There is a major crisis situation in the American society today. The problem is the health care issue, and the problem must be addressed and solved soon. The causes of this crisis are great in number. Among the causes: an increased number of patients; an increase in the elderly population; an increase in the use of costly and often unnecessary treatments, lab tests, operations, and prescriptions; and the increase of greed, fraud, and waste on every level of the health care system, from insurance agent to specialist doctor. The crisis is also caused by an increasingly unhealthy population. The increase of cancer, AIDS, and other similar diseases does not help the situation, either, because eventually, someone must pay for these sick people's care. Often it is the average, middle-class family that must pull together to pay for these people's health care, either through their taxes or by a more direct method, by having an ill and dependent relative. The increase in medical and insurance costs can also be attributed to the bad habits of doctors and patients. The practices of pharmaceutical companies also add to this problem. These companies sell their prescription drugs at low cost to hospitals so the hospitals will use large volumes, while they set a higher price for drugs obtained outside the hospital. This practice nets the pharmaceutical companies and the hospitals huge profits at the cost of the consumer.

On the other side of the coin, if these health care problems are not solved, medical costs will rise sharply, causing financial and social crises, and these prices could eventually set sons and daughters against parents and grandparents. Many more people would be without health insurance, and even more would not be able to receive the medical care they need. This would put an enormous strain on the economy, as a whole, as well as every individual citizen of the United States.

The United States spends more on health care than any other developed country. American spends $2,051 per capita on health care every year, compared to the $1,483 Canadian citizens spend.. Despite the large amounts that Americans spend on health care, the average American has an average life expectancy of 75.6 years, while Canadians can expect to live to the age of 79. Then there is the question: "What should the United States government do to stop the increase in health care costs and make health care available to every citizen?" First, the government should set up a single insurance company, instead of the many small health insurance companies looking to make as much money as possible from their customers. This unified insurance company should also adjust rates for the poor people of America. Their insurance rates could be adjusted to the size and income of their family, and the ones that could not afford the insurance at all should be given the health care they need, but only if they are in dire need of it. The able-bodied should no be able to live off the government.

Secondly, the government should stop hospitals and doctors from charging outrageous fees for service and supplies. Many patients find themselves paying large hospital bills when they found out that they were charged very high prices for every item they used, as well as being charged doctors' fees from doctors they rarely saw. There should be acceptable and reasonable fees for basic services. These fees should be affordable to the patient, yet. they should be enough to keep the doctors and hospitals running smoothly.

Lastly, there should b e an increase and change in the education Americans and doctors receive. Every person should be taught and expected to lead healthier lifestyles. Smoking should be discouraged, as well as the use of cancer- causing agents and the excessive use of alcohol and drugs, legal and illegal. This would lower the number of sick, decreasing the amount of money unified health insurance companies would have to pay, thus lowering the cost of the health insurance itself.

Doctors should also be educated differently. They need to be taught to look for alternatives to costly and painful surgeries and other medical procedures. Doctors must also be trained for prevention, not just the care of those that are already sick. Both patient and doctor need to become more cost-conscious, even if they are not paying the majority of the costs for the care. If the patients and doctors would try to save the insurance company money, this would also lower the cost of insurance coverage.

Much needs to be done about the cost and availability of health care. The first steps that need to be taken are only the beginning of a complicated and ongoing process that will affect every person in his or her lifetime, beginning the moment they are born. Something needs to be done about this issue before it is too late to help those that are too sick or too poor to be helped.

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