Cost of Healthcare through the Sociological Perspective
Sociological imagination is a concept coined by Charles Wright Mills in 1959. It is described as a way to understand the world and emphasize its connections between individual experiences and societal relationships. The sociological imagination is a critical tool for social scientists, it allows them to translate private troubles into public issues. By examining personal problems through the lens of sociological imagination, they can gain a deeper understanding of the social forces that contribute to their personal issues.
One social issue that impacts me personally is the high cost of healthcare. As a student, I struggle to afford the cost of healthcare, and it often becomes a burden for me. Through the lens of sociological imagination, I can understand this issue differently.
According to Mills, personal troubles are problems individuals face in their immediate social setting, public issues are societal problems that affect many people. The high cost of healthcare can be viewed as a personal trouble when it
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In the United States, healthcare is primarily a for-profit organization, this has resulted in unreasonable costs. Additionally, the lack of universal healthcare coverage and insurance options for low-income individuals heightens the problem. These issues have led to a system where access to healthcare is a privilege rather than a right.
By viewing the high cost of healthcare through the lens of sociological imagination, I can understand it as a symptom of larger societal problems. Rather than blaming myself for not being able to afford healthcare, I can recognize the systemic issues that contribute to the problem. This understanding can motivate me to become politically active and advocate for policies that provide universal healthcare coverage and regulate the healthcare
The US Healthcare system is known for its difficult obstacles to work around. Throughout the article, the audience can see how the author Claire Parker uses Ethos, Hasty Generalization, and Definition to provide a clearer understanding of the Health Care system and its flaws. Parker uses the rhetorical device Ethos to emphasize the importance of United States citizens that do not have access to health insurance. The director of the Global Health Policy Center, J. Stephen Morrison, notes that countries smaller than the US “benefit from a stronger societal consensus around the place that health occupies in the social compact.”
Implications of Universal Healthcare in the United States “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhuman,” words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr during a 1966 conference for the Medical Committee for Human Rights. Yet almost 60 years later, while the world’s wealthiest nations offer Universal Healthcare, the United States is the only one that does not. The United States is considered to be the leader of the free world. One that has led the world in innovation, discovery, economic growth, and cultural influence. What kind of leadership are we showing and what kind of future can we hope for, if we do not put the health and well-being of our residents at the forefront of policy?
Healthcare in the United States is in desperate need of reform. There are several rationales to further explain this proposition. As an illustration, the Declaration of Independence states our unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, every individual should be entitled to healthcare as it preserves life and promotes the general welfare. The federal government should, therefore, enact a program of universal health to better protect and serve all of its citizens.
It utilizes both logos and pathos in order to convince the audience of their standpoint. They list many statistics including how much health care costs per person. With all these statistics, the audience can conclude that America does not have enough money to give every individual health care. The author also runs through the fact that America's government does not have the managerial capabilities to keep this system functioning. When the audience comprehends this fact, they can logically conclude that a universal health care plan will not be effectively instituted if it is set into law.
While the people who decide to put food on the table, pray that they don’t ever have a reason to make a trip to the doctor’s office. Many people in the United States often take having insurance for granted because of the privilege they have. For those individuals, who wish that they can afford insurance to bring peace to their mind from what looks like a concerning mole out of their head. However, those people who can pay the money to afford healthcare don’t always receive the best care and end up paying more for that what they have received. “An estimated 112 million (44%) American adults are struggling to pay for healthcare, and more than double that number (93%) feel that what they do pay is not worth the cost.”
The current healthcare system in America is based on a private and market-oriented approach. It is a complex system, and access to health care is determined by one’s ability to pay. This system leaves many Americans uninsured
Despite extensive statistics and research proving what's wrong with healthcare in the States, political leaders cannot get past futile disagreements over what to do to enact change. Many of the decision-makers in this country have no idea of the effect that a broken healthcare system poses on underprivileged Americans. Ridiculous costs, low coverage, and corporate greed are a few reasons why healthcare in the United States is so disastrous. Issues like these cause the standard of living to be increasingly difficult for everyone, especially minorities and people of lower economic status. Many individuals have attempted to create solutions to avoid the financial problems that healthcare causes through the means of speeches and literature.
Health care should not be considered a political argument in America; it is a matter of basic human rights. Something that many people seem to forget is that the US is the only industrialized western nation that lacks a universal health care system. The National Health Care Disparities Report, as well as author and health care worker Nicholas Conley and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), strongly suggest that the US needs a universal health care system. The most secure solution for many problems in America, such as wasted spending on a flawed non-universal health care system and 46.8 million Americans being uninsured, is to organize a national health care program in the US that covers all citizens for medical necessities.
Healthcare is something everyone needs and should be able to get, but right now that is not happening. In America there are millions of people who don’t have healthcare insurance. This is because some can’t afford the insurance plan. There are also millions more who have health insurance, but can’t afford using it. This means that they are paying for an insurance plan, but the deductibles are so high they can’t afford to go to the doctor.
For both the uninsured group and those who are eligible for government assistance because of their low economic position, access to health is limited by the number of private providers willing to treat them. In many cases private providers are linked to particular private health insurance companies and won 't accept patients outside their network. These people must then rely on the overburdened public health system for care, and as such usually only seek treatment in emergencies. The public health system, while filled with competent staff, is nevertheless restricted by its funding and can therefore not always provide all these patients with the best quality of care. The inequality in health care access is a continuing issue in America and as such it is important for future consumers and workers on the Foothill College campus to have a thorough understanding of the issue so they can move to improve the problem in the
The Sociological Imagination Sociological imagination is a "quality of mind" that allows one to grasp "history and biography and the relations between the two within society.” (Elwell). Sociological imagination is understanding your situation while taking into consideration the broader society. It allows us to see our own society-, and the people within it- from an alternative perspective that of our own personal experiences and cultural biases. It therefore links society and the individual.
The sociological imagination concept was introduced to us by the famous American Sociologist C. Wright Mills, to describe the ability to “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life.” and view issues from an entirely new perception away from the accustomed daily routines. Mills defined it as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.” sociological imagination is the aptitude to be able see things socially and how they interact and influence our personal life and each other. To have a sociological imagination, we must be able to distant ourselves from the situation and look at the issues we encounter from a different perspective.
Throughout the ages, the majority of the older members of society have always perceived the youth as unruly, reckless and undisciplined. The constant troubles facing the youth have often been scrutinized as a result of personal failure and wrong choice in association. However, the effect of historical events and societal structural conditions were seldom considered. The meaning of Sociological imagination and C. Wright Mills: During 1959 in his book titled “The Sociological Imagination,” the formidable C. Wright Mills first advocated the idea of a state of mind, which allowed the minutia of personal problems faced in everyday life to be comprehended by a greater influence, The term “sociological imagination”, coined by C. Wright Mills, is
Introduction As Swart and Zaaiman (2015: xv) defined “Sociology is about the scientific study of human social interaction and the social forces which shape much of human behavior”. Many individuals experience one or a collection of social problems, For example, many people are unemployed and have family problems as a result of these, they drink too much alcohol to suppress the problems, or commit crime to make a living. When we hear and think individuals like these, it is easy to assume that their problems are theirs alone, and that others suffering as well from the same or different problems are entirely to blame for their difficulties. In this essay, C.W. Mills’ sociological imagination will be discussed, in relation to the controversial
For example, while the number of Hispanics in America is increasing, they are more likely to face these struggles. Unfortunately, it seems that there is a debate on whether healthcare is a luxury or a human right. If they are struggling to make money, leading them to live in poverty can affect their health. It is part of our job as healthcare providers to educate ourselves on areas such as this, to be able to treat all people