Today, many Americans rely on the health care system to make it easier to pay for wellness visits and routine check ups. However, the rising premium costs are forcing people to avoid enrollment in health care insurance and avoid necessary treatment. It brings us to wonder, is having health insurance too expensive?

It is my belief that health insurance is a wonderful benefit to everyone. In 1929, Blue Cross, the first private health insurer, was founded. The government later incorporated a health system known as the Agricultural Workers Health Association in 1935. This system provided acute care and medicine to workers in the dust bowl who moved West seeking work. In 1965, Medicare (care for people over 65 or with disabilities) and Medicaid (aid for low income families) were passed as a part of Lyndon Johnson’s Social Security Act of 1965. In 2009, the Affordable Care Act was established, promising 36 million insurance who hadn’t been  covered before. But, “uncompensated medical costs incurred by uninsured people in the United States totaled more than $84.9 billion in 2013,” according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF.org).

The lack of care is only part of the problem. A poll showed that most people wait to seek medical treatment and medicines, which in turn only makes their situation worse, thus costing more money (Cleveland.com). Another poll, conducted by Kaiser University, reported that adults had trouble paying deductibles. In that same poll, thirty percent had trouble paying medical bills. In 2014, the US Census Bureau said that 33 million Americans still did not have healthcare insurance. About sixty-two percent of money loss turn out to be medical related, said Emilia Lombardi.

Even though Americans have insurance, when they attempt to pay their premiums, they face financial hardships. A poll conducted by the Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that most, but not all, privately insured Americans, ages 18-64, are satisfied with their health plans, but 1 in 8 privately insured Americans — or more than 16 million — face major financial hardship like running out of food or using up all their savings as a result of paying for out of pocket care. If premiums for health insurance were not so costly, it would encourage people to enroll in health care coverage. This shows that healthcare costs are too high for Americans to afford.

Works Cited

Columnist/Cleveland.com, Guest. “The ACA Debate Needs to Look Elsewhere to Reduce Healthcare Costs: Emilia Lombardi (Opinion).” Cleveland.com.  16 Apr. 2017. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

“Health Insurance.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2017. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.

“Privately Insured in America: Opinions on Health Care Costs and Coverage.” Privately Insured in America: Opinions on Health Care Costs. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.

“The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.