submitted by: Maria Figueras
Do you remember the old adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away? It has been common knowledge for ages now that healthy eating promotes healthy living. And for a while the apple a day was an obtainable and reasonable thing for most American families. However, in recent times we have seen a growing number of Americans who have little to no access to healthcare. It seems that the apple has been moved up to the highest branches of a tree where only those with sufficient means can reach it.
In 2010, 50 million Americans did not have access to health insurance while another staggering 25 million were being under-insured. Young adults and low-income families made up a vast majority of this number. Bad economic times have increased the number of those who live in poverty. With the average cost of health insurance per family rising up to $13,000 a year, it makes it nearly impossible for many families who are already struggling to meet these payments. Employers who used to offer good healthcare packages have either cut benefits completely, or their premiums have become too expensive for their employees to afford. As it is, currently 1 in 4 working young adults do not have medical insurance.
Do you remember the old adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away? It has been common knowledge for ages now that healthy eating promotes healthy living. And for a while the apple a day was an obtainable and reasonable thing for most American families. However, in recent times we have seen a growing number of Americans who have little to no access to healthcare. It seems that the apple has been moved up to the highest branches of a tree where only those with sufficient means can reach it.
In 2010, 50 million Americans did not have access to health insurance while another staggering 25 million were being under-insured. Young adults and low-income families made up a vast majority of this number. Bad economic times have increased the number of those who live in poverty. With the average cost of health insurance per family rising up to $13,000 a year, it makes it nearly impossible for many families who are already struggling to meet these payments. Employers who used to offer good healthcare packages have either cut benefits completely, or their premiums have become too expensive for their employees to afford. As it is, currently 1 in 4 working young adults do not have medical insurance.
Minorities are being affected most by the rising costs of healthcare. As of 2010, 20.7% of African-Americans do not have health insurance. With the leading causes of health-related deaths among blacks being heart disease, cancer, and stroke, this leaves a large number of people at a higher risk. Hispanics have an even higher rate of uninsured patients at 32%. Heart disease and cancer are also leading causes of death in the Latino population. Without check-ups, preventable diseases go unknown until it is too late. And even with a payable doctor's fee, prescription drug prices are are 35-55% higher in the United States than in any other country!
So what are we doing about? Healthcare has become a hot topic in politics recently. It was one of the main focuses of the Obama campaign. It won't be until 2014 that Obama's Affordable Care Act that many more people will be able to have affordable healthcare coverage. While Obama has certainly put in the effort to reform healthcare, and there have been some signs of improvement, it will take a lot of work to pull the United States up from having one of the world's worst health care systems.
