Please respond to discussion prompt
The main health care reform that I want to see in the United States is the emphasis on individual access to care, independent from potential profit. I have found that the quality of care is entirely dependent on the type of medical insurance that you have. If you have a “better” insurance, you get access to better doctors as many doctors don’t accept certain insurances, specifically Medicaid. This is due to the fact that if a doctor accepts a Medicaid patient, “those claims are paid at a lower rate than other insurance,” making there be less incentive for other doctors to accept Medicaid (Masterson, 2019). This makes it challenging for Medicaid participants to find doctors that will accept their insurance, but especially difficult to find specialists and mental help professionals. For example, “only 36% of psychiatrists accepted new Medicaid patients compared to 62% who took Medicare patients and also 62% who accepted on private insurance,” showing that there are significantly fewer psychiatrists who are willing to accept Medicaid, putting up a dangerous barrier for those who have no other insurance (Masterson, 2019). This is one of the many reasons there needs to be a change in emphasis of what truly matters in the United States health care system. Currently, profit is prioritized over human beings and this mistake is costly. There needs to be a structural reformation of the health care system to remove this barrier so that everyone, even those without insurance, can have the same access to quality care. Access to health care is a fundamental human right, meaning that we need to reevaluate our current approach to the concept of access to provide a equal opportunities in the realm of health care.
Masterson, L. (2019, January 28). Doctors less likely to accept Medicaid than other insurance. Healthcare Dive. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/doctors-less-likely-to-accept-medicaid-than-other-insurance/546941/#:~:text=One%20likely%20reason%20fewer%20doctors,payments%2C%20according%20to%20the%20report.