Dear President,

I am writing this letter to you today to discuss my main concern for the future of America- our generation’s future America. And my concern is the cost of healthcare within our beloved America. According to Physicians for a National Health Program, the amount spent on healthcare each year has reached over seventeen percent of America’s annual economy. If it broke off to become its own economy, it would rank in the top five in the world.

In America, we pay more for health care than any other country. And our system has more cons than pros going for it. For example, a pro for the current health care would be general costs are overall cheaper by being provided for almost everyone and people cannot be denied from public healthcare for previous health conditions and premiums(8 Facts). The cons of this, some would say, outweigh the pros. Some cons are as follows: over thirty million people had private healthcare before Obamacare and were forced off because it didn’t match the ‘ten essential health benefits’ that the Affordable Healthcare Act requires, if you’re unemployed then private healthcare has many advantages over you, such as preexisting conditions, and much of the money that is being put towards healthcare from our taxes go towards unnecessary health services(Is Obamacare Worth It?). Not to mention, the United States isn’t even ranked within the top 25 in the world for healthcare, it is below Canada and Germany(World Health Organization's Ranking).

Why do I feel so strongly towards this, you may ask? When I was younger, around the age of twelve, my mother had been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, which is a condition where one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve sends a message to the brain from the area of the face that it is immense pain. It plagued her since she was in her twenties, even though it is most common in women over fifty. Her symptoms became increasingly worse until she had to miss weeks of work just so she could stay within her pain limit. She was accepted to have surgery for this and it took a week for her to get out of the hospital. Afterwards, however, the medical insurance did not pay for anything. The surgery, the pain medicine for afterwards, none of it. And we soon found out after, the surgeon had not done the surgery correctly, so she still experiences days where it acts up again, be it from a rush of cold air to the face, or stress. Because of these non-compliances of the insurance company to pay any portion of the costs, we were forced to go into to major debt to pay off the bills. We are still experiencing the setbacks of this event even today in our lives.

If we were to change the healthcare system, there would be a bucket full of things to change and a string of chaos that would follow it, but they say you have to experience the rain to see the rainbow. If I were to give the top three things to change within the system of healthcare, it would be to make it more accessible to unemployed citizens of America. When poverty is thick, many people are left to suffer without proper health care, simply because they don’t have a job or the option of free public health care, not provided through a company. Another thing I would suggest would be to have justified coverage for specialists. Like my story from earlier, if we had been given the chance to gain special circumstance specialist coverage, then it would’ve helped us greatly in the long run. And just maybe, we could get to the point where everyone has equal health care, all around. No private health care, no discrepancies; everyone gets equal health care coverage, regardless of where they are at in life.

As President, it is up to you to decide if you will do something about this, for the people. It’s up to you if you are going to make a difference for the people who need healthcare in this country. Are you going to make a change for a better America?

Sincerely,

Eden A.

Works Cited:

1)Kliff, By Sarah. "8 Facts That Explain What's Wrong with American Health Care." Physicians for a

National Health Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/september/8-facts-that-explain-what%E2%80%99s-wrong-with-american-health-care>

2)Amadeo, Kimberly "Is Obamacare Worth It?" The Balance. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

<https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-wrong-with-obamacare-3306076>

3)World Health Organization. "World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems."

Thepatientfactorcom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <http://thepatientfactor.com/canadian-health-care-information/world-health-organizations-ranking-of-the-worlds-health-systems/>.