Week 7 Discussion COLLAPSE Professor Allen and classmates, Healthcare in Americ

Week 7 Discussion
COLLAPSE
Professor Allen and classmates,
Healthcare in America is available two ways: by purchasing coverage from a private corportation or through the national health insurance system we all know as Medicare. While this allows patients to access public healthcare facilities at any income level, it does leave a discrepency in quality of care and access to resources for patients using government assistance. When compared to Austria, a country with social medicine, both countries have significant discrepencies in health care. However, Austria demonstrates a higher score on the Healthcare Access and Quality scale when compared to the United States (McAlister, 2021). Research has shown that patients in the United States are less likely to follow up with care or refuse recommended care due to the high costs of pharmaceuticals and out of pocket costs. Black characterizes the American healthcare system as “high cost” with a “large number of uninsured patients. (2020, p. 331).” The pit falls of our healthcare system are easily recognizable in the patients I care for today.
As I mentioned above, the costs associated with care in the United States significantly inhibit both citizens and non citizens alike from receiving adequate care. If a patient is a non citizen that has lawful permanent residence, a work or student visa, or is a refugee, they are eligible for coverage through federal or state insurance, or private insurance can be purchased. What would be referred to as an “illegal” immigrant is not eligible for government assistance, or to purchase private insurance. Considering there are anywhere between 16 and 27 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, that is a lot of people to be uninsured (Capps, 2018).
I believe that access to healthcare should be a basic human right. As a nurse, I am taught to treat every patiently equally and fairly, no matter their race, social status, gender, etc. Unfortunately, far too often, instead of providing preventative care to those who cannot afford insurance or regular doctor visits, we are providing late stage care for unmanaged chronic illnesses. Not only is this counter productive, but I believe we could be saving so much time and money, and exhausted resources, by providing everyone with healthcare.
Analise Gore
Black, B. P. (2020). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (9th ed.). Elsevier.
Capps, R., Gelatt, J., Van Hook, J., & Fix, M. (2018). Commentary on “The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States: Estimates based on demographic modeling with data from 1990-2016.” PloS One, 13(9), e0204199. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204199
McAlister, M., & Helton, J. D. (2021). A Comparison of the United States and Austrian Healthcare Needs and Systems. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580211000162