From my observations and further research, lobbyist healthcare organizations dictate
many of the policies that we, the citizens, are subjected to. A glaringly obvious example of
this is the drastic jump in the number of top executives that are recognized by the periodical
Modern Healthcare as part of the “top 100 influential people in healthcare”. In 2002, 23% of
the recognized influential figures in healthcare were top executives of insurance companies,
but in 2018, this number jumped to 72% (Logeman et. al, 2019). This drastic jump in 16 years
is one small, but very telling, example of the ways that insurance companies influence the
policies that dictate the healthcare that we receive.
While the early days of health insurance had the patient’s health as their focus, current
health insurance companies seem to focus on the profit that can be made from their
consumers. Health insurance companies gravitate towards using their funds for things such as
political campaigns, lobbying, and marketing instead of paying for the healthcare needs of
their consumers (Rosenthal, 2017). With insurance companies being financially entwined with
our government, it is unsurprising that their interests are favored over American citizens.
Changes within the overall institution of healthcare, particularly regarding the
financial strain of healthcare emergencies, would help the average American citizen have one
less thing to stress about when experiencing a health-related emergency. Drawing off the
personal experiences I have of working in emergency healthcare, I have had patients arrive in
the ER in an altered state of mind or unconscious. A common occurrence when these patients
are becoming more stable is for them to realize where they are and to leave A.M.A. There are
a variety of reasons that I have heard patients say as to why they are choosing to leave, even
though they are still in a medically fragile state, but the most frequent reason I hear is how the
many of the policies that we, the citizens, are subjected to. A glaringly obvious example of
this is the drastic jump in the number of top executives that are recognized by the periodical
Modern Healthcare as part of the “top 100 influential people in healthcare”. In 2002, 23% of
the recognized influential figures in healthcare were top executives of insurance companies,
but in 2018, this number jumped to 72% (Logeman et. al, 2019). This drastic jump in 16 years
is one small, but very telling, example of the ways that insurance companies influence the
policies that dictate the healthcare that we receive.
While the early days of health insurance had the patient’s health as their focus, current
health insurance companies seem to focus on the profit that can be made from their
consumers. Health insurance companies gravitate towards using their funds for things such as
political campaigns, lobbying, and marketing instead of paying for the healthcare needs of
their consumers (Rosenthal, 2017). With insurance companies being financially entwined with
our government, it is unsurprising that their interests are favored over American citizens.
Changes within the overall institution of healthcare, particularly regarding the
financial strain of healthcare emergencies, would help the average American citizen have one
less thing to stress about when experiencing a health-related emergency. Drawing off the
personal experiences I have of working in emergency healthcare, I have had patients arrive in
the ER in an altered state of mind or unconscious. A common occurrence when these patients
are becoming more stable is for them to realize where they are and to leave A.M.A. There are
a variety of reasons that I have heard patients say as to why they are choosing to leave, even
though they are still in a medically fragile state, but the most frequent reason I hear is how the
