American Health Care From An International Student Point Of View

            I’m an international student from Vietnam which is really far away from the U.S.  I have been studying in The U.S for a year.  Before I came to this country, all my images about the U.S are the most modern country in the world, the quality of life is really high and I was really excited about it.  Besides that, the most concerned thing I had in mind was the weather which is very different from my country.  However, I has seen a lot of American movies which told me lots of things about American health care.  As i saw on the movies, i thought that the health care in here would be really great.  Everyone doesn't have to worry about thier health because in the U.S, they would receive the best health care in the world. But I still did care a lot about my health in the U.S.

I didn't think about my health condition much because I’m healthy. I exercise everyday, eat healthy food and so on.  However, what I'm  concerned about is the cost of health care in the U.S because the cost of health care in the US is really high, especially compared to my country. So, I'm worry if I get sick in the US, how can I afford it.  You might look healthy but suddenly you have cancer or some kind of diseases - you will never know.  In addition, I think that the cost of health care is not only my concerning but also American.

 A really first time I awared of the charge of health care in the US was when my aunt got an accident on her way to work in the US.  When I talked to her, she told me that the cost of health care here was very expensive, the hospital cost her about 100,000 dollars to do the surgery for her arms.  It was too much compare to my country. With 100,000 dollars, you can buy a really nice house and a nice car in my country indeed. This health care charge came up another time to me when I was watching reality show  in my class about a guy and his wife who tried to live under average wages.  They couple got problems when they both had to go to hospital.  The hospital charged the guy 500 bucks right after making an appointment.  This was just kind of an application fee.  I wondered why people have to pay 500 bulks for nothing, no cure, no medicine.  It’s extremely ridiculous.  I related it to my country where with 500 bulks you can have such a fancy hospital facilities to cure the guy sickness.  Moreover, the guy was living under average wages, how he can pay for it, but the hospital didn't care regardless his life condition.  You might think that if he had insurance everything would be easier, but how does a person who doesn't even have enough money for food or family buy insurance?  This is one of the most common health care problems in the U.S. - health insurance policies.

According to an article in the New York Times, Vicky Readling, in North Carolina, has breast cancer.  After quitting her job, she lost her employer’s insurance.  She purchased temporary insurance for herself but when it expired she would have to pay 27,000 dollars a year for a new policy.  With an income of $60,000 and two sons in college, she couldn't afford it.  Why 27,000 dollars, why it cost too much?.  In the report of Familiesusa.org , they point out that the cost of health care family rose about 3.7 times faster than earnings.  As you can see, the cost of health care is raising (rising) everyday.  Meanwhile, the income doesn't go up that fast.  As a result, people can not afford health insurance .  Moreover, in this economic crisis, money is a big problem.

Money is not only for food, for housing but also spent a lot for children.  Some report mentioned earlier that to raise a child for one year, it cost about 10,000 dollars.  So, the question is after that 10,000, can their parents afford the insurance for their families.  Consequently, there are 8 million children in The U.S don't have insurance.  This is extremely dangerous, because child’s self sustain is not as strong as adult. Acoording to the report in USA Today of Richard Wolf, a new study shows that the uninsurde children are twice as likely to die from thier injuries as those who have insurance.  They also points out that the uninsured children will have less chances to receive high technology health care than others.

From my point a view, American health care is too expensive and sometimes ridiculous. The quality of life in the US is really high compare to my country but the cost of health care is more than affordable for American, so what I wonder is how I can afford health care charge in the US.  All of people care about their health but their wallet also.   Hopefully, president Obama will solve these problems.  God bless you all America.