Quote:
Advocates insist that health savings accounts are an efficient method to reduce medical expenses. However, widespread adoption of these accounts will soon undermine the public’s health. One reason for this is that most people will be reluctant to deplete their accounts to pay for regular preventive examinations, so that in many cases a serious illness will go undetected until it is far advanced. Another reason is that poor people, who will not be able to afford health savings accounts, will no longer receive vaccinations against infectious diseases.
Type: inference
Claim (later disputed): Advocates insist that health savings accounts are an efficient method to reduce medical expenses.
Conclusion: Widespread adoption of these accounts will soon undermine the public’s health.
Premise 1: Most people will be reluctant to deplete their accounts to pay for regular preventive examinations, so that in many cases a serious illness will go undetected until it is far advanced.
Premise 2: Poor people, who will not be able to afford health savings accounts, will no longer receive vaccinations against infectious diseases.
(A) Wealthy individuals will not be affected negatively by health savings accounts.
(B) Private health insurance will no longer be available.
(C) Most diseases are detected during regular preventive examinations.
(D) Some people without health savings accounts are likely to contract infectious diseases.
(E) The causal relationship between an individual’s health and that person’s medical care has been adequately documented.
I chose D because it is supported by the argument, which states: "Either because they will not want to use their account, or they cannot afford it, many people will not take preventative exams or vaccinations. Both preventative exams and vaccinations help stop illnesses from occurring. Thus, public health is undermined."
Most people seem torn between C and D.
I believe C is incorrect because it is making an unwarranted assumption, like many before me have stated -- nothing in the argument tells us that most diseases are detected during preventative examinations, just that many serious illnesses may go undetected. Even if C said "most serious illnesses are detected during exams", it would still be an assumption.
argha
The conclusion states that widespread adoption will undermine public health. However, how is the 2nd premise(poor people not being able to afford health savings accounts related to the conclusion? Not being able to afford is the opposite of adoption. I would have been convinced if the conclusion stated that widespread dependence(instead of adoption) on health savings accounts will undermine public health. Look forward to some explanation...
However, my objection still remains valid. Wealthy people paying into their own savings accounts, rather than the alternative (public health care) thereby making it less difficult to cover the poor(then there is less money to cover the poor) seems too far fetched and out of scope(strictly IMO).
If you don't mind me commenting: I agree with you. We cannot infer about what wealthy people are doing and how that affects others. Nothing in the argument sheds light on this.
The argument is just saying "adoption" to mean that many places will now use this type of health provision, and thus, people will end up using it. I don't think it means to say that people will be adopting it, as if they are choosing to; just that it will be adopted, and many people will end up having to use it -- we must accept that people are using the account (regardless of adoption or dependance), simply because this is given in the argument.
The 2nd premise is used to support the conclusion to say that if this account is adopted, then poor people will not be able to afford it, and thus, cannot pay for vaccinations -- if they cannot be vaccinated, they are more susceptible to disease, and thus, public health has been undermined in this way. Why poor people cannot afford it is not stated; all we know is that many people will have trouble financing medical procedures based on the way this account works. Hope that clears things up!