Public Health

Unfortunately, in our society, access to healthcare is a political issue.  Wherever our healthcare system is headed in the future, we should ask ourselves some important questions along the way. We are each a patient or potential patient, voter or potential voter. We have a role in deciding what our healthcare system will look like in a year or ten years, but we also have a responsibility to figure out what we’re willing to do to get there. Below are a few of the many questions to consider in figuring out the best healthcare system in America. None of these questions have easy answers. This topic can cause ‘heated’ reactions in a discussion.  Please be respectful and cite your sources. 1. Do we have a moral obligation to provide healthcare to everyone as needed or is healthcare a commodity that should be subject to the same marketplace influences as other commodities? Some feel that healthcare is a commodity like iphones or computers and that it should be distributed according to the ability to pay in the same way that consumer goods are. Others feel that healthcare is a need and that it should be distributed according to need. What do you think? 2. What should the government’s role be in providing access to healthcare for Americans? 3. According to a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly 40 percent of physicians have manipulated insurance reimbursement to receive needed care. For example, physicians have exaggerated patients’ symptoms to allow them to stay in the hospital longer, and changed patients’ diagnoses for billing purposes. In our current healthcare system, is this justifiable or unethical?