Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Health Care Woes
Back in 2005, Philip was headed to a protest rally in Washington, D.C. He had health insurance through work but was in extreme debt after his daughter's treatment for cancer. There were many things his insurance did not pay for. He wanted better access to health care coverage than was currently available. He also worried for the millions of people in the United States that had no insurance coverage at all. He wanted a set-up that was similar to socialized medicine, or the government-run health care systems, in places like Canada, Sweden, and Great Britain.
In Canada, provinces can voluntarily participate in a federal system of medical insurance. The system is funded by taxes and government contributions. In Sweden, the country's health insurance plan provides most of the doctor's fee, compensation for loss of income, hospital care, and part of the costs of medicine. In Great Britain, doctors are paid by the government. All citizens get free physician and hospital services. There's a small fee for prescriptions, eyeglasses, and dentures.
Dr. Levitz, his daughter's physician, understood Philip's concern. He agreed that health care costs in this country are outrageous. In his opinion, the U.S. health care system is a patchwork with many gaps in coverage. He complained that private insurance companies spend too much on billing, sales, and executive pay, and that they want huge profits at the patients' expense. In addition, he complained that he hires extra staff in his office and at the hospital just to handle the paperwork. He quoted the statistic that one out of every three health dollars in the United States goes to administration.
