Health care in the United States has become an important issue in today's society. Poverty stricken citizens cannot pay their health care bills and therefore cannot afford to get sick. Medicare, introduced in 1967, has helped many Americans afford health care, but there are still many health care problems facing the nation today. A person who is unable to pay for health care should not be punished for their lack of money. No one has the right to le these people suffer from a curable illness without making an effort to help. Everyone has the right to appropriate health care. The United States' resource of money is so limited, one cannot argue that an unlimited right to all health care exists. However, there is a right to the access of basic health care. Far too many people in the United States are unable to utilize this basic right and others have excessively abused it. A health care system has to be established which will be able to help with health care costs according to financial need.

The perception that people have a right to health care is a relatively new idea. One reason for the need for a change in health care is the major advances in medicine over the last fifty years. An illness that was once considered fatal can now be prevented or treated by medication or professional health care, although it may be costly. This puts the poor, the elderly, and the unemployed at a huge disadvantage. Today, more than 37 million people have no health insurance at all and those people who do have some type of coverage share the burdens of health care costs. A more equitable way to provide adequate health care for all people must be found and government officials must acknowledge that health care rights do exist and these rights need to be taken advantage of by the public.

Another reason the issue of health care has become so important is that people are living longer. The average life expectancy has increased drastically in the last fifty years. In 1940 the average American was expected to live to be 62.9 years old. That figure no stands at 74.9. Since people are living longer, there is a greater number of elderly needing health care.

The first papal statement made on the right to health care was made by Pope John XXIII, who stated that: "Beginning our discussion of the rights of man, we see that every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which are suitable for the proper development of life: these are primarily food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and finally, the necessary social services. Therefore, a human being also has the right to security in cases of sickness, inability to work, widowhood, old age, unemployment, or in any other case in which he is deprived of the means of subsistence through no fault of his own."

With these thoughts and the problems of the time in mind, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare Act of 1965. President Johnson promised that elderly Americans would not be denied "the healing miracle of modern medicine nor would illness destroy the savings they had so carefully put away." The government has tried to keep this promise by spending large amounts of money for elderly health care. In 1967 (the first year Medicare was paid) the government spent $3.2 billion on Medicare. In 1988, the bill tallied $88 billion. This ever-rising bill prompted Medicare to pattern their system of payment of hospital bills after Blue Cross and Blue Shield. This system allowed hospitals and doctors to set their own fees and Medicare paid for treatment without asking questions.

In the early 1980s the amount of money provided by Medicare had grown so enormous that Medicare stopped giving "blank checks" to hospitals for payment of medical bills. Hospitals no loner told Medicare what to pay; Medicare told the hospital what they would pay for a given illness or treatment. The hospitals would receive a fixed dollar amount for services rendered, no matter how long a patient stayed in the hospital. The cost of Medicare coverage was $30 billion in 1989 and has continued to grow at about 15 percent each year. Physicians adapted to this change in Medicare by increasing their fees, above what Medic are paid, as to certain government regulated maximums. This amount of money, over Medicare, has to be paid by patients who have insurance or money to cover their care. As many as 49 percent of American physicians charge more than what is covered by Medicare.

Doctors who consistently charge excessively over Medicare's allowable coverage are called "participating" physicians. Other physicians might or might not charge excessively depending on the service provided and their own beliefs on this issue. For this reason, extra charges may vary in dollar amounts from one physician to another. In 1975, this overcharging cost Medicare patients around $500 million. This amount had risen to $2.7 billion by 1987. This extra charge averaged 37% over covered Medicare expenses. This excessive physician's fee represents one of the largest gaps in coverage that Medicare does not intend to pay.

Although Medicare coverage is helpful to many Americans, it does not always benefit those who need it the most. In the 1980s the dream of secure health care faded. The promise that had been made by President Johnson several years before had not been kept. Today, more than 34 million people in the United States live in poverty and another 20-30 million are considered needy. Medicare does not have enough money to care for all of these people. The current health care system is in total chaos.

Health care must be government regulated to bring priorities in the distribution of health care benefits. Society needs to understand the necessity of government intervention and government regulations. They need to voice their opinions on what is important to the future of health care. There needs to be policies that give priority to those less fortunate and to provide quality health care to everyone. Professionals in the health care field need to show compassion for their fellow man and to stop the overcharging that has created the problem of costly health care. The advances in medical technology is not the answer to health care problems. Just because an illness is treatable, does not necessarily mean that a patient will receive adequate health care. Modern medicine costs money; much more money than many people can afford to pay.

A health care system that really works can only be achieved when the reality of the limits are recognized and human need becomes more important than monetary gain. This was best stated by Robert J. Barnet who said: "A society that recognizes our limits, embodies justice and compassion, and has a value system that reflects those of the Gospel offers our greatest hope. When the American government finally realizes this, maybe then Medicare will become the health care program the people of the country so desperately need.

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