Semester Ends -Summer

June 16

Government Semester Exams – Periods 6 & 7

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June 15

Good luck.

What did you learn?

Government Semester Exams – Period 5

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June 14

Good luck.

What did you learn?

Government Semester Exams – Periods 3 & 4

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Tuesday June 13

Good luck.

What did you learn?

Government Semester Exams – Period 1 & 2

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Monday June 12

Good luck.

What did you learn.

Springfest

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Turnitin Account

1. Go to Turnitin.com
2. Log in to Turnitin. You must check the box that proves you’re not a robot. Your email address and your Password or Log in with Google
3. On your home screen, at the top of the page, there is an area where it says Join a Class. In the box labeled Class Code, type or paste the code you were given.

American Health Care Research Info

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Content Objective:

Propose, compare, and evaluate multiple responses, alternatives, or solutions to U.S. health care system issues or problems; then reach an informed, defensible, supported conclusion.

Language Objective:

• Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text and direct instruction.
• Identify and/or summarize main ideas, facts, supporting details, and opinions in an informational and/or practical selection.
• Read and synthesize information found in various parts of charts, tables, or diagrams to reach supported conclusions.

Learning Target:

Students will identify, research, and clarify an issue relating to health care by gathering, using, and evaluating researched information to support your analysis and conclusion.

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Vocabulary:

• Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
• Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
• group insurance market
• individual insurance market
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
• Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP or SCHIP)
• pre-existing condition
• medical underwriting
• rescission
• medical bankruptcy
• premium
• deductible
• copay

U.S. Health Care Background:

The United States has a population of over 330 million people and is supported by one of the most complex healthcare systems in the world, formed by intertwining relationships between providers, payers, and patients receiving care. The U.S. healthcare system is in a constant state of evolution.

The U.S. healthcare system does not provide universal coverage and can be defined as a mixed system, where publicly financed government Medicare and Medicaid health coverage coexists with privately financed (private health insurance plans) market coverage. Out-of-pocket payments and market provision of coverage predominate as a means of financing and providing healthcare.  As of 2019, around 50% of citizens received private insurance coverage through their employer (group insurance), 6% received private insurance through health insurance marketplaces (nongroup insurance), 20% of citizens relied on Medicaid, 14% on Medicare, and 1% on other public forms of insurance (eg, Veterans Health Administration [VHA] and Military Health Service [MHS]), leaving 9% of Americans uninsured.

Eight reasons for rising healthcare costs

The average American spends a considerable amount of money on healthcare each year. Premium increases, higher deductibles and copays, and soaring prescription drug prices result in spikes in healthcare costs.

1. Medical providers are paid for quantity, not quality

Most insurers—including Medicare—pay doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers under a fee-for-service system that reimburses each test, procedure, or visit. That means the more services provided, the more fees paid.

This can encourage a high volume of redundant testing and overtreatment, including for patients with a low potential for improved health outcomes.

On top of this, the U.S. medical system isn’t integrated. The World Health Organization defines integrated health services as “the organization and management of health services so that people get the care they need, when they need it, in ways that are user friendly, achieve the desired results and provide value for money.”

So what does that have to do with cost? Integrated health means providers, management, and support teams communicate with one another on a patient’s care. In an unintegrated system, the lack of coordination can result in patients receiving duplicate tests and paying for more procedures than they truly need.

2. The U.S. population is growing more unhealthy

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of the U.S. population has at least one chronic disease, such as asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes, which all drive up health insurance costs.

A staggering 85% of healthcare costs in the U.S. are for the care of chronic health conditions. Moreover, recent data finds that nearly 40% of adults over 20 in the U.S. are either overweight or obese, which can lead to chronic diseases and inflated healthcare spending.

As the U.S. population health issues increase, the risk of insuring the average American goes up. And in turn, the higher the risk, the higher the cost of annual health insurance premiums.

Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that between 2011 and 2021, the average premiums for family coverage rose from $15,073 to $22,221—an increase of 47.4%.

3. The newer the tech, the more expensive

Medical advances can improve our health and extend our life, but they can also lead to an increase in spending and the overutilization of expensive technology.

According to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Americans tend to associate more advanced technology and newer procedures with better care, even if there’s little to no evidence to prove that they’re more effective.

This assumption leads both patients and doctors to demand the newest, and often most expensive, treatments and technology available.

