Fig. 1. People of color are at higher risk of being uninsured. They account for over half of the total nonelderly uninsured population (rewirenewsgroup.com).
Growing up, I would tend to be a very reserved child that was very dependent on my parents for doing things that I didn’t want to do. I would avoid as much social interaction as possible and keep to myself in my small school desk just waiting for school to be over. But when I was home, I was a very lively kid that, according to my mom, never stopped talking. I loved to draw, play games, and watch movies with my parents. But, as I grew older, I gradually lost interest in all of the things I used to love and became a shell of the person I used to be.
When I finally had enough of feeling this way, I told my parents that nothing makes me happy anymore. When I said this, my mom and I cried because we both knew that something was wrong with me and we had no idea how to make it better. After that, nothing was the same. Our current health insurance didn’t cover mental health services and our only affordable option was in Mexicali. However, since I know very little Spanish, we were limited to an adult psychiatrist that spoke little English. Keep in mind that I was a 13 year old kid going to an adult psychiatrist in Mexico with very little proper communication between us. Being diagnosed with social anxiety and severe depression, I was prescribed medications that we later found out were an extremely dangerous combination for someone my age and my mental health continued to get worse.
Figuring everything out for the first time was a struggle and took a toll on my entire family. However, things finally started getting better when my mom was able to switch to an insurance that actually covered mental health services here in America. After getting the proper help, I am now on medications that work for me and I feel so much better. I started getting back into my old hobbies of drawing, music, and even gained some new ones such as making friendship bracelets, painting and watching anime. Of course, my mental disorders will never truly go away and I will always have days where I really struggle. But, learning more about my disorder and how it affects me allows me to work with it rather than against it. If I know my limits then I am able to take the right steps to better myself. After all, it’s the little steps that matter.
What is wrong with the American healthcare system? The US health-care model relies on a direct-fee system and private health insurance (“Problems of Health Care in the United States”). This system has been criticized for contributing to high health-care costs, high rates of uninsured individuals, and high rates of health problems in comparison to the situation in other first world countries. It is time to change this system to one that will provide accessible and affordable healthcare to all Americans for the betterment of our country. Research shows that more Americans are afraid of paying for their healthcare if they become ill than are afraid of actually getting ill. Uninsured Americans are less likely than those with insurance to get cancer screenings, meaning they’re more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancer than an earlier stage. High healthcare costs cause the uninsured to put off doctor’s visits and appointments until their affliction has gotten to the point where they are unable to withstand it.
If healthcare costs were significantly lowered, Americans would be more worried about their health rather than the expenses, making America an overall healthier country. My family and I had to struggle to get the care I needed and were forced to seek care in a foreign country. Now that we finally have the insurance to receive care in America, I am going to lose it all over again once I turn 19. We shouldn’t have to rely on another country to receive the care that should be provided to us by our own. In order to improve the health of our country, we must switch to a single-payer system in which the government provides basic healthcare to all and additional insurance is optional.
“America's healthcare system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system” (Cronkite). When I hear this quote, I begin to imagine the countless homeless people that are on the streets due to unaffordable medical expenses as well as my own struggles with the trainwreck we call our healthcare system. Before I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I was a very intelligent kid that was always involved in some type of activity and had a lot of potential. But, as my mental issues began to take hold, I slowly became a shell of who I used to be. I was obviously still the same person, but every aspect about me became dampened and I had no interest in anything anymore. I had quit every single one of my activities that I once enjoyed, became much more reserved, and only wanted to be alone. But, when I did go to places such as school or the store, I would get so anxious thinking about the people that would be there that the thought would make me sick. I spent the majority of my 7th and 8th grade years constantly fighting off terrible nausea and the pit in my stomach just so I could try to function like a normal human being. I reached a point where I honestly thought that I would never get better and be numb and constantly anxious for the rest of my life. It wasn’t until I was finally on the right path with services from behavioral health and the correct medications to give me the support I needed to be able to live with myself.
