Effects of the Budget Cut - Essay Example

"Effects of the Budget Cut" is a perfect example of a paper on the health system.
As an assistant physician, I express great concern about the budget of the present state of the budget. This is about the direct impact we get as physicians on matters related to our national health and the national economy. The budget cuts are indeed supposed to help Americans as a whole. My concern is on cutting the budget of most key programs, and other projects, which require more funding. These include health, education, food safety, human and social work programs, immunization, and family planning programs among others. All these need to stay alive and require more money than cutting. Our current health system is a patchwork of other programs that require adequate funding too. Experts have already warned that the effort to protect America’s health will be affected because of slashing other related programs, particularly environmental protection and immunization and family planning programs. They say that all across-the-board cuts would drastically affect critical health programs and have a devastating effect on the country’s economy.  

Our capacity as health professionals to respond to daily health challenges and prevent critical health issues is in danger. Already, we are dictated by circumstances to do more with less; soon the cuts could squander some of the recent advances we have achieved in preventing chronic infections and control of serious health threats. Experts are warning that the budget cuts will affect pharmaceutical companies and the effect will trickle down to hospitals and nursing homes. They have warned that if these companies cannot get reimbursement, then the entire process of drug discovery funded by the government will be undermined.  Estimates show that such budget cuts to healthcare will lead to the loss of a hundred of thousands of jobs. It affects me emotionally to see Americans suffer. 

 Mr. President, the deep and painful cuts we face as Americans need an immediate response. It is misguided and not a solution to deficit reduction. Failure to address this budget problem will have a long-term effect on almost all economic sectors leading to devastating economic competitiveness and threatened public health safety. I suggest that your administration comes with other solutions to save the people of the United States. This is not the way to deal with the health and economic security of seniors and families who are already struggling to make ends meet. 

 I propose three solutions to this looming mayhem. First, your administration should try to stop the budget-slashing of major programs and all health-related programs, and start providing medical vouchers. These will enable seniors to buy private health insurance. This plan will cost less and will save money since the value of vouchers will rise at a slower rate than health care costs. The saved money will fund key programs related to health and spending on health care will ultimately shrink. It has been done in the state of California, and I am very confident that if applied as a national budget solution then it will work wonders. Second, eliminate all non-essential tax breaks. America’s patchwork system has allowed tax breaks whose economic value is questionable. This is seriously compromising funding of vital services such as health care and education. Your administration should ensure that the tax code eliminates all non-essential tax breaks. Health care cannot slump while some people are using tax breaks to fund their lavish lifestyles. Of course, tax breaks are meant to support struggling Americans, we cannot put a burden on them. Those who can afford should pay their fair share. Third, your administration should end deficit spending. The more we borrow, the more we will keep paying. Stop constraining our economic competitiveness by deficit spending to prevent overburdening key national programs.