Many people look down upon the United States for still having private health care whereas in Canada there is a national health care system. While most Americans in the middle to upper class have little to worry about since they probably have medical insurance, it is those of the lower classes that are tossed to the side. Even if Medicare covers people, it is argued that even they are not getting the level of coverage that they need since some basic services are not covered by their insurance. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences summarized its overview of U.S. health care: "The health-care delivery system is incapable of meeting the present, let alone the future, needs of the American public." It is a staggering number to see that over 41 million Americans are currently without health care. We see that if people of the middle class are starting to lose their insurance, what about those of the lower classes. Also, some employers are starting to deny medical insurance t

The people that need medical attention most are being denied, the children of our society, and the older individuals. Children need to have proper medical attention available to them, yet some go uninsured. Doctors are becoming less likely to treat the poor and uninsured, so what are they to do. For those that do not qualify for Medicaid the situation seems hopeless. Even those that do have Medicaid are starting to see a drop in their coverage giving them something to worry about. Although the drops of service are small now we can only view this action as a threat to the service as a whole. It is amazing that the United States government is willing to spend a billion dollars a day to invade Iraq, yet cannot find the funds available to intervene into medical issues. The media has not been completely forthcoming its efforts to root out the problems. There is a simple explanation for the media's collective unwillingness to present the Canadian system fairly. On June 28, 1991, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 69 percent of Americans would support a Canadian-style system, while only 20 percent were opposed. The same 69 percent said they were willing to pay higher taxes for a system that guaranteed the best available health care for everyone. The insurance industry launched a multi-million-dollar campaign to discredit Canada's system. While media solemnly took note of the industry's influence over our political leaders, achieved via campaign contributions, it failed to report on the industry's public relations war effectively. Obviously the insurance companies of the United States do not want a reform of this magnitude, as they would lose their hold on their current profits. So, it would be safe to assume that they would be willing to cover up such key information as the voter's desires for a national health care system over private insurance. The government is not doing all that much either, they are calling for managed care which they are putting as the end-all, and if that is not to work. Some argue that any administration in power could simply put together a group to "study" this problem for later review, thereby doing nothing.

Although the current Bush administration is not willing to commit to a large health care reform such as that of a national health care policy, they have also been reluctant to make any major changes to the current. During the last congressional vote, some of the main issues that they devised were not passed such as medical coverage for generic medicines, and larger subsidies for children's insurance and HMOs. They did however manage to get prescription drug coverage for the elderly and tax credits for HMOs. Most of the economic agenda was placed on the current economy and national security. Even while more people in the U.S. will die of hunger than of possible terrorist attack, national security has taken the floor. Almost 41 million people are left uninsured and congress has taken the road of the pacifist. The last time that congress met, there was almost a compromise made that would provide health care for children of families t

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jim Nussle, Academy Sciences, Republicans Democrats, Street Journal/NBC, Cigna Aetna, Organization Act, , NFIB's Wilson, Kaiser Permanente, Program CHIP, health care, care system, medical insurance, national health care, health care system, national health, medical attention, national insurance, medical coverage, insurance lower classes, insurance lower, lower classes, middle upper, prescription drug coverage, provide health care,
Approximate Word count = 2098
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)