The Healthcare Industry in the US - Essay Example

? Measures to Rectify Misplaced Emphasis on Heath care Insurers It is true that the standards of health care inthe United States of America have vigorously depreciated over the past one century. The reason behind this fact attributes to low morale among primary care physicians, who receive low pay from the health care insurers. As a result, primary care physicians have been fighting to attend to as many patients as possible to earn substantial amount of money from their services. The desire to serve many patients has compromised the quality of service offered by the physicians considering the fact that they fight to obtain much money from serving many patients. For these reasons, patients have expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of health services provided to them. In addition, specific physicians have opted to resign from their carriers because of their guilt of not performing appropriately. In that line, this paper seeks to clarify measures formulated by various agencies to rectify misplaced emphasis of health care insures. Introduction The healthcare industry in the US is indeed one of the country’s largest economic agents. It is worth acknowledging that greater proportion of the US annual budget goes to health program. It is also important to note that most of the US population poses health insurance plans with insurance companies who in turn pay for the medical bills of their clients at need. Many reports confirm that standards of health care in the US have depreciated over years. The fall in the standards of healthcare attributes to the fall in morale of primary care physicians who complain of low payment per patient. This fact has transformed health practitioners from offering good services to making more money when one happens to attend to many patients. As a result, the public complain of poor health services as offered by physicians. In addition, discontent has mounted physicians concerning the inappropriate service they offer to health consumers at the expense of more money. Due to the growing dissatisfaction, many primary care physicians have been obliged to resign from their jobs thereby worsening the state of healthcare provision in USA. In a move to rectify the mess in the health care insurance, the US governments, medical schools, AMA, the public and other healthcare stakeholders have formulated various measures to restore public trust in the healthcare (Harry, Sultz, Kristina & Young, 2008). According to Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008), US employers have taken an active role in mending the messes caused by healthcare insurers in the health sectors. Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008) categorically state that employer organizations of the US unanimously agreed to increase their contributions to the health insurance companies. In addition, many employers have resorted to insuring the health of all employees under their operations. This move has significantly increased the amount of premiums, which has ensured easy medical cover to employees. In the views of Hacker (2007), the federal government formulated Health Care America Plan that enables its citizens to open health savings accounts. Health Care for America Plan according to Hacker (2007) is simply a public insurance strategy that offers cheap health insurance coverage to poor citizens who have no access to employment. Such accounts operate to help citizens pay for their medical bills in whenever they fall sick (Hacker, 2007). Health Care for America Plan provides easy way of health insurance to the business persons since it allows for private contributions. The plan also makes it easy for the employees to buy private coverage for their families. In addition, Health reform .gov (2011) confirms that US government under the Obama administration established the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that intends to improve the quality of health services. The Act also intends to enhance the performance of health care system and developing nationwide health network. Furthermore, the recovery act contemplates to provide new resources for training in medical schools as well as availing modern tools to the health care professionals (Health reform.gov, 2011). Health reform.gov (2011) demonstrates that the federal government initialized plans that have facilitated easy communication between health insurance companies and the physicians. This plan majorly focused on reforming health insurance through enhancing information technology with specific targets on rural areas. According to Health reform.gov (2011), the plan intends to reduce time wasted by physicians in rural areas when communicating with insurance company of a particular patient. Not only has the health insurance reform ensured improved medical care, it has also provided technological pathway of analyzing collecting and analyzing information in regard to the quality of health care offered to patients. Furthermore, the reform encourages investments in tele-health technologies, which has made it easy for residents in rural areas to access care physicians outside their communities (Health reform.gov, 2011). Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008) report that federal government and state government have collaborated with medical schools in conducting health care insurance research with the sole intention of improving quality of health care. The government of the US also established managed care organizations (MCOs) that are entitled to direct employment of medical staff and health practitioners in consultation with medical schools. The MCOs also inspects and analyzes the quality of health services provided to the patients (Harry, Sultz, Kristina & Young, 2008). The federal government in the views of Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008) passed legislation that promoted funding for developing community hospitals in the rural areas. The legislation also encouraged recruitment of more health personnel and purchase of medical equipment by use of federal monies. In addition, Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008) add that the American Medical Association (AMA) has worked hard to influence policy making that reformed the health care insurance plan. For example, AMA pushed for the formation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which advocates for health insurance to all citizens. The Act also allows individuals to continue in insurance coverage even after the loss of job or shift in employment. Furthermore, the Act also mandated special enrolment of individuals who faced particular family changes or employment status (Harry, Sultz, Kristina & Young, 2008). Harry, Sultz, Kristina and Young (2008) elucidate that many medical schools in US have employed strict admission requirements with aims of producing well-trained medical practitioners who care much about the patients. Many of these medical schools are run by the government with main intent of improving the quality of medical education in line with emerging technology. In move to ensure quality medical education offer, AMA produced publications highlighting schools that did not meet the required standards of training medical offers (Harry, Sultz, Kristina & Young, 2008). In conclusion, the move to improve health care insurance plan has posed dire challenges to the stakeholders in the healthcare industry. It is worth acknowledging that the government of America has tirelessly struggled to better the health care of its citizens. Federal government has spent a lot of money in implementing slippery attempts to improve the quality of health care in the US. It is imperative to acknowledge the participation of other stakeholders in the health industry such as the medical school, insurance companies, AMA among others in reforming health care insurance policies. Even though US still face problems in the health sectors, it is worth appreciating the changes that have made it easy for all citizens to access health insurance cover. References Hacker, J. (2007). Health Care for America: A proposal for guaranteed, affordable health care for all Americans building on Medicare and employment-based insurance. Retrieved September 28, 2011 from: http://www.gpn.org/bp180.html Healthreform.gov. (2011). A success story in American Health Care. Retrieved September 28, 2011 from: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/ruralsuccess/index.html Sultz, Harry, A. and Young, Kristina, M. (2008). Health Care USA; 6th Ed. Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Publication. Read More