Universal Healthcare in the United States Term Paper

Universal Healthcare in the United States - Term Paper Example To be noted is that as a concept, universal health care does not simply imply the coverage of individuals for all risks i.e. one-size-fits-all conceptualization. Rather as Navarro (1989) portrays, it is determined by three fundamental dimensions – those covered; services that are covered, and what amount of total costs (accrued), are covered. Health care systems are in a majority of states funded through mixed models of funding. Generally, revenues accrued from taxation do compose the primary funding source, with most countries supplementing the revenues with specific levies. This is essentially by way of a mix of private and public contributions thereby ‘spreading’ the costs over a larger population. Compulsory insurance is a key avenue of enhancing universal healthcare, usually enforced by way of legislation in given jurisdictional arenas. This may thereafter, necessitate citizens to purchase their insurance; but in many cases (in effect), it is the government that provides such insurance, as part of its social welfare responsibilities. Examples of compulsory insurance contexts are exemplified by both the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Swiss Healthcare system. In the U.S., the crusade for some form of universal healthcare (government-funded) is traceable to the 20th Century with advocacy of the same facing different obstacles despite close success. While other developed states had initiated some form of social insurance, proponents in the U.S. continued facing hurdles, especially as a result of the federal government (then), leaving each state to its own doing. The different states in turn left such matters to voluntary and/ or private programs, based perhaps on the lack of national legislation. It is however during the Progressive Era that major undertakings took place, with reformers working on enhancing social conditions for the growing working class (Navarro, 1989). Unlike

Asylum in the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Asylum in the Media - Essay Example Humanity has to be regarded to guarantee the wellbeing of individuals who have been influenced either by natural disasters back in their home countries or political instability making them to seek refuge. However, the kind of reception that asylum seekers have been receiving is much more worrying, considering factual reasons that have made them to flee their nation .This therefore means that such misconceptions by the media and the public at large have been baseless. In reality, asylum seekers are justified to seek refuge in any nation that they feel it’s secure for them as far as they do not contravene the laws governing that nation. In Britain, there has been media and public perceptions to try and lay bare issues of asylum seekers regarding their origin, race and their impacts on the economy of Britain. Growing misunderstanding on the level with which people and the media have been overestimating the number of asylum seekers who have been awarded the status of refugees in B ritain is evident. Speculations among the people on the number of asylum seekers who have been allowed refugee status left a lot to be desired when a survey conducted in 2009, which revealed that more than 100,000 of asylum seekers had been accepted as refugees with clear and credible sources reporting that only 4,175 people had been received as refugees. This point to the status accorded to asylum seekers with marginalization and skewed numbers evident in speculations. (Castillo, 2010). Compared with other destinations that asylum seekers target, UK is far much below in the acceptance rate for the haven seekers. During the period of 2001-2006 the acceptance rate for UK stood at 7.77 per cent compared to Canada which had an acceptance rate of 47 per cent during the same period. France, United States, Germany, Sweden and Canada are ranked as main countries that asylum seekers target with UK being sidelined on the verge of it low rate of giving room for asylum seekers. There has been conflicting views about asylum seekers in Britain, with a section of citizens expressing their views that it’s an identity of their country to accept asylum seekers. Others felt that the country had accepted too many of them back in 2008 with a bigger percentage believing that providing refuge to those people who have misfortunes had been a tradition among Britain. Trust in the process of accepting asylum seekers was faulted with many people speculating their uncertainness regarding the length through which the entire process was open to abuse by the authorities and the issue of UK being so accepting (Gant, 2007). This discussion will entail clear-cut assessment of the various issues that affect asylum seekers in UK and around the world, a justification of the claims and misconceptions that the media point to the asylum seekers and how international organizations and various groups of people have advised nations to reform their laws to ensure that asylum seekers are treated w ith all manners of humanity and respect as the international law and Conventions provide in their guidelines and deliberations which these countries are party to (Gilbert, 2006). Refugee Action and Asylum in the Media Journalists and media personnel have been keen to give reports that are conflicting and to some extent tainting the whole issue of asylum seekers. Many journalists give irresponsible reports about asylum and asylum seekers, attracting a lot of