4. Many Americans don’t choose their own healthcare plan

Data from the KFF finds that roughly 49% of the U.S. population gets their insurance through their employer. That means nearly half of Americans don’t make any actual consumer decisions about the cost of their insurance because their employer already determined it.

Organizations are incentivized to purchase more expensive health insurance plans because the amount employers pay toward coverage is tax-deductible for the organization and tax-exempt to the employee. In addition, low deductibles or small office co-payments can encourage overuse of care, driving demand and cost.

5. There’s a lack of information about medical care and its costs

Despite a wealth of information at our fingertips online, there’s no uniform or quick way to understand treatment options and the cost of care. We would never buy a car without comparing models, features, gas mileage, out-of-pocket cost, and payment options—but yet, this is how we buy healthcare.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) reports that even when evidence shows a treatment isn’t effective or is potentially harmful, it takes too long for that information to become readily known, accepted, and change how doctors practice or what patients demand.

And in too many cases, even when hospitals make their service prices available, they are challenging to navigate and understand. To mitigate this lack of transparency, Congress passed the No Surprises Act in January 2022.

The Act aims to reduce surprise medical bills under private health insurance plans and create better pricing transparency to improve the patient experience and control costs of expensive health conditions.

6. Hospitals and providers are well-positioned to demand higher prices

According to the Center for Studying Health System Change, mergers and partnerships between medical providers and insurers are one of the more prominent trends in America’s healthcare system.

Increased provider consolidation has decreased individual market competition, in which lower prices, improved productivity, and innovation can occur. Without this competition, these near-monopolies have providers and insurers in a position where they can drive up their prices unopposed.

For example, a study done by the American Journal of Managed Care found that hospitals in concentrated markets could charge considerably higher prices for the same procedures offered by hospitals in competitive markets. Price increases often exceed 20% when mergers occur in concentrated markets. However, reviews found these cost increases didn’t improve healthcare quality.

7. Fear of malpractice lawsuits

Frequently called “defensive medicine,” some doctors will prescribe unnecessary tests or treatment out of fear of facing a lawsuit. The cost for these treatments increases over time—a study has shown that the average price of defensive medicine is around $100 to $180 billion yearly.

This is no surprise given that our current regulatory system is structured to support the fee-for-service healthcare delivery and payment model. The Commonwealth Fund reports that the fear that healthcare providers will withhold important clinical services to stay under budget is a more significant concern to Americans than the overutilization of services.

8. Inflation’s impact on the economy

Healthcare inflation is slowly increasing as patients are returning to doctor’s offices after avoiding them throughout the pandemic, causing many people to cancel physician services. Inflation affects the costs of operations, supplies, administration, and facilities. Additionally, healthcare facilities have taken a hit due to continued staff shortages and lower annual incomes for healthcare workers.

According to KFF, in April 2022, overall inflation prices grew by 8.3% since last year, while healthcare prices increased by only 3.2%. But even though healthcare inflation hasn’t outpaced general inflation yet,, some medical services and items saw an increase in costs.

Annual costs for hospital services—including inpatient (3.7%), outpatient (3.3%), and nursing care facilities (3.6%)—rose faster than overall medical care prices (3.2%). However, prescription drugs and physician services had lower price increases (1.7% and 1.2%, respectively).

Many individuals are worried that healthcare inflation will eventually overtake any increase in their annual income, so they’re debating whether to cancel or postpone their care—much like they did during the pandemic—until they can get their financial situation under control.

But due to the delayed effect of inflation in healthcare, patients should get their healthcare needs fulfilled sooner rather than later, especially if they have chronic conditions.

Medical Bankruptcy

There is no chapter in the Bankruptcy Code for medical bankruptcy. It doesn’t exist as a specific form of bankruptcy relief offered by the federal government. The term “medical bankruptcy” describes bankruptcy caused by medical debt. Many Americans struggle with the exorbitant costs of healthcare and are saddled with unexpectedly high medical bills. When medical bills and medical debt become overwhelming, some turn to bankruptcy as a method of relieving their debt burden.

In recent years, increased instances of individuals filing for bankruptcy due to medical debt led to popular usage of the term “medical bankruptcy.” While there is debate as to the true severity of the problem, there is little doubt that enormous medical bills can lead to bankruptcy.

Despite having health insurance, many have found themselves burdened by medical debt resulting from charges not covered by the fine print of their insurance policy. To alleviate this debt burden, some have turned to filing for bankruptcy as a solution. Individuals can discharge their medical debt through either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief.

