There is a battle to balance cost, access, and quality. Guaranteeing access to care and controlling the costs of health care is an extremely difficult and a complex undertaking that is risky and uncertain.
There has been an astronomical rise in concern about high health care costs among people and members of congress. There is an increased awareness that despite the higher costs, health care system is not producing the better outcomes. And as member of the political system, we do not want health care spending to affect other economic indicators.
Many Americans were led to believe that the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2009 would put an end to disparities in health care access. While it did improve the situation for a small percentage of the population there are still many Americans who lack access to good quality health care. Health care access in America is determined by money and those in lower socioeconomic groups frequently tend to miss out on adequate care. In a recent health care report by the national health research foundation Kaiser Family Foundation, it was noted “health care disparities remain a persistent problem in the United States, leading to certain groups being at higher risk of being uninsured, having limited access to care, and experiencing poorer quality of care” (Kaiser Family Foundation). The current health care
46.8 million Americans were reported as uninsured in 2013, which equivocates to one sixth of the population. Those without insurance have revealed that they risk “more problems getting care, are diagnosed at later disease stages, and get less therapeutic care” (National Health Care Disparities Report) and those insured risk losing their insurance. Inadequately covered citizens are often working-class individuals who simply cannot receive insurance due to uncontrollable inconveniences and therefore jeopardize having medical coverage. In these instances, Americans have a chance of being diagnosed with diseases that they had no opportunity to prevent or could not diagnose them at an early stage of the illness. Patients have suffered unnecessarily due to lack of health care, and “18,000 Americans die every year because they don't have health insurance” (PNHP). Health care is essential for Americans despite pre-existing conditions, and a free market insurance program would allow citizens to received the health care that is so desperately needed. A universal health care system is a matter of human rights and would solve America’s problem of one sixth of the population being
A major healthcare concern is making medicine available to those who are impoverished and live in underserved areas. I grew up in Gloversville, New York, a medium sized town that was at one point considered the most impoverished city in the state. Growing up in this region has given me understanding of what life is like in underserved areas. I 've witnessed first hand, the difference in opportunity between myself and students coming from a more urbanized background. It is easy to empathize with those who do not receive proper treatment due to demographic disadvantages. Growing up in an impoverished town, I make it my goal to give back and serve communities much like the one that I grew up in. Moreover, another aspiration of mine is to frequently
According to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, 18,000 premature deaths a year are due to lack of insurance. As a society, the United States should provide affordable health insurance or ensure all Americans have coverage. It is a necessity that all adults and children need for their well-being and medical care needs. Inaccessible health care should not be based on wealth or employment status
As previously described, the United States is the country that spends the most money in health care in the world. For example, just in the year 2008, it spent 16.2 percent of its gross domestic product on health- care (Gaydos 700). Through the population health model, investment and policy decisions in areas such as education, income transfer, civil rights, macroeconomics, employment, welfare, housing, and neighborhoods would have a significant effect on improving a population’s health than increasing the spending on medical services. (Jonas & Kovner 92). Through this model, there might not only be a decrease in what is spent by the country in health care services, but also an improvement in many other areas that would improve the economy of
Health Care in the US is arguably available to all who seek it but not everybody has had the same experience and treatment when walking through the doors of a healthcare facility. In many cases, people are discriminated against due to their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income and are often provided with minimal service. Differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care is majorly affected through these disparities. Income is a major factor and can cause groups of people to experience higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality relative to another group.
A long debated hot topic, the implementation of Universal Healthcare within the United States is growing in importance as the currently administered health care system is one of the worst out of all developed, and even some under-developed countries. Many countries ensure healthcare to their citizens as a basic right, while in the United States there are approximately 45 million uninsured, and many more under-insured. Those who advocate and oppose such an implementation provide great reasons as to why it would be a great success or an utter failure. The ultimate question however, still is, will the benefit exceed the consequences. While many believe the United
Your discussion presents an interesting perspective on business principles. Managing financial needs of a hospital and patient’s satisfaction goes hand and hand in the hospital field. This also can create a negative impact when it comes to prescribing pain medication. An ethical dilemma arises for emergency room providers who in relation to new reimbursement tactics centered upon patient satisfaction scores (Kelly, Johnson, & Harbison, 2016) I feel that these doctors are feeling pressure to prescribe pain medications in order to increase patients scores and in return improve reimbursement for their units. This is contributing to the increase of opioid abuse that is already prevalent in this nation. This needs to be taken into consideration
“In my opinion, our health care system has failed when a doctor fails to treat an illness that is treatable” (Kevin Alan Lee 2011). Being a doctor is mean to cure diseases unconditionally. However, the healthcare system in the United States today has always been the top concern in every family and individual. As compared to most of other countries, their governments provide free health care to their citizens at any time (Sicko). We as one of the most powerful countries seems far left behind that people are still suffering from high medical expenses and are still fighting over a basic need of being covered with free health care. As taxpayers in the United States, we should be covered with free healthcare unconditionally and completely because everyone needs to be healthy for a
The author also highlighted that addressing issues concerning unequal availability to healthcare is in imperative in order to reducing health disparities (McHenry, 2012). I think as APNs one thing we can do is make patient aware of what their insurance will cover and what types of services they are eligible for. For many patient, suggested interventions and treatments may be disregarded due to a lack of financial means. In addition to this many people have simply decided not to take advantage of health insurance coverage that is available to
Healthcare is made up of many factors. Among those factors are provider reimbursement and the different types of financial methods used by the patients to acquire healthcare services. Provider reimbursement is important and necessary in order to maintain the continuation of healthcare. Like every organization, including non-profit organizations, require revenue in order to pay their healthcare providers, expenses accrued, and to obtain the supplies needed to aid in rendering services. With that said, this is why there are many financial methods such as third-party payers, government agencies, private health insurance, and patient payments. These methods include many financing agencies that are utilized by individuals
There are many ethical issues facing health care at any time and it is impossible to say definitively which is the most pressing or the most important. Health care professionals are expected to base their practice on a set of ethical principles, including truthfulness, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and confidentiality. Ethical issues can arise, however, when a l professional is called upon to act in opposition to personal values or in cases where the values of patient, health care worker, and sponsoring institution conflict. The following issues are presented in no order.
The practice of health care includes many scenarios that have to do with making adequate decisions when it comes to a patient’s life, and the way they are treated. Having an ethical code in all health care organizations is very important, because it helps health care workers with reaching a suited and ethical decision when it comes to the patient. In health care, patient will always be put first, and their autonomy will always be respected. Nevertheless, when there is a situation where a patient might be in harm, or might be making their condition worse because of the decisions they made. Health care workers will always be there to