Indeed a jaw dropper

Abigail Gordor



After I watched the Frontline videos entitled: Gambling with health care; Sick around America and this one’s a jaw dropper, I realized how serious and terrible the health care system have been to some middle-class citizens who are trying their best to maintain their health coverage in the United States.
The videos exposed how one’s pre-existing conditions can disqualify citizens on their insurance especially when they are unemployed. It’s amazing how their current situation and condition can push for these families to even file for bankruptcy and loose all they have worked so hard for. The criteria the insurance companies use to qualify and disqualify clients are just outrageous. The health care system is more business oriented; all they are interested in is making profit and not care about giving the best customer satisfaction since I know that is what most companies in the US thrive on. I realized that even though health professional and some insurance company officials do not like the way the system functions, they still are not able to enforce any change, which I think is very sad. The government must indeed take action because its a serious concern, turning health care to politics. The states and government have a big role to play by helping those with pre-existing conditions, because in the video for example, Nevada had to close down a major hospital because it was best for the state to save US dollars from that sector leaving people with cancers and women with high risk pregnancy’s life at stake. So I say to myself, the state truly does not care about the people in their community? Because the hospital is not a profit making business in Nevada for example as mentioned in the video but the state Nevada for example is more concern about tourism.
My other question is that why is it necessary to worry about health insurance in the US especially when you are unemployed? ….because even when you have insurance you are not necessarily guaranteed to have a full coverage. Is it not better to save your money on something else than to pay insurance companies who will not cover you when you need the coverage the most? I was terrified to know how many people have lost their lives because they are not able to afford the right care and continuous treatment needed to live. It is so sad to know that, these people do not die because there wasn’t a cure but they die because they are not able to afford the care and continuous care they need to survive.
Knowing all these problems with the health care system in the US, what happens to those who are not able to pay their bills and die? Does the insurance companies and government prefer for that to happen? Or rather encourage people to stay away from getting insured and putting big burden on hospitals and families who fall into this category?
I think everyone needs to play an active role in solving this problem in the health care industry.