By: Kaela Smith

1
Health Care Reform

• By Kaela Smith

2
Health Care Today

• Its sad to say that today's American health care
  system falls short of providing high quality care
  and choices for all Americans. This comes as
  shock when considering that the United States is
  believed to be a world leader in developing new
  medical technologies and probing the mysteries of
  disease through basic and clinical research, and
  people from all over the world come to the United
  States for specialized training and treatment
  (Clemmitt, M. 2). There are many problems of
  concern with the current system many an in which
  we need to take into account and its main
  problems and solutions under the new health care
  reform.

3
A LACK OF SECURITY

• Every month, 2 million Americans lose their
  insurance. One out of four -- 63 million --
  Americans will lose their health insurance
  coverage for some period during the next two
  years.
• 37 million Americans have no insurance and
  another 22 million have inadequate coverage.
• Losing or changing a job, becoming ill or living
  with a chronic medical condition can mean losing
  insurance coverage or not being able to obtain
  it.
• Long-term care coverage is inadequate. Many
  elderly and disabled Americans enter nursing
  homes and other institutions when they would
  prefer to remain at home. Families exhaust their
  savings trying to provide for disabled relatives.
  
• Taken from (The Need for Reform).

4
RISING COSTS

• Rising health costs mean lower wages, higher
  prices for goods and services, and higher taxes.
  The average worker today would be earning at
  least 1,000 more a year if health insurance
  costs had not risen faster than wages over the
  previous 15 years.
• More and more Americans have had to give up
  insurance altogether because the premiums have
  become prohibitively expensive.
• Only one other industrialized country (Canada)
  spends more than 10 of their GDP on health care.
  Japan, France and Germany spend 9 of GDP or
  less, and their costs have not risen nearly as
  rapidly as ours.

5
QUALITY THREATENED

• No one is accountable for the performance of the
  health care system -- not hospitals, physicians,
  other providers, or health insurers.
• Quality care means promoting good health. Yet,
  our system waits until people are sick before it
  starts to work. It is biased towards specialty
  care and gives inadequate attention to
  cost-effective primary and preventive care.
• Some insurers now compete to insure the healthy
  and avoid the sick by determining "insurability
  profiles". They should compete on quality, value,
  and service.
• Insurance company red tape has created a
  nightmare for providers -- with mountains of
  forms and numerous levels of review that wastes
  money and does nothing to improve the quality of
  care.
• We have the best doctors who can provide the most
  advanced treatments in the world. Yet people
  often can't get treated when they need care.

6
GROWING COMPLEXITY

• Purchasing insurance can be overwhelming for
  consumers. With different levels of benefits,
  co-payments, deductibles and a variety of
  limitations, trying to compare policies is
  confusing and objective information on quality
  and service is hard for consumers to find. As a
  result, consumers are vulnerable to unfair and
  abusive practices.
• Insurers have responded to rising health costs by
  imposing restriction on what doctors and
  hospitals do. A system that was complicated to
  begin with has become incomprehensible, even to
  experts. Each health insurance plan includes
  different exclusions and limitations. Even the
  terms used in health policies do not have
  standard definitions.

7
DECLINING CHOICES

• Insurance coverage for most Americans is not a
  matter of choice at all. In most cases, they are
  limited to whatever policy their employer offers.
  Only 29 of companies with fewer than 500
  employees offer any choice of plans.
• With a growing number of insurers using
  exclusions for pre-existing conditions, arbitrary
  cancellations and hidden benefit limitations,
  consumers have few choices for affordable
  policies that provide real protection.

8
Health Care Reform

• Hilary Clinton proposed a Health Care Reform in
  1993. The plan was denied by Congress. With the
  possibility of Hilary Clinton being Secretary of
  State, Presidential Barack Obama should take
  another look into her Reform.
• The plan also considers and would work way
  better than what we have now. The plan has six
  basic principles, which are stated in the
• Principle 1 Security Guaranteed,
  comprehensive, benefits.
• Principle 2 Controlling Costs
• Principle 3 Expanding Choice
• Principle 4 Enhancing Quality
• Principle 5 Simplicity Reducing paperwork and
  cutting red tape.
• Principle 6 Responsibility Making everyone
  responsible for health care.

9
Exceptions

• There are Exceptions are provided for (1) the
  self-employed and independent contractors (2)
  part-time workers who have unearned income (3)
  families with incomes below 150 of the poverty
  level (4) seasonal workers and the unemployed
  and non-working (ltSum-Exp.htmlgt).

10
Thesis

• It will be argued based on John Stewart Mills
  utilitarian theory that Hilary Clintons Health
  Care Reform is to be considered a moral act.
• -Importance Since she may be Presidential Elect
  Barack Obamas Secretary of State, he should look
  into her plans for reform.

11
John Stewart Mill

• J. S. Mill wrote an essay to defend Mill wrote an
  essay called Utilitarianism, He wrote this
  essay to defend and support utilitarianism as a
  moral theory.
• He defines utilitarianisms main and most
  important principle as actions are right in
  proportion as they tend to promote happiness
  wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of
  happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and
  the absence of pain by unhappiness, pain and the
  privation of pleasure (John Stewart, p.13)
• The good as defined by J.S. Mill would be the
  presence of pleasure and the absence of pain, so
  that for Mill determining the proper action
  involves adding up the aggregate of pleasure and
  the absence of pains suffered by the members of
  the community (Garrett, Baillie, Garrett, 2001).