We don’t know how many bankruptcies are caused by medical debt. Medical debt bankruptcy numbers will fluctuate from year-to-year, influenced by factors like economic variables, political policy shifts, etc. During the debates over Obamacare, health care reform advocates suggested that more than half of all bankruptcies in the United States were caused by medical bills. Numerous studies have refuted that statistic. They argue instead that “medical debt is a modest but rising component of debt in consumer bankruptcy.” Regardless, there is little doubt that bankruptcy due to medical bills is a serious problem in the United States.

The real reason most Americans file for bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy is often considered a worst-case scenario. And for many Americans who do pursue that last-ditch effort to rescue their finances, it is because of one reason: health-care costs.

A new study from academic researchers found that 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies were tied to medical issues —either because of high costs for care or time out of work. An estimated 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy each year because of medical issues and bills, the research found.

Other reasons include unaffordable mortgages or foreclosure, at 45 percent; followed by spending or living beyond one’s means, 44.4 percent; providing help to friends or relatives, 28.4 percent; student loans, 25.4 percent; or divorce or separation, 24.4 percent.

The data highlight a key new factor: whether the Affordable Care Act has reduced the burden of medical debt for people. “Despite gains in coverage and access to care from the ACA, our findings suggest that it did not change the proportion of bankruptcies with medical causes,” an article on the study published in the American Journal of Public Health states.

The number of debtors who cited medical issues as a contributing reason for their bankruptcy actually increased slightly after the law’s implementation — 67.5 percent in the three years following the law’s adoption versus 65.5 percent prior.

The culprit for the lack of improvement was inadequate health-care insurance, according to a co-author of the research, Dr. David U. Himmelstein, a professor at Hunter College and founder of advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program. “Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, people don’t have very good alternatives, because the insurance that is available and affordable to people, or that most people’s employers provide them, is not adequate protection if you’re sick,” Himmelstein said.

Most families do not have enough saved for a simple emergency, let alone thousands of dollars in unexpected medical costs. A recent study from personal finance website Bankrate found that only 40 percent of Americans have enough saved to cover a $1,000 emergency expense.

National Legislation

On March 23, 2010 the ACA, often referred to as “Obamacare,” was passed by Congress. This sweeping overhaul of the healthcare system represents the largest change and expansion of coverage since the passing of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

The ACA, in its original format, was an attempt to increase healthcare coverage for American citizens and involved the expansion of coverage provisions related to access and quality of care, summarized below.

• Expansion of Public Programs
  1. The ACA provides the expansion of Medicaid to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level and eliminates the limitations that prohibited most adults without dependent children from enrolling. Increased federal funding for state Medicaid programs was used as an incentive for states to expand their Medicaid access. As of November 2, 2020, 38 states and Washington, DC have expanded Medicaid access.
• Establishment of the American Health Benefit Exchanges
  1. A health insurance marketplace, also known as the “exchange” or “marketplace,” is where individuals and small employers are able to purchase private insurance. Consumers are provided information to enable them to choose among plans that meet their health and financial needs.
  2. These Health Insurance Marketplace plans are required to meet a minimum set of coverage standards, also known as “essential health benefits.”
     • Essential health benefits include: ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; pediatric services (including oral and vision care); total birth control coverage; and breastfeeding coverage.
  3. Premium tax credits and cost-sharing reduction subsidies (CSR) are also available to make plans available on the exchanges more affordable for those who qualify.
• Changes to Private Insurance
  1. New regulations prevent health insurers from denying coverage to people for any reason, including pre-existing health conditions and charging people more based on health status and gender.
  2. Young adults can remain on their parents’ health insurance up to age 26.
  3. Health insurers are prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on coverage and are prohibited from rescinding coverage.
  4. $0 copayments are available on many preventative health services.
• The Individual Mandate
  1. All individuals were required to have health insurance, with few exceptions, beginning in 2014. Those who did not have coverage were required to pay a yearly financial penalty.
  2. In late 2017, the federal individual mandate was repealed in a tax bill passed by Congress and signed by the Trump administration.
• Employer Requirements for Health Coverage
  1. Employers with more than 50 employees are assessed a fee of $2000 per full-time employee if they do not offer coverage and they have at least one employee who receives a premium credit through an Exchange.

