the total population (Levy, 2015). Although this may seem like a low number, this statistic indicates that there are tens of millions of people in the U.S. who are susceptible to the risks of dying at the hands of something that could have been prevented with coverage. Thus, the uninsured rate is still high enough to warrant concern from policy makers and should serve as a call to action to work towards getting as many Americans as possible covered.

It is argued that reforms would not be a fix to insurer discrimination. Health policy institutes predict that patients would still be discriminated against - Especially those that have complicated health issues and as a result, multiple bills. This would theoretically make it more difficult such patients to contend with uncooperative insurance companies. Additionally, health plans could circumvent costs by not including enough doctors in their network that address ailments which require costly treatments. In a competitive market, it is unlikely that insurance companies will “play fair” (Hilzenrath, 2009).

The Affordable Care Act has made many positive changes for uninsured and underinsured citizens. With the addition of a program called Health Insurance Marketplace, it is now possible for uninsured people in every state to purchase private insurance plans, those making under 400% or less of the Federal Poverty Level will be able to have tax credits making insurance more affordable (Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014). Insurance companies are no longer allowed to cancel a policy or raise rates when a client gets sick. Insurance companies cannot refuse coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions such as cancer (“Quality Improvement,” 2015). Insurance companies now must cover preventive care and screenings allowing diseases like cancer to be caught early (“Quality Improvement,” 2015). Research has shown that through health screenings

Insurance companies and health care providers have several methods of controlling prices and making profits. The ACA makes efforts to restrict the high costs of health care through new limits on out of pocket costs, removal of life time limits in insurance companies, and placing restrictions on denial of coverage to enrollees with preexisting conditions. The lifetime limits and high out of pocket costs are ways for insurance agencies to spend less money on their beneficiaries. By restricting access to care for those with preexisting conditions, they limit the amount they need to spend on expensive treatments for patients with conditions such as cancer and HIV which can cost companies millions of dollars. These changes will grant care to those that need it the most. In addition to controlling the cost of services provided to enrollees, there will also be changes in prices for insurance itself. The law establishes insurance exchanges that will help regulate the premiums for insurance by keeping companies and their rates

I will speak about Prevention/Wellness Coverage of Preventive Services. Under the Affordable Care Act, private insurance plans are required to cover preventive services without any patient cost-sharing. Preventive services help to focus on wellness, early detection and prevention in lieu of treatments and cures. In fact, research has revealed that preventive services can definitely save people’s lives and improve their health

Clearly, reform is necessary, which was why the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or just Affordable Care Act (ACA), was enacted in March of 2010. The ACA focuses on improving aspects of the American health care system, such as quality of care, availability and affordability of care, and equality across demographic lines. Among the act’s lofty aspirations is to extend health insurance coverage to 23 million previously uninsured Americans by 2023 (“Health Reform”). Critics of the act say that it is far too costly, and will cause more financial damage than improvement. However, without reform, America’s enormous health care expenditures will surely add up. Despite its initial high costs, the Affordable Care Act must continue to improve and implement itself into the American health care system because it has covered millions of people with health insurance and improved upon the quality of American health

Under the current healthcare reform bill HR-4872, there are several stipulations that will benefit everyone. The proposed bill eliminates the “Pre-existing Condition” clause that insurance companies have been manipulating around for many years. How many people have been stuck in dead end jobs, unable to further their career for the fear of being denied insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. The bill (HR-4872) also makes purchasing health coverage affordable. Under the current American system, the health insurance providers can pass on rate increases to the consumers without regard to the clients ability to pay or their after taxes income. It is estimated that healthcare insurance costs have increased as much as 18 – 25% over just the past three years alone. This dramatic increase in premium expenses has put healthcare insurance out of the reach of millions of Americans.

In recent years, cancer prevalence has been increasing globally. It is now one of the top 10 causes of death among the middle and high income countries worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2008). In Singapore, cancer has surpassed cardiovascular disease and become the top killer over the last 3 years (Ministry of Health, 2007). Breast cancer tops the chart among Singaporean women (Health Promotion Board, 2007). Thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually and it causes approximately 270 deaths each year (Jara-Lazaro, et al., 2010). The lifetime risk that a woman in Singapore getting breast cancer is now 1 in every 17 which has risen compared to past two decades (National Cancer Centre Singapore, 2006). Hence, breast