Doing the right thing for health

摘要

The United States is alone among the developed, industrialized, and "rich" countries that do not have a health system that offers health care coverage to all citizens. The Affordable Care Act presents an unprecedented opportunity for millions of Americans to get health insurance and coverage, yet still does not go as far as offering universal health care. Concomitant, the world organizations-notably the United Nations-are exploring declarations that will advance universal health coverage among the new lofty goals to consider beyond the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. While we await systemic changes, the challenges of delivering and receiving quality health care in America abound. This is not necessarily due to the inadequacy of medical training, physician distribution, or patient compliance. The symptoms are complex with a few illustrative examples.