Health Reforms Hit Main Street, Essay Example

In the videos “Health Reforms Hit Main Street” and “The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare”, a populistic easy to understand summary of the American health care reforms or so-called Obama care is presented. One of the most compelling points presented in the videos is its synopsis of where the new healthcare system shall be receiving much of its funding: one of the key sources are existing actors in the current health care system, such as pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms that sell health insurance. This appears to be a legitimate means of funding: to the extent that there are current problems in the healthcare system, the new system endeavors to support itself by taxing those companies that have most benefited from the appalling state of current healthcare. In other words, this is both a practical and ethical solution.

The healthcare reforms are the response to a very real problem that affects the entire nation: the high number of individuals who do not have healthcare, for reasons such as economics and lack of money, is a clear embarrassment for the United States. The majority of the world’s developed nations have comprehensive healthcare problems for their citizens. This leaves the U.S. appearing backward to many foreigners from around the world, while also re-enforcing the U.S.’s image as a greedy, imperialistic and capitalist nation, unconcerned about the lives of those citizens who are on the bottom of the social order.

Rectifying the healthcare situation therefore indicates a clear ethical commitment to improving the lives of everyday citizens and bringing Americans’ quality of life to the same level as the remainder of the developed world. It demonstrates that government’s responsibility is not reducible to various forms of management, tax collection, military escapades, etc., but also to the well-being of its citizens. Of course, in order to take care of the well-being of citizens, funds are needed and this is where ethics meets pragmatic concerns.

By taxing those involved in the healthcare industry and who capitalize on the porous healthcare situation in the United States, such as pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms, the government is trying to curtail those who are extracting most profits from a broken system. These companies which thrive under a healthcare system which does not take care of the poorest members of society are now being asked to take a share of responsibility for the situation. In other words, such companies are not being treated as merely profit-making entities, but also as important parts of society that have an ethical obligation to the American citizens.

This ethical obligation to the American citizens, in my view, follows from the nature of these companies’ “business”: they are involved in healthcare and thus in the well-being of the American population. They are not selling some trivial consumer item, but rather are part of the foundation of the American healthcare system. If such businesses are, on the one hand, part of this foundation, and, on the other hand, simultaneously only out for their own interests in the form of generating profit, it is not difficult to see that such a healthcare system will be rotten. Health is being reduced to profit: this is an ethically flawed position.

The solution to help fund the new healthcare with taxes from these businesses thus checks the metaphorical boxes under the categories of ethics and practice. At the same time, it is very relevant for the everyday American to understand the importance of this strategy. Many Americans will be concerned about the costs of the new system. At the same time, they have to understand that those who have profited from a failing system are now being asked, in a way, to re-pay their debt to society. Such a strategy assists us to understand exactly how the new healthcare system is structured: furthermore, it helps us understand that the new healthcare system aims to be both ethical and practical at the same time. Understanding these points are crucial to all American citizens who are concerned with building a more egalitarian state.