Session 11: Health Care Policies

Who?

Young adults are the least likely to have health insurance, only 28.6% of people ages 18-24. This is not shocking to me at all. I am 19 years old and I do not have health insurance. My parents are self employed so they do not have insurance, which means I do not have insurance. I tried to get insurance on my own and I couldnt even afford the cheapest policy out there. I have asthma and have to take medicine twice a day to make it easier for me to breath, this medicine is 250 dollars a month. I make 100 dollars a week and have to pay rent and bills. It is very difficult to afford my medicine at the end of the month, which means my asthma is going untreated and I could have an attack at any time and end up in the emergency room. Also, the race that is least likely to be insured is Hispanic. This also is not shocking to me because whenever you visit an emergency room most of the people waiting are Hispanic because they do not have a regular doctor to see so they visit the emergency room for anything.

Why?

There are a few reasons health care is failing in the United States. One, health care is far too expensive. Two, it is very hard to get a health care policy, even government policied like Medicare is hard to qualify for. I believe that health care companies need to care more about their customers instead of the money. If that happened, more people would be able to afford health care and stop relying on emergency rooms for minor problems.