Across the nation, reaction to the 2010 health care legislation that made its way through the House seemed to echo the bitter division in Washington. While people referred to the legislation as “health care,” “health reform,” “health care insurance reform,” and “health insurance reform,” the actual title of the bill is something else entirely: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Republicans see the new law as a government takeover produced by back room deals and rammed through Congress. Most Democrats hailed it as historic, and President Obama declared that the law will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see. Meanwhile, progressives who had long called for a Medicare for all system were disappointed by the legislation, which builds on the U.S.’s private, employer-based insurance system.

The American Health Care Act, backed by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, would partially repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and could dramatically impact health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. The House GOP bill has some similarities to Obamacare. It requires insurers to take on customers regardless of any pre-existing condition. It provides subsidies to people, in the form of tax credits, to buy insurance on the individual market. And it tries to encourage people to stay insured. But the similarities end there. The bill spends less on fewer subsidies, reduces Medicaid spending by large amounts, and uses the savings to eliminate taxes on wealthier Americans and medical companies imposed by the Affordable Care Act.

https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-sick-around-america-preview/

More than 2.5 million Americans lost their jobs last year, and along with their livelihood, their health insurance. As the economy continues to spiral, the new administration promises to deliver comprehensive health care reform. Sick Around America lays bare the flaws in our system and examines the critical choices Americans face in changing a system that all sides agree needs a fundamental overhaul.

Chapter 1: We Were Incredibly Lucky Mark Murray’s family medical crisis was fully covered by the health plan provided by employer Microsoft. Millions of others aren’t so fortunate.

Chapter 2: Stories of a Broken System Medical bills bankrupt some. Others lose health coverage just when they need it most. And some people must seek jobs just for the health benefits.

Chapter 3: More Pitfalls
More Pitfalls Unlike many large employers’ coverage, consumer-bought plans can be inadequate, unaffordable. Even worse, a policy suddenly can be rescinded.

FRONTLINE travels the country examining the nation’s broken health care system and explores the need for a fundamental overhaul. Veteran FRONTLINE producer Jon Palfreman dissects the private insurance system, a system that not only fails to cover 46 million Americans but also leaves millions more underinsured and at risk of bankruptcy.

Chapter 4: How to Get a Fairer System
How to Get a Fairer System? A start: Require everyone buy health insurance. But given the patchwork of private/public plans, some people completely fall through the cracks.

Chapter 5: Change is Coming
The insurance  industry is talking change, Massachusetts’ new program offers lessons, and Obama seeks universal coverage with reduced medical costs.

https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-sick-around-world-preview/

In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures.

United Kingdom

The British system is socialized medicine because the government both provides and pays for health care. The British pay taxes for health care, and the government run National Health Service or NHS distributes those funds to health care providers. Hospital doctors are paid salaries while General Practitioners are paid based on the number of patients they see. A small number of specialists work outside the NHS and see private pay patients. Because the system is funded through taxes, administrative costs are low. There are no bills to collect or claims to review. Patients have a medical home with their General Practitioners, who also serves as a gatekeeper to the rest of the system. Patients must see their General Practitioners before going to a specialist. General Practitioners are paid a bonus for keeping their patients healthy and are instrumental in preventive care. Preventive care is an area in which Britain is a world leader.

Japan

The Japanese go to the doctor three times as often as Americans, have more than twice as many MRI scans, use more drugs, and spend more days in the hospital. Japan spends about half as much on health care per capita as the United States. Japan uses a social insurance system in which all citizens are required to have health insurance. The Japanese receive insurance either through their work or purchased from a community based plan. Those individuals who cannot afford the premiums receive public assistance. Most health insurance is private and cannot turn down a patient for a pre-existing illness, nor are they allowed to make a profit. Doctors and almost all hospitals are in the private sector. In Japan there are no gatekeepers. Having no gatekeepers means there’s no check on how often the Japanese use health care. The Japanese can go to any specialist when and as often as they like. Every two years the Ministry of Health negotiates with physicians to set the price for every procedure. This helps keeps costs down.  Japan has been so successful at keeping costs down that Japan now spends too little on health care. The result is half of the hospitals in Japan are operating in the red.

Five capitalist democracies around the world – Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany – all have health care systems that provide health  care for everyone. They have higher life expectancies, lower infant mortality  rates, and spend less money than the U.S. for health care. At any given time, at least 45 million Americans do not have health insurance.

