Poverty and its affect on health care.

For this blog post, I will play the role of a Conflict Theorist.

It seems to be that in our society today only those who have a job with medical benefits or those who can afford to pay the outrageous insurance costs receive proper and/or attentive health care. Why is this? Do those in poverty not ask for help because they are afraid of being turned away? Do they ask for help and not receive it? I think that those without health care do want their needs taken care of, but they have no way of paying for it so they do not bother with the system in place. How can we fix this? What can be done to help those without means of paying for health care receive the basic medical and dental attention they need and deserve? I am not hinting towards agreeing with socialized medicine by any means, I just think our government should take measures to meet the needs of the less fortunate.

What can our government do to help meet these needs? For starters, they can make sure each city has free or much cheaper clinics where those without means can go. These clinics can be a place where people can receive medical or dental care for a reduced fee or for free depending on their salary. Another option (although much less likely in my opinion) would be to set a price ceiling on health care plans. Do not allow health insurance companies to charge a family of four $500.00 per month solely for medical insurance.

If it where not for some of the companies in America that offer much cheaper insurances for their employees, we would see the amount of people without means of receiving medical care skyrocket. Why do us Americans just accept it for what it is? Why has nothing been done about the asinine costs of receiving health care?

What if our salaries affected how much we were to pay for health insurance? The more a person makes, the more they should pay for health insurance (Of course a cost ceiling would still be implemented). This would help lower the costs of those who do not make much or fall into the category of poverty. Does this seem fair? I think so. Why should those who make more money be treated better? Yes it may be true that they worked harder for what they have, but what about the well-off CEO of a fortune 500 company that loses his job due to a major hit in the economy? Now that the tables have turned, do you think he would agree with implementing lower health care costs for the less fortunate? Most people would probably agree that he would.