GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文五三

　　53. If one focuses on systems such as financial services and telecommunications, where

　　emerging technologies have the greatest impact, one sees increasing user-friendliness.

　　However, in other systems―public and private alike―inefficiencies, roadblocks, and

　　other unfriendly features still abound. One such example is the U.S. health-care

　　delivery system.

　　To a large extent, the user-unfriendly nature of health-care delivery stems from its

　　close tie to the insurance industry. Service providers and suppliers inflate prices,

　　knowing that insurance companies can well afford to pay by passing on inflated costs to

　　the insured. Hospital patients are often discharged prematurely merely because

　　insurance fails to cover in-patient care beyond a certain amount or duration. In the

　　extreme, patients are sometimes falsely informed that they are well or cured, just so that

　　the facility can make room for insured patients. Insurance providers reject claims and

　　coverage intentionally and in bad faith when the insured has suffered or is statistically

　　likely to suffer from a terminal or other long-term and costly―illness. Insurance

　　companies also impose extreme coverage exceptions for pre-existing conditions. Both

　　tactics are designed, of course, to maximize insurance company profits at the expense of

　　the systems user. Finally, new medical technologies that provide more effective

　　diagnosis and treatment are often accessible only to the select few who can afford the

　　most comprehensive insurance coverage.

　　The consequences of these user-unfriendly features can be grave indeed for the

　　individual, since this system relates directly to a persons physical well-being and very

　　life. For example, when a claim or coverage is wrongfully denied, lacking financial

　　resources to enforce their rights, an individual customer has little practical recourse. The

　　end result is to render health care inaccessible to the very individuals who need it most.

　　These user-unfriendly features can be deleterious on a societal scale as well. An

　　unhealthy populace is an unproductive one. Also, increased health-care costs place an

　　undue burden on bread-winning adults who feel the squeeze of caring for aging parents

　　and for children. Finally, these features foster a pervasive distrust of government, big

　　business, and bureaucracy.

　　In sum, todays point-and-click paradigm inaccurately portrays the actual

　　functionality of many systems, including our health-care delivery system, which is well-

　　entrenched in self-interest and insensitivity to the needs of its users.