12
Applying Mill

• The large majority of actions intend the good of
  individuals (including ourselves) rather than the
  good of the world. Yet the worlds good is made
  up of the good of the individuals that constitute
  it (John Stewart Mill, 2007).
• Which basically means if the majority of an
  individuals actions are considered morally right
  this would make the individual a morally right
  person or as Mill would describe good, rather
  than the worlds actions, although, the overall
  good of the world is made of the amount of good
  people in it. If everyone chipped in and cared
  for one another than this would lessen the burden
  and overall cost of insurance for a particular
  individual who is in a tight position.

13
Continue

• When we are evaluating whether or not an action
  is good by evaluating the happiness that we can
  expect to be produced by it (John Stewart Mill,
  2007
• With everyone chipping in and helping each other
  out would result in a decrease of poverty, poor
  living standards, and peoples health. Which
  would minimize the mortality rate than if the of
  the overall American population. Hows is this
  possible you ask? Well with everyone chipping in
  and helping with the cost of insurance of an
  individual would lessen the cost for that person.
  Depending on whether or not the person has
  children the person would be able to afford more
  food, attain a better living condition, and
  relieve stress. Stress is the main contributor to
  most illnesses that are preventable.

14
Continue

• Which requires Mills utilitarian conscience
  (i.e. a strong feeling of obligation to the
  general happiness) by showing how such a feeling
  can develop out of the natural desire we have to
  be in unity with fellow creaturesa desire that
  enables us to care what happens to them and to
  perceive our own interests as linked with theirs
  (John Stewart Mill, 2007).
• I found this to mean that an individual could
  base all their actions on how it would affect
  not only themselves but others. , basically
  thinking of others happiness before you. To
  relate this to the argument, if the individuals
  could help out and be responsible for one
  anothers cost of insurance by thinking of
  others, as in putting themselves in each others
  shoes. Now if they had the utilitarian conscience
  they would morally help one another out
  regardless of how much or little health care
  necessities they may use

15
Opposing Argument

• Basically why should others who do not consume as
  much medical need/health care be required to pay
  or for those who do, and/or have to provide more
  than those less fortunate then themselves?
• They would then argue on likely argue with John
  Rawls theory. By stating that it would be morally
  wrong, because it would go against Rawls Veil of
  Ignorance. The Veil of Ignorance is to view
  everyone as an equal and not looking at the
  race, ethnicity, gender, age, income, wealth,
  natural endowments, comprehensive doctrine, etc.
  of any of the citizens in society, or to which
  generation in the history of the society these
  citizens belong (Richardson, 2005, p. 6). So
  everyone should pay the same amount regardless of
  employment, income, or marriage. I would refute
  this by stating that it would cause stress on an
  individual who has low income and unable to pay
  as much as a wealthier individual, therefore
  causing pain and inflicting a persons right to
  happiness. Also a person should just do it
  according to Mills utilitarian consciences.

16
Conclusion

• If the Health Care Reform were to be instated I
  believe it would be very beneficial to the
  American Citizens and legal residents of these
  United States for reasons that are stated above,
  based on Mills utilitarian theory. If it is not
  instated I strongly believe the United States
  economy will continue to worsen and individuals
  will continue to be unhealthy, which would then
  cause the mortality rate to increase.

17
References

• Clemmitt, M. Universal coverage. (2007, March
  30). CQ Researcher, 17, 265-288. Retrieved
• September 17, 2008, from CQ Researcher Online,
  http//library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre20
  07033000
• Exceptions 27 Sept. 1993. Online posting.
  politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov. 2008.
  Sum-Exp.html 
• Principle 1 Security Guaranteed,
  comprehensive benefits 27 Sep. 1993. Online
  posting. politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov.
  2008. Sum-Pr1.html
• Principle 2 Savings Controlling health care
  costs. 27 Sep. 1993. Online posting.
  politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov. 2008.
  Sum-Pr2.html
•  Principle 3 Quality Making the world's best
  care better. 27 Sep. 1993. Online posting.
  politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov. 2008.
  Sum-Pr3.html
•  Principle 4 Choice Preserving and increasing
  what you have today. 27 Sep. 1993. Online
  Posting. politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov.
  2008. Sum-Pr4.html  
• Principle 5 Simplicity Reducing paperwork and
  cutting red tape. 27 Sep. 1993. Online Posting.
  politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov. 2008.
  Sum-Pr5.html 
• Principle 6 Responsibility Making everyone
  responsible for health care. 27 Sep. 1993.
  Online posting. politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on
  18 Nov. 2008. Sum-Pr6.html 
• The Need for Reform. 27 Sep. 1993. Online
  posting. politics_at_Ibiblio. Retrieved on 18 Nov.
• 2008. NHS-T-o-C.html