Distributive Justice - Health Insurance - Essay Example

268). This means that charging uninsured patients more fees for medical services is unethical as lack of health insurance is not a luxury but a misfortune. This is because, the chances of an individual lacking the means to purchase a policy for one’s own good are the highest cause of lack of proper health care. In turn, this translates to failure, by the medical service providers, to cater for the medical needs of the patients as they cannot pay the high fees required due to lack of insurance.

Charging exorbitant fees is unethical as it means that health institutions are more interested with their own financial wellbeing, and not the sacred nature of human life. This translates to lack of morals in the society, as not every patient is in a position to cater for their own medical bills using insurance policies, thus they remain in poor health. This is due to the failure of the fulfillment of the healthcare declarations and the sanctification of finances and economic wellbeing in place of human health.

In addition, charging more for the same services in health care provision is unethical as it blatantly violates federal policies and regulations. Such policies are such as the Patient Protection and affordable Care Act which is meant to ascertain the implementation of universal health insurance coverage (Lance, 2011.). This is done by denying uninsured patients access to quality healthcare by making it expensive. In turn, this beats the entire concept of having a universal health insurance policy to improve the overall health of the nation.

Although the idea of having insurance is to finance once health in tough times, charging uninsured patient the high costs denies the universal need for quality healthcare. Therefore, with the above in mind, the issue of having health insurance is for one’s own good but should not be used as a means to punish those without it. This is by charging more than the conventional fees for similar services for those without insurance. This implies the application of double standards even in the quality of services provided.

In spite of the benefits that health insurance provides in terms of catering for extended and value added services in health care, charging more for uninsured patients remains unethical as it bars them from access to basic preventive services that are provided for those with insurance (Thuy, et al., 2012). Those with insurance receive services based on the premiums they pay, thus healthcare providers’ claim that uninsured people need to pay for the same services at the full cost and not subsidized as per agreements with insurance companies.

The ethics in the issue is that uninsured patients have no protection whatsoever from the exploitative means recouping their losses as per deals with insurance providers. In addition, it would be unacceptable to charge more for uninsured patients due to the availability of resources for those with insurance. This is in regard to the affording premiums, having stable jobs or even having employers who are willing to shoulder the burden of their employees’ health. Since most people are those without health insurance, charging more locks out those that cannot afford the fees from some crucial services that could work towards prolonging and reserving their lives such as preventive measures, and leaves them to access basics such as emergency room services among other narrow range services (Allison, 2011).

Therefore, these shows the disparity between the