Health Policies in the United States - Research Paper Example

HEALTH POLICIES IN THE UNITED S Present day healthcare system is complex and accompanied by a significant difference from what it was earlier on. The changes are so many and represent major shifts which were involved in progressing from an indemnity plan, mainly based on the wants of the patients to a well-managed health care system (Jones, 2000). The American health care system continues to evolve and is not limited to particular generations. Some of the very important questions to ask are; which factors could be driving the changes? How is the present health care different from that offered in the past? What are the impacts of the changes on families across the nation? What can be done differently? What does the future hold? All these questions are very important given the fact that populations are aging, there is an increase in health care costs, medicines are increasingly becoming costly and the population lacking health coverage are on the rise too. Factors driving the changes There are several key factors that influence people’s approach to health care delivery. These include cultural values and beliefs, situational and economic factors. Economic realities have the greatest influence on the design of the health care delivery systems (Palley, 1995). The United States health expenditures with reference to the Health Care Financing Administration (1998) were as illustrated in the table below; National Health Care Expenditures: 1960-1996 Year In Billions Per Capita 1960 $26.9 $141 1970 $73.2 $341 1980 $247.2 $1,051 1990 $699.5 $2,689 1996 $1,035.1 $3,708 In a review of the data, Weiss and Lonnquist (2000) came to a conclusion that the United States has the most expensive and demanding health care system as compared to other countries in the world. In comparison to other sectors of the economy, there has been a more rapid growth. Viewed from another angle, an examination of the expenditure on national health care in relation to GDP reveals a rapid increase in expenditure. For the past forty years, Americans have recorded a steady increase in cost in excess of the other sectors of the economy (Braden, Lazenby and Levit, 1998). From 1960 to 1990, the health care took a bigger share of the GDP up from five percent to fourteen percent. Some of the factors that have fueled this increase include; Population increase coupled with the increasing percentage and number of elderly population. Increase in the cost of essential health technologies. Increased growth in the healthcare allied professions Reliance on pharmaceutical products has increased. Increase in individual and family health insurance policies The actual Health Policies 1. The Affordable Care Act( ACA) or “ObamaCare” “ObamaCare” was signed into law on the 23rd day of March 2010 by President Barack Obama. In combination with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act amendment, they represent the most remarkable regulatory sanitation of the United States health care system in the history of the country since the Medicaid and Medicare passage in 1965. The Affordable Care Act was enacted to; increase the affordability and quality of health insurance, expand both the private and public insurance coverage so as to lower the number of the uninsured people and make health care costs affordable for the government and individual citizens. Insurance exchanges, subsidies and mandates were introduced by this act. Implementation The early stages of implementing the healthcare exchanges, particularly those under the federal government, received negative reactions and responses from both the politicians and media. HealthCare.gov was the website that would allow people to make applications for the insurance. This site crashed down and faced a number of problems during the first month of launch. Most of the users did not like the available plans and found them to be unattractive. This led to the development of an independently produced application, HealthSherpa. It contained vital consumer information which allowed them to make their applications for the program. Another major concern was on cyber security. Experts on this field appeared to disagree on the extent of cyber security of HealthCare.gov. Opposition and Resistance There was a lot of opposition from several sectors of the society. Significant repeal for the legislation came from; well-known conservative advocacy groups, many state republicans and Congressional leaders, the Tea Party Movement and several small business organizations. These groups held a belief that enactment of the law would lead to disruption of health care plans that existed then, increased costs from the new insurance standards and an increase in the deficit. They also strongly opposed the universal healthcare idea arguing that, like other commodities, people are not universally entitled to. Many unions felt that the new legislation would disrupt their normal operations. The unions that expressed their concerns as of 2013 include; AFL-CIO, which described ACA to be highly disruptive to their healthcare plans by driving up the costs of the healthcare services sponsored by the union; International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Economic Implications Before the ACA, most United States citizens were sponsored by company insurance plans. This practice was adopted by companies during World War 2 in order to poach talent from the limited supply in the population. This practice was later strengthened by benefits that were untaxed (an example is healthcare) as compared to taxable ones like hard cash. The rising costs of insurance accompanied by increasing salaries shrank both the salaries and benefits to a point where the aging workers realized their salaries were decreasing and their healthcare and other benefits going down. Since the tax laws until the year 2018 favor benefits to be cheaper than cash, the company policies, as usual, were still everyone’s norm. Despite the benefits, many company employees were looking for their own insurance because their corporate policies were dwindling with time. The introduction of ACA made many company stop their sponsored insurance plans thereby eliminating their biggest compensation benefits hence channeling more costs to employees. To avoid the requirements of ACA, smaller firms have opted to reduce their full-time workforce to part-time employees. They do this by just making the part-time workers operate one hour below the normal full-time requirement. This has a positive effect of enhancing salary and hiring and at the same time improving the efficiency of worker mobility and healthcare policies. 