Germany

Germany, like Japan, uses a social insurance model. But unlike the Japanese, who get insurance from work or are assigned to a community fund, Germans are free to buy their insurance from one of more than 240 private, nonprofit sickness funds. For its 80 million people, Germany offers universal health care, including medical, dental, mental health,  homeopathy and spa treatment. As in Japan, the poor receive public assistance to pay their premiums. Sickness funds are nonprofit and cannot deny coverage based on preexisting conditions; they compete with each other for members, and fund managers are paid based on the size of their enrollments. Germans can go straight to a specialist without first seeing a gatekeeper doctor, but they pay higher co-pay if they do. Like Japan, Germany is a single-payment system and medical providers must charge standard prices, but instead of the government negotiating the prices, the sickness funds bargain with doctors as a group. This keeps costs down, but it also means physicians in Germany earn between half and two-thirds as much as their U.S. counterparts. This system leaves some German doctors feeling underpaid. A family doctor in Germany makes about two-thirds as much as he or she would in America. However, German doctors pay much less for malpractice insurance, and many attend medical school for free. Germany also lets the richest 10 percent opt out of the sickness funds in favor of U.S.-style for-profit insurance. These patients are generally seen more quickly by doctors, because the for-profit insurers pay doctors more than the sickness funds.

Taiwan

In the 1990s, Taiwan researched many health care systems before settling on one where the government collects the money and pays providers. But the delivery of health care is left to the market. Taiwan adopted a National Health Insurance model in 1995 after studying other countries’ systems. Like Japan and Germany, all citizens must have insurance, but there is only one government-run insurer. Working people pay premiums split with their employers; others pay flat rates with government help; and some groups, like the poor and veterans, are fully subsidized. The resulting system is similar to Canada’s and the U.S. Medicare program. Taiwan’s new health system extended insurance to the 40 percent of the population that lacked it while actually decreasing the growth of health care spending. The Taiwanese can see any doctor without a referral. Every citizen in Taiwan has a smart card, which is used to store his or her relevant health information, medical history and bills the national insurer automatically. The system also helps public health officials monitor standards and effect policy changes nationwide. Thanks to this use of technology and the country’s single insurer, Taiwan’s health care system has the lowest administrative costs in the world. But the Taiwanese are spending too little to sustain their health care system and the government is borrowing from banks to pay what there isn’t enough to pay the providers. The problem is compounded by politics, because it is up to Taiwan’s parliament to approve an increase in insurance premiums, which it has only done once since the program was enacted.

Five capitalist democracies around the world – Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany – all have health care systems that provide health  care for everyone. What lessons can the U.S. learn about health care from other countries?

Switzerland

Switzerland, a country which, like Taiwan, set out to reform a system that did not cover all its citizens. In 1994, a national referendum approved a law called LAMal or the sickness, which set up a universal health care system. Switzerland didn’t have far to go to achieve universal coverage as 95 percent of the population already had voluntary insurance when the law was passed. Today, Swiss politicians from the right and left enthusiastically support universal health care. The Swiss system is social insurance like in Japan and Germany. All citizens are required to have coverage and those not covered are automatically assigned to a company. The government provides assistance to those who cannot afford the premiums. The Swiss shows health care reform is possible, even in a highly capitalist country with powerful insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit on basic care and are prohibited from cherry-picking only young and healthy applicants. However, they can make money on supplemental insurance. Like Germany, the insurers negotiate with providers to set standard prices for services, but drug prices are set by the government. The Swiss system is the second most expensive in the world, but it is still cheaper than U.S. health care. Drug prices are higher than in other European nations and are subsidized by the more expensive U.S. market, where some Swiss drug companies make one-third of their profits. The Swiss do not have gatekeeper doctors, although some insurance plans require them or give a discount to consumers who use them.

