- By Kevin Yu
According to Jeffrey Harris, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), he believes that the state of America’s health care is poor because there are too many uninsured and underinsured people. As a foreign student coming from Taiwan, I was surprised to hear this news. The reason why I was so surprised is that I considered America is one of the well-developed countries and health care should not be an issue.
Harris suggests that there has to have policies that expand primary care workforce capacity and the implementation has to start immediately. He stated, “Given the fact that it takes a minimum of seven years to train a primary care physician, the U.S. cannot afford to delay implementation of policies to attract more new physicians to primary care and to sustain those already in practice.”
After reading the news, I started to wonder if I know anything about health insurance within the U.S. Since I am not familiar with the American culture, I just learned that there are three main types of coverage that I can choose from: H.M.O.s, P.P.O.s (Preferred Provider Organization and Point of Service), and the newer option called an H.D.H.P. (High-Deductible Health Plan) paired with a savings account.
H.M.O.S. provides comprehensive coverage at a low cost to the consumer.
P.P.O.S. is some what similar to H.M.O but more flexible and has lower overall out-of-pocket costs than a fee for service plan.
H.D.H.P. offers the option to sign up for a high deductible health plan that is linked to a health savings account or health reimbursement account.
Harris suggests that there has to have policies that expand primary care workforce capacity and the implementation has to start immediately. He stated, “Given the fact that it takes a minimum of seven years to train a primary care physician, the U.S. cannot afford to delay implementation of policies to attract more new physicians to primary care and to sustain those already in practice.”
After reading the news, I started to wonder if I know anything about health insurance within the U.S. Since I am not familiar with the American culture, I just learned that there are three main types of coverage that I can choose from: H.M.O.s, P.P.O.s (Preferred Provider Organization and Point of Service), and the newer option called an H.D.H.P. (High-Deductible Health Plan) paired with a savings account.
H.M.O.S. provides comprehensive coverage at a low cost to the consumer.
P.P.O.S. is some what similar to H.M.O but more flexible and has lower overall out-of-pocket costs than a fee for service plan.
H.D.H.P. offers the option to sign up for a high deductible health plan that is linked to a health savings account or health reimbursement account.
Sources:
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