What can we do?

In my opinion, quality health care means that a person, despite their socioeconomic status, could go seek medical treatment when needed. Unless a health care system is accounting for all inhabitants of a country, no matter their ability to pay a bill, then the system is inefficient and quite risky. I often ask myself: what would happen if all of a sudden some horrible epidemic hit the county of Los Angeles. With so many uninsured individuals, how would the system react, what would hospitals do, and how would these community members pay for treatment? It is quite a scary and overwhelming thought. It has become very clear to me that the U.S health care system is in need of a solution. What that solution is exactly, I am uncertain.

Reading through the two articles, I found that they both gave very different arguments. I completely agree that the U.S has made phenomenal progress in the treatment of issues such as heart attacks, cancer, HIV, and many others. When HIV first arose, there were not any antiviral drugs that prolonged the life span of those affected. But now so much has changed and so much progress has been made. Those who have HIV sometimes live full and long lives because of the new technology and medicine that exists. I believe that the article written by David Brown therefore makes an excellent point- these improvements would not be possible if it was not for greater monetary investments. HOWEVER, I believe that the prices of health care in America are in desperate need of regulation. The Pricewaterhouse Cooper data presented in the CNN article was so depressing! 1.2 trillion dollars of overspending due to defensive medicine and over testing, ineffective use of technology, hospital readmission, high administration costs, processing claims, medical errors, ignoring doctor's orders, unnecessary ER visits, and hospital acquired infections! That is outrageous! There definitely is a call for reform, but I still do not know how to go about reform. My question is similar to what many of you asked: How do we cut waste without affecting quality of care? And if other countries could accomplish this task, America should theoretically and practically be able to as well, right?