Should the Government provide health care - Essay Example

This implies that there needs to be a partnership between healthcare providers, social workers and the government to undertake this effectively. In the end, the well-being of the public will bring about a positive impact on the economy as opportunities for innovation and productivity will be ensured. “Strategies such as community oriented primary care are needed to address the upstream causes of social inequities in health and to foster intersectoral cooperation” (van Weel et al 469). Therefore, one would say that it is the responsibility of the government to be involved in the provision of health care to ensure accessibility of health services to many, especially the poor, health care industry regulation, and to enhance fairness in the distribution of funds allocated to health care.

It is essential to define the role that the government should play in providing health care, as it is clear that this will be an advantageous step in ensuring citizens live healthily. It can be argued that the government’s role in provision of health care primarily should be to ensure access in two ways: availability and affordability. Health care services are a right to every human being thus they should be at their reach and at a cost that is within their capability. However, the government should not overspend on the provision of health care at the expense of other issues such as education and infrastructure.

The best way to control this is by “playing a preventive role where the significance of public programs becomes clear as they create awareness” hence reducing costs that would be otherwise incurred on treatment (“What should be the Government’s role” 20). Therefore, government health care is defined as “direct payments made to doctors, medical facilities and supplementary health care providers” (White). Moreover, through the government taking a preventive as opposed to a reactive position drives down costs, and this caps the debate on relevance of health care benefits to the poor who lack food shelter since health benefits are essential and indeed an income to the poor.

Nevertheless, this debate is already countered by the fact that when measuring progress of a nation, the issue of accessibility to health care is considered alongside food, housing and other utilities. It has been suggested, “that the poverty threshold should be raised so that health benefits don’t vault the poor over the line” (Porter). In this case, health benefits would not merely be in terms of funds dispensed to the poor, but also information that makes them aware of costs that could be avoided through preventive measures.

Moreover, it can be argued that the government should be involved in the provision of health care to ensure there is regulation and control. This advocates for the government to become concerned with optimizing costs that insurance companies impose in terms of add-on costs; for example, processing claims and distributing insurance forms, which end up deterring people from seeking treatment in the event of illness. More importantly, the government should ensure that services offered are of good quality and equal to all in order to streamline the basic system in existence.

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