2023 Week 5 discussion reply I feel that all people should have access to basic healthcare I grew up in a

 Week 5 discussion reply

I feel that all people should have access to basic healthcare. I grew up in a high level of poverty without insurance. I constantly lived in a state of anxiety about something happening or getting sick and not being able receive treatment. People should not have to worry about going bankrupt if they get sick. We all have enough things to worry about. 

I agree with providing healthcare for all, even non-US citizens; Anyone who pays taxes. Healthcare is a fundamental right. No one plans to get sick. It doesn’t matter who you are, what race or culture, you deserve the right to see a doctor when you need to. If everyone was able to receive preventative care, healthcare costs would go down. In my field, most of the causes of kidney failure are preventable. “Diabetes is the most common cause of ESRD. High blood pressure is the second most common cause of ESRD.” (kidneyfund.org) As members of the medical community, we are all painfully aware that these are preventable and if kept in check, could save our government millions of dollars by avoiding dialysis from the start.  

I had a patient who was a police officer who had high blood pressure. He did not know that he was sick, there was nothing else wrong with him; his diagnosis of ESRD was a shock to him. He lost his job because he was too sick to work, then he lost his car, his house and then his insurance and is now on Medicare/Medicaid (you must have secondary insurance with this disease because dialysis costs so much). This man was my age and lost everything he had. That should not happen in our country.   

I feel that everyone should pay for everyone’s healthcare. It should be part of our taxes. As human beings, we should care enough about each other to bear the burden of healthcare. Costs would go down significantly if we could keep people from using the ER as their PCP because they don’t have insurance. People would be more willing to go to the doctor for basic care if they could afford it. I can’t tell you how many patients I have talked to that ended up on dialysis because they couldn’t afford their BP meds or their insulin. Our healthcare system definitelyneeds to be looked over and revamped because we have right now is failing ourcountry.