United States

American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a preexisting condition, precisely the people most likely to need the insurers’ service. Insurance companies employ armies of adjusters to deny claims. If a customer is hit by a truck and faces big medical bills, the insurer’s rescission department digs through the records looking for grounds to cancel the policy, often while the victim is still in the hospital. The companies say they have to do this to survive in a tough business. Foreign health insurance companies, in contrast, must accept all applicants, and they can’t cancel as long as you pay your premiums. The plans are required to pay any claim submitted by a doctor or hospital, usually within tight time limits. The key difference is that foreign health insurance plans exist only to pay people’s medical bills, not to make a profit. The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage. Foreign health care models are not really foreign to America, because our health care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we are like Britain or Cuba. The government provides health care, funding it through general taxes, and patients get no bills. For people who get insurance through their jobs, we are like Japan or Germany. Premiums are split between workers and employers, and private insurance plans pay private doctors and hospitals. For people over 65, we are like Taiwan or Canada. Everyone pays premiums for an insurance plan run by the government and the public plan pays private doctors and hospitals according to a set fee schedule. And for the tens of millions without insurance coverage, we are like Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Burma, or rural India. In the world’s poor nations, sick people pay out of pocket for medical care and those who cannot pay stay sick or die. This fragmentation is another reason that we spend more than anybody else and still leave millions without coverage. All the other developed countries have settled on one model for health-care delivery and finance. The United States is unlike every other country because it maintains so many separate systems for separate classes of people. We have blended them all into a costly, confusing bureaucratic mess. Which, in turn, punctures the most persistent myth of all: that America has “the finest health care” in the world. In terms of results, almost all advanced countries have better national health statistics than the United States does. In terms of finance, we force 700,000 Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. In France, the number of medical bankruptcies is zero. Britain: zero. Japan: zero. Germany: zero. Given our remarkable medical assets, the best-educated doctors and nurses, the most advanced hospitals, and world-class research; the United States could be and should be the best in the world.

This 20/20 program deals with the argument that a privatized system provides much better healthcare than a socialized system, based on the fact that since there would be much more competition in a privatized system, it would not only lower prices, generally speaking, but would also give consumers a variety of choices concerning what they would pay for.

Chapter 1: America‘s Health-care System Is A Mess
Millions of Americans lack health insurance and still our annual health-care costs exceed $2 trillion. That is about the size of the entire economy of China. For the country with the world’s “best” medical care, a lot of people seem unhappy.

Chapter 2: What It Costs When It’s Free
There are many problems with health insurance, but that does not mean we should put the government in control. If it is decided that health care should be paid for with tax dollars, then it is up to the government to decide how that money should be spent. There is only so much money to go around, so the inevitable result is rationing.

John Stossel interviews patients, doctors, health insurance representatives, and other experts in an examination of health care in America. Included among the interviewees is Michael Moore, producer of Sicko.

Chapter 3: The Way We Pay
A problem that raises costs and keeps individuals from controlling their own health care is the way we pay for medical care. Out of every dollar that the United States spends on health care, only 12 cents comes out of the pocket of patients. Most of us have our medical expenses covered by a third party, either an insurance company or the government.

Chapter 4: Customer Service, Competition, Control
In the 21st century, when even small children regularly use computers, many doctors and hospitals do not. E-mail and telephone consultations aren’t things most doctors can get paid for. But when patients are in control of their health-care spending, things get better.

Chapter 5: You and Me
The more people control the money they spend on their own health care, the more people shop around and the more providers compete to attract patients by lowering prices while improving quality. It’s putting individuals in control that could turn our health-care sector into the vibrant, competitive marketplace that we see in nearly every other area of our economy. After all, it’s our body and our health. Shouldn’t we be in control of how our health-care dollars are spent?

When we debate health care policy, we seem to jump right to the issue of who should pay the bills, blowing past what should be the first question: Why exactly are the bills so high?” That question prompted Steven Brill to begin his research. For seven months, he analyzed bills from hospitals, doctors, drug companies and every other player in the health care system; interviewed doctors, drug, hospital, Medicare and insurance administrators and collected patient stories across the country.

You must have electricity and can’t go elsewhere. You’re stuck with a sole provider. Your health care situation isn’t much different. You have whatever insurance your employer chooses and can only use certain hospitals or doctors. Most of us are powerless buyers in a seller’s market where the only sure thing is the profit of the sellers. But unlike with the electric company, no regulator caps hospital profits. Unless you have Medicare, the health care market is not a market at all.

When medical care becomes a matter of life and death, the money demanded by the health care ecosystem reaches a wholly different order of magnitude, churning out reams of bills to people who can’t focus on them, let alone pay them.

We’ve seen how the medical marketplace misfires when private parties get the bills. When the taxpayers pick up the tab, most of the dynamics of the marketplace shift dramatically.

