Healthcare Service in America - Essay Example

Healthcare Service in America Healthcare Service in America The average American is better serviced than prior to WWII. Several historical factors account for the disparity between the service received by the average American today and the service received prior to WWII. Knowledge on drug and disease The average American is better serviced than prior to WWII. Prior to WWII there was a shortage of knowledge on drug and disease unlike today when there is refined knowledge on drug and disease facilitated by research and sophisticated technology.

The shortage in the knowledge of drug and disease prior to WWII made sick persons in the period before 1920 to be cared for from homes because hospitals were either not available or they were few. Today’s average American is serviced better because there is a hospital or a medical centre in almost every estate (Murray, 2007). Cost of medical expenses Medical expenses began shooting up in the first fifteen years of the twentieth century in terms of the money needed for treatment and the time it took when members of the workforce stayed home to look after their sick relatives.

The knowledge of drug and disease accumulated and technology such as surgery and x-ray emerged. Healthcare service providers charged more attributing it to the high cost of the rare drugs and technology and many people could not afford to pay for medical service. Today’s average American is better serviced because he or she can sample and pick the hospital that charges reasonable healthcare prices. Additionally, federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicaid helps reduce the cost burden of healthcare service and covers healthcare service expenses for persons such as the elderly and others who cannot afford to pay for such expenses (Peden, 2012).

Government involvement in healthcare provision The American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) of 1915 was one of the legislative attempts prior to WWII that sought to get the government intervening in healthcare provision but it failed due to opposition from different quarters. The limited government involvement in healthcare provision prior to WWII is an important factor why the average American of that time was serviced poorly than American of today. This is because limited government involvement in healthcare provision Americans vulnerable to unscrupulous healthcare service providers who charged unreasonably high prices for treatment.

Today, the government is deeply involved in healthcare service provision at different points of healthcare provision seeking to safeguard better service to the average American. The government regulates the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, procurement, and administration. It also monitors and regulates provision of healthcare insurance (Dranove, 2002). Clash between interest groups The average American who lived prior to WWII was serviced poorly than today’s average American because of a clash between different interest groups.

Organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and National Physician Committee (NPC) had influence enough to oppose attempts of protecting the average American. For example, in 1932 when Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated legislation for universal health care linking it to the Social Security Act, AMA and NPC successfully opposed it. Today, the average American is better serviced because such organizations do not have influence enough to oppose government initiatives of securing quality healthcare for its citizenry.

For example, in 2010 the Obama Administration succeeded in passing into law the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. This legislation seeks to safeguard affordable and quality healthcare service for all American citizens (Murray, 2007). The poor knowledge about drug and disease, high cost of medical service, clash between interest groups and limited government involvement in healthcare provision are some of the historical factors that account for why the average American is better serviced than prior to WWII.

References Dranove, D. (2002). The Economic Evolution of American Healthcare: From Marcus Welby to Managed Care. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Murray, J. (2007). Origins of American health insurance: a history of industrial sickness funds. New Haven: Yale University Press. Peden, E. (2012). Evolution of post-WWII U.S. health care spending: an empirical analysis. New York: Xlibris.