The number one problem in the health care system (within the United States) is cost. It has been spiraling out of control, well beyond the inflation rate, for several years.

According to various studies, the primary reason people are uninsured is the high cost of coverage. In 2007 employer-based premiums increased by 6.1 percent. Health care amounts to more than four times the amount spent on national defense.

U.S. health care spending is near 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2017 it is estimated to reaching 20 percent of GDP. Last year the U.S. spent $2.26 trillion. This breaks down to $7,439 per person. Nearly 60 percent of Americans have coverage through an employer, although this percentage is declining. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, since 2001, costs for family coverage by employers have increased 78 percent while wages have risen 19 percent and inflation was 17 percent.

One report noted that “If one member of a family is uninsured and has an accident, a hospital stay, or a costly medical treatment, the resulting medical bills can affect the economic stability of the whole family.” A retiring couple will need to save at least $200,000 to pay for basic medical coverage, although some argue it is more like $300,000, the reported.

The United States wastes $480 billion each year, mainly due to excess administrative costs and poor quality of care (i.e, mistakes). Administrative spending in America is six times more per capita than Western European nations.

Fraud and abuse (for example, in the Medicare system) need to be taken more seriously. My step-grandfather noticed a few years ago that his doctor billed the system for two eye operations, when in fact he only did one. Why he didn't say anything is beyond me. People must not take this system for granted and must help report on abuses like this.

One thing I have never understood is why a doctor is paid or expected to be paid, if he (or she) doesn't fix the problem or can't make a proper diagnosis. Can you imagine if this were the same for an auto mechanic? Doctors should not be paid if they don't do the work. Of course, this is controversial and would be strongly opposed by the medical lobby. However, I think doctors and specialists need to be reintroduced to common sense.

Though some argue for price controls and strict budgets, it is doubtful in my opinion if these measures will work. I do think restraining the budgets (Medicare and Medicaid) have a greater chance at working than price controls, though there are arguably already some. Others believe free market competition is the best way to solve the problems. Some advocates believe that if all Americans adopted healthy lifestyles, health care costs would decrease as people required less medical care. Obviously having a better lifestyle will help, but this is an overly simplistic view. There are problems built within the system and therefore systemic changes must be made.

If the general public refused to accept certain aspects of the system and demanded changes, there could very well be some progress. Market driven solutions must be found, where patients begin to rise up, refusing to accept the high cost of brand name drugs in preference to generics and refusing to pay for shoddy and incomplete care.
The Veterans' Administration, although there are problems everywhere, seems to have a better handle on controlling costs. I would encourage a national task force with serious deadlines and then resulting legislation to build a system based on the one at the VA. Perhaps is there was one man in charge, a sort of health care czar, who would be given great leeway and also have great responsibility for any failures or lack of progress, the nation would find a way out of an unsustainable system. At some point, whether we are proactive or not, the entire network will come crashing down. We might as well do what we can to ease it.

The symbolic interactionist model would likely view how the typical American would be pragmatic in approaching the subject, not wanting to radicalism to disrupt the benefits of the current system. After all, it does, in the end, work. Whether it could be improved upon and how to do it is what is up for debate and discussion. This interpretation implies that people are basically good, have purpose, and can innovatively work together to find a solution to help everyone. It's a bit Pollyannish in my view.

Meanwhile, conflict theory, while somewhat overdone in this instance, does help to explain how many view the current system. It is basically a question of the haves and havenots, typical of class warfare and Marxist dogma. Of course, there are many aspects which fit into the health care question in this country. I doubt much good could come from a revolution against the upper classes, forcing them to pay for everyone else. A universal, federal health care system could very well be a new nightmare, where doctors become rare, with few seeing the benefits of going into the field, resulting in a severe strain on people, both patients and professionals, and the system.

I would much prefer the states begin experimenting with plans and ideas with support from the federal government, in an effort to collaborate and share what works and what doesn't. Of course, bureaucrats would have to be flexible and open to change, which can be difficult if a new plan becomes entrenched. This type of state-oriented system is much more in line with symbolic interactionism.

It helps explain the collective means to fulfill the biological needs of patients. Social institutions such as hospitals and clinics are critical to any functioning society. As functionalism prominently uses structure in its model, the health care system and its hierarchy is important to know and study. People, like nurses and doctors, have their roles, as do administrators.

Clearly some of the rules and regulations maintaining the current system need to be reevaluated and reformed. The roles and norms need updating. Equilibrium does not exist and must be restored. The interdependent parts must work together to regain it. If society is a living organism then part of the this “body” is ill. There is a sort of cancer growing within the system, particularly the 47 million people without coverage

In conclusion, American society is desperately in need to someone who can blend the positive elements of each theory into a workable plan of action.

Facts on the Cost of Health Care, The National Coalition on Health Care
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml