The population of uninsured Americans under the age of 65 years is 28.2 million (KFF.org, 2017) . 65% of citizens under the age of 65 years have subscribed to private insurance while 26.3% of the population under the age of 65 years use public insurance (KFF.org, 2017) . The United States government have been working hard to ensure that all people are insured by providing affordable and accessible insurance like Medicaid insurance, Medicare, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) among others. The federal government has been investing $500 billion in the public insurance programs that can be used to reach the Americans who cannot afford the private insurance coverage (Harris, 2011) . These insurance covers serve older citizens, low-income families, people with disabilities, military personnel, and veterans. Reaching the needs of the low-income families, the old, and disabled has been a great issue that the federal government has been dealing with for many years.
Medicare insurance serves over 40 million people, and the number is still growing, and Medicaid insurance serves over 42.3 million people (Harris, 2011) . These insurance programs are more than 50% percent funded by the federal government (James & Hughes, 2015) . Some of the benefits of the medical insurance are outpatient hospital services, home health care, midwife services, free birth services, and free tobacco cessation counseling for pregnant mothers.
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The source of finances for public insurance cover is by the government and a few other health organizations. The government gets the money to fund these programs from tax. The taxpayer money accounts for 64.3% which costs the government approximately $1.9 trillion (Harris, 2011) . The amount is likely to escalate in the coming years because of the increasing number of people subscribing to the public health insurance. The government of the United States was the leading nation to spend on health care in the year 2013 with the expenditure of $5,960 per capita (KFF.org, 2017) . The government directly funds medical programs like Medicare and Medicaid Insurances among other public insurance covers. Even with the availability of the public insurance, over 33 million Americans are still uninsured (James & Hughes, 2015) . The government is working hard to ensure that all the Americans get at least an insurance cover.
The US Government’s Expenditure
| Who Receives a Health Benefit? | What Do They Get? | How Many Annually? | Annual Cost? | |
| Medicare covers seniors (65+) and some individuals with disabilities | Inpatient services (such as hospital care), outpatient services (such as visits to the doctor’s office), and prescription drug coverage | 54 million | $585.7 billion | |
| Medicaid covers low-income families, children, and individuals with physical and developmental disabilities | Inpatient and outpatient services, prescription drugs, and long-term care (either in a nursing home or the community) | 55 million | $449.4 billion | |
| Medicaid expanded under the ACA to cover childless adults under 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL ) | See above | 11.2 million newly eligible** | $47 billion in federal spending** | |
| Children’s Health Insurance Program ( CHIP ) covers kids who would not otherwise qualify for Medicaid | Basic services such as check-ups, immunizations, physician visits, and hospital care | 8 million | $13.5 billion | |
| Veterans Health Administration ( VA ) provides services to veterans | Inpatient, preventive, mental health and emergency care, among other services, as well as home health and transportation | 5.7 million | $56 billion | |
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/07/29/for-the-first-time-government-programs-make-up-the-majority-of-u-s-health-spending/#3102c480137f
Majority of the uninsured people are from the low-income families that have one or no worker in the family . The lack of insurance affect access to healthcare because such people lack access to quality healthcare services (KFF.org, 2017) . The insured people lack sufficient treatment because of cost. Studies show that the uninsured people are less likely to receive care and quality services for chronic diseases and major health conditions as compared to the insured people. Consequently, there are financial implications for lacking a medical coverage. The uninsured are more often to face difficulties in footing the medical bills. They have a problem with paying the medical bill which translates to huge medical debt in hospitals (Harris, 2011) . This directly affects the progress of the healthcare facilities because of having many uninsured people seeking medication and are unable to pay. It is important for all people to get a medical insurance cover to avoid these challenges of footing the bill. The healthcare facilities also need to operate with minimum debts from the patients.
Recommendation
Majority of the low-income families refrain from taking medical insurance because they think that the policies are expensive. There is need to create more awareness to such people and let them know that public insurance is affordable. The government should also have a policy that attracts more people who live in the low-income bracket to get insurance. Educating them and letting them know how much the medical covers the medical bill will help. The policy to be implemented is the public teaching which should be done throughout the year. Millions and millions of people are still not aware of the importance of the medical insurance and need to be informed. This will help to increase the quantity and quality of health insurance in the United States and is a fair policy to all stakeholders. Continuous public education will attract more people.
References
Harris, T. F. (2011). Health care coverage and financing in the United States. Winsted, CT: ACTEX Publications.
James, E., & Hughes, M. (2015, July 29). Government-Sponsored Programs Make Up 52% Of What We Spend On Healthcare . Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/07/29/for-the-first-time-government-programs-make-up-the-majority-of-u-s-health-spending/#3102c480137f
KFF.org. (2017, September 19). Key Facts about the Uninsured Population . KFF. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
OFFICE., G. P. (2017). FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, FY 2016. [S.l.]: US GOVT PRINTING OFFICE.