When I was at my lowest point, I never could have imagined the opportunities I am now glad to have had such as my band trip to Hawaii that truly was the opportunity of a lifetime for me. Though I still have my bad days, I am truly grateful that I have stayed this long and for the memories I have made so far. However, this much progress can all be ripped away at any second. I will eventually not qualify for free healthcare like I currently do, and I will no longer have access to the services that helped me improve and actually live rather than just exist. This is what leads me to my topic of injustice within the healthcare system, where people are forced to pay enormous amounts of money in order to live when it should be a right.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that this isn’t a mistake of the U.S. healthcare system, rather, that it was built this way. Health in the United States is treated as an enterprise to be drained of money rather than a basic human right. With incentives built into our healthcare system, providers and insurers increase their prices and prescribe often unnecessary and expensive services in order to maximize profits (PBS NewsHour). This also applies to not just physical, but mental health as well. Many people struggle with mental health for their entire lives and never seek help due to such high costs without insurance. I believe that no one should have to suffer physically or mentally just to be able to afford their rent. Everyone should have the right to healthcare, no matter their financial background.
Michael Moore is a 66 year old American documentary filmmaker, author, and activist. Frequently focusing on globalization and capitalism, he is widely known for Sicko, a 2007 film about the American healthcare system, that is ranked as the tenth highest grossing documentary of all time. Moore states, “We’ve got the worst infant mortality rate in the western world. A baby in El Salvador has a better chance of living than a baby born in Detroit”. This shows the viewer that, though America may be seen as one of the best first-world countries, our current healthcare system is what truly sets us back from other nations.
Though the current U.S. infant mortality rate has decreased to 5.8 deaths per 1000 births, it is still 71% higher than the comparable country average of 3.4 deaths (Kamal). This presents the idea that something within our healthcare system is clearly not working and we should look to comparable countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom for ways to improve it. With our current system prioritizing money over health, socioeconomic inequality has become likely a primary contributor to higher infant mortality. We as Americans need to begin viewing healthcare as a basic human right as opposed to a commodity.
As a young child constantly fighting myself mentally, I had to suffer through delayed and bad treatments for my mental health due to something that was out of my control. It was not my fault that I was born into a lower-middle class family and it was not my fault that I have a mental illness. However, I was forced to suffer for longer than I should have because our current healthcare system prioritizes money and profits over the wellbeing of its citizens. My experiences have made me realize just how corrupt our current system is and that we, as citizens of the United States, have the right to proper and affordable healthcare.
Fig. 2. The current American healthcare system takes advantage of the people for its own financial gain. Companies such as Big Pharma continue to raise prices on essential prescriptions by up to 71% while continuing to report millions of dollars in revenue just to reap the profits of everyday Americans, making proper healthcare inaccessible (commondreams.org).
Price gouging and healthcare disparities are some of the main reasons that affordable healthcare has become so unattainable to many people across America. These healthcare disparities are due to socioeconomic factors that limit gains in overall healthcare quality and cause unnecessary costs (Mar 04 and 2020). Our current healthcare system has shown a clear difference in quality of care and life in people of different socioeconomic statuses, race, and sex. The only reason that I was able to receive mental health services in the U.S. was due to my family’s socioeconomic status and the fact that I was still a minor. But, now when I turn 19, I will lose the free health coverage that I was receiving and will no longer be able to afford these services. The fact that my own country would essentially make my right to my health inaccessible due to my family’s socioeconomic status is a great wakeup call that things need to change.
As a minor when first dealing with this whole situation, my mom is the one that was able to search and find the resources that would provide me with free healthcare. Without her help, I would still be receiving treatment in Mexico where I am unable to communicate effectively and had to resort to a psychologist that could relatively communicate with me and also gave me a highly dangerous prescription combination. I was lucky to have mom there to find ways through our mess of a healthcare system in order to get me the appropriate care I need. However, I know that there are many people that don’t have someone like my mom who is there to try their best and help them navigate their way to affordable healthcare and are suffering with their health or their medical debts. This is why we must make drastic changes to our healthcare system, for the betterment of our country.
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