Land of the Free, Home of the Brave What About the Healthy?

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave What About the Healthy?

Health and Fitness May 23, 2016

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Everyone has a different vision in life. Everyone has different goals, ambitions, and ideas of what success and happiness mean. But one thing that everyone can agree on is that as long as you have your health, the roads of possibility remain wide open ahead of you. However, keeping that good health can be a little more difficult at some times than it is at others. Whether it is due to an accident, unforeseen circumstances, or a sudden illness, there are times that it is necessary to visit an emergency walk in clinic.

When you may need to visit an emergency walk in clinic
There are only about 29% of primary care physicians who offer coverage for visits after normal office hours. But the onset of a severe sickness, or an accident resulting in a serious sprain or even a fracture, don’t always wait to happen during office hours. Emergency walk in clinics offer those necessary services that are crucial to those who suffer from maladies outside of the normal daily hours of operation for many medical offices. After hours urgent care is sometimes the only medical care that some individuals can get to. And with the current state of healthcare and coverage in this country, or lack thereof, it is worth reassessing the entire system.

Why one free health clinic barely makes a dent
There are places that offer free basic health care. But many times, these places are understaffed, leading to fatigued and overworked doctors and nurses. Of all the visits to emergency departments in 2009, 78% were to emergency facilities that had admitted patients who were waiting in hallways and other spaces for inpatient beds to be freed up for them. In fact it is estimated that by the year 2025, the United States will need to have nearly 52,000 more primary care doctors than the country currently has, in order to satisfy the health care needs of the population. There are insurance plans, and family health care plans, and other plans, but so many people fall through the cracks of the system that is set in place to supposedly help citizens get healthy.

The injustices of an imperfect system
The healthcare plans and coverages that are available do in fact help plenty of people. But there are far too many people who go without basic care, or end up in very bad shape because of their inability to pay for medicine or treatment that is necessary to a full recovery. When insurance is revoked because an individual has fallen too sick to work, and then has a mountain of medical bills that sets him or her back in other aspects of life, it is time to change things. When a parent has to watch his or her child’s quality of life diminish because that child is denied treatment based on financial status, it is time to turn things around. How did this country become one that values money far more than human lives? How can one of the world leaders, one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on the globe, not provide basic health care?

Hopefully health care coverage is not an issue for you. But knowing that it is an issue for so many others should be enough to make you want to demand change.