Updated March 31, 2017
The current disagreements over healthcare policies in the US are essentially founded on: 1) trying to induce people who do not need healthcare to pay the bills for those that do, and 2) requiring the wealthy to spend some of their “pocket change” for the healthcare of people with low incomes and few opportunities. This narrow-mindedness and societal greed must be stopped for the United States (US) to move forward as a world leader.
In the current political environment, the Republican Party plans to replace the Democratic Party’s healthcare program, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), with The American Health Care Act (also known as “Trump/Ryan Care”). Healthcare reforms made over the past decade have been a significant step forward toward providing modern-day, consumer-oriented healthcare to millions more people, but at considerable costs. Note that even ObamaCare has increased the profits for physicians, hospitals, and medical-device and pharmaceutical companies by insuring tens of millions more Americans. Republicans pride themselves on their dedication to reduce excess spending, especially for what are termed “entitlements.” Regardless of the orientation for more or less healthcare, for any system to be sustainable the costs from providers must be controlled, and money, certainly from taxation, must be raised. Many improvements will need to be made before meeting the expectations of both political parties (as well as independents).