What’s changing in the Republican health care bill?  Hoping to appease concerns by both conservative and moderate lawmakers, House GOP leaders are making changes to their health care bill ahead of Friday’s critical vote. The package of amendments was unveiled with many of the new provisions aimed at toughening Medicaid rules for adults, but making some allowances for the disabled and elderly covered by the program.

Writing SSA: Frame

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Submit copy to Turnitin

When medical care becomes a matter of life and death, the money demanded by the health care ecosystem reaches a wholly different order of magnitude, churning out reams of bills to people who can’t focus on them, let alone pay them. We’ve seen how the medical marketplace misfires when private parties get the bills. When the taxpayers pick up the tab, most of the dynamics of the marketplace shift dramatically.

You will propose, compare, and evaluate multiple responses, alternatives, or solutions to the U.S. health care system issues or problems; then reach an informed, defensible, supported conclusion.

	United States Health Care
50%	group insurance (employer)	insurance company
6%	nongroup insurance (insurance marketplace)	insurance company
20%	Medicaid	government
14%	Medicare	government
1%	Veterans Health Administration / Military Health Service	government
9%	Out of Pocket	uninsured

Country	Health Care Model	Insurance	Sets price for Treatment	Cons
United Kingdom	Beveridge model	government (National Health Service)	government	don’t pay enough
Japan	Bismarck model	insurance companies	government	don’t charge enough
Germany	Bismarck model	insurance companies (Sickness Fund)	insurance companies	don’t pay enough
Taiwan	National Health Insurance model	government	government	don’t charge enough
Switzerland	Bismarck model	insurance companies (La Mal)	government	don’t charge enough
United States	Bismarck, Beveridge, & NHI	government & insurance companies	government, insurance companies, individuals	medical bankruptcies
France	Bismarck model	insurance companies	insurance companies	don’t pay enough
Canada	National Health Insurance model	government (Medicare)	government	long waits

Country
United Kingdom
Japan
Germany
Taiwan
Switzerland
United States
France
Canada

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Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the students and speakers of our government classes and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of this website, institution, or organization. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

Can You Pass U.S Citizenship Test 5.07.23

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Knowing about government is important for many different reasons. In a democracy like the United States, all citizens have an equal right to participate in politics, and many do so by voting in elections. It is important for voters to be informed about the issues and candidates that affect their everyday lives. This means that you are not just going to make your voting decision on a speech or television program that you see. You are going to be able to have a clear understanding of the different policies which are in place and you can compare one party to another, ensuring you make the right decision for you. Learning about government provides a foundation for making informed choices in elections.

There are many different reasons why we study government and it is mainly to have a clear understanding of how things operate and to ensure that improvements can be made in the future. It gives us the knowledge and puts us in a position to know more about the ins and outs of government. Learning about government ensures that we can make a difference and can control the future of our country, including political movements and government decision making.

A survey conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio, found that one in three respondents would fail the civics portion of the test given to those applying for U.S. citizenship. More than 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 were asked 10 random questions from the civics test, which asks about U.S. geography, history and government topics. Of those questioned, 35 per cent were unable to answer the pass mark of six correctly.

Ten (10) random questions which asks about US geography, history, and government topics. Answer six questions correctly to pass.

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Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the students and speakers of our government classes and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of this website, institution, or organization. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

Can You Pass U.S Citizenship Test 5.06.23

__________________________________________________________________

Knowing about government is important for many different reasons. In a democracy like the United States, all citizens have an equal right to participate in politics, and many do so by voting in elections. It is important for voters to be informed about the issues and candidates that affect their everyday lives. This means that you are not just going to make your voting decision on a speech or television program that you see. You are going to be able to have a clear understanding of the different policies which are in place and you can compare one party to another, ensuring you make the right decision for you. Learning about government provides a foundation for making informed choices in elections.

There are many different reasons why we study government and it is mainly to have a clear understanding of how things operate and to ensure that improvements can be made in the future. It gives us the knowledge and puts us in a position to know more about the ins and outs of government. Learning about government ensures that we can make a difference and can control the future of our country, including political movements and government decision making.

A survey conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio, found that one in three respondents would fail the civics portion of the test given to those applying for U.S. citizenship. More than 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 were asked 10 random questions from the civics test, which asks about U.S. geography, history and government topics. Of those questioned, 35 per cent were unable to answer the pass mark of six correctly.

Ten (10) random questions which asks about US geography, history, and government topics. Answer six questions correctly to pass.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the students and speakers of our government classes and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of this website, institution, or organization. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.