2. National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 This legislation was approved on the 19th day of October 1984, amended in both 1988 and 1990. It outlawed and prohibited the sale and purchase of human organs. It made a provision for the commission of the Task Force on Organ Transplantation. This task force was responsible for the authorization of the Department of Health and Human Services to order grants for establishment, planning and the initial operations of vetted Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs). Formation of Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network were also initiated by this legislation. Taskforce on Organ Procurement and Transplantation This taskforce provides regulations and guidelines on handling of deceased organs and determination of the recipients. It is composed of twenty five members whose duties are; Handling issues that arise from extraction of deceased human organs and their transplantation to the recipients. Such issues may touch on areas such as; ethical, legal, economic, medical and social aspects. Assessment of medication used for immunosuppression in an attempt to avoid host-graft rejection. Costs, safety, insurance reimbursements and effectiveness are assessed to endure that those who are in need of the drugs actually get them. Prepare and produce reports on efforts made by the private and public sectors to get access to the deceased human organs, Problems encountered when obtaining these organs, recommend the training and education of health professionals and the general public. Establishment and assessment of the national registry for the donors of deceased human organs. Activities involved in Organ Procurement The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) is the organization that is involved in organ procurement. Its duties include the following; Facilitation of deceased organ placement and matching processes by the use of computer systems and fully staffed system. The center operates on a 24-hour basis. Development of policies based on consensus outlining the procedures for deceased organ extraction, allocation and transportation. Collection and management of scientific data concerning transplantation and donation of organs. Provision of data to the public, government, students, Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients and researchers for use in the search for improvements in solid organ transplantation and allocation. Provision of public and professional education concerning transplantation and donation and the crucial need for organ donation. Development and maintenance of secure computer systems. Such systems contain information about the organ donors and recipients. 3. Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 Was developed and enacted into law by the 111th United States Congress. It was created as a reconciliatory process in an attempt to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. President Barack Obama signed it into law on the 30th day of March 2010, at Northern Virginia Community College. As a rider, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act was incorporated in to the act. Student Loan Reform This part bears a close similarity to the language used in Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. The package includes all of the following; Administration of loans directly to the Department of Education as opposed to federally secured loans. Increase of the Pell Grant scholarship award. Making the process of acquiring federal loans easier for parents. Allocation of billions of dollars to fund schools that serve the poor and community colleges. Monitoring For policies, guidelines and laws to achieve the intended purpose, they have be enacted, properly funded and implemented. Monitoring helps to bridge the gaps between development and implementation, identifies areas that require improvements and relays critical information to policy makers and advocates and to hold those assigned to implement them into account (Boychuk, 1998). Advocacy and policy monitoring is an important way for determination of the feasibility of a policy. The activities carried out include; Assessment of capacity to support advocacy and policy monitoring in an attempt to decrease incidences of discrimination. Monitoring of accountability through the national social information system Concerning gender-based violence, the integration of strategies to address the problem. Conclusion Healthcare is a very critical aspect of human existence that should be among the top priorities in the budget of any state. Public education should be carried out to ensure that every single person is well informed about their health (Boyle, 2004). The educational curricula should incorporate aspects of health education in the syllabi. Finally, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, so the saying goes. References Boychuk, T. (1998). Realignments in the Welfare State: Health Policy in the United States, Britain, and Canada by Mary Ruggie:Realignments in the Welfare State: Health Policy in the United States, Britain, and Canada. American Journal of Sociology. doi:10.1086/231325 Boyle, P. (2004). Tobacco and public health: Science and policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duignan, P., & Rabushka, A. (1980). The United States in the 1980s. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Jones, R. J. (2000). Canada and the United States: An historical and neo-institutional study of public housing and health policies. Palley, H. A. (1995). Health Care Policy in the United States. By Keith J. 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