An Analysis Of The Effective Health Care Service Policy For Veterans - Assignment Example

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICE POLICY FOR VETERANS INTRODUCTION The veterans are undoubtedly essential part of our society. They have made the tough decision of listing in the government’s military force to prepare defending the nation against the enemy’s whether it is from its own citizens of from outside. The veterans are regarded highly by the community, although respect and honor would really just be the reward that they can get. Financial rewards could be elusive for the veterans. After all these sacrifices that they willingly took, both for themselves and their families, one thing that we can offer them is a good health service-one that is given out of love and appreciation. But sadly, this is not the case. On the contrary, the veterans are denied of their service-long queues, untimely service and service without a smile. This scenario then calls for a program that will change the fate of the veterans from its own government. This is the time to pursue with force the Effective Health Care Service Policy for Veterans. MAIN BODY Economic, Social and Political Aspects: Cost and Benefit Analysis From the economic perspective, this effective health care service policy for the veterans would of course necessitate budget outlay on the part of the government. As I said, it will be a major move from denial of health care service to the veterans to provision of a first class health care service. One of the concerns of the veterans is the service without a smile by the VA employees. This might be a manifestation of low salary or discontentment of the workers towards their work and the department. Thus, to create service with flashy smile from the workers necessitate that they themselves would be empowered and at the same time be oriented of the essence of the veterans, that they be reminded that they are serving the modern day heroes. The change of the employee’s mental framework would of course demand budget. In details this would include trainings and increase in salary and addition of perks and benefits compared to what they currently get. The timely service that this policy suggests would also necessitate the use of technology to have faster and easier access to data, things that people cannot do manually. Machines might be costly but can be very effective in providing for solutions. Additional employees might also be required to lessen the burdens and responsibilities from the current employees. The benefit of these however is not just for the veterans to have timely response to their needs but also for the employees to enjoy their work so that they can be happy serving the veterans. Over-all, it is employee empowerment that they need. Lastly, to ensure excellent service a third-party consultant should be hired to oversee the defects of the health care department and give proper recommendations. The employment of a third party consultant will again entail additional cost but will make sure that everything in the department runs smoothly. This will eliminate red tape and ensure than the legitimate demands of the veterans are properly take care of. Although the move will have economic costs, it will also have direct benefits to both the veterans as the beneficiary of the service, to the employees as more empowered individuals and to the entire society as they would give higher regard to both the veterans and to the government. It would be easier then to attract people to be part of the national military and at the same time the government will gain respect from its citizens. This will have vital societal, political and economic effects which in turn will outweigh the costs of the program. A basic concept in economics is that people respond to incentives (Mankiw, 1998). If the veterans then are given from adequate incentive from both the government and the over-all society, more will be empowered to join the military, which remains to be very vital in the country’s growth. Social-Political Context An article in the Wall Street Journal says “If President Obama wants to better understand why Americas discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care” (Towey, 2009). In economics term, health is a publicly provided private good (Stieglitz, 2000). It means that the government does not have to necessarily provide for it. However, due to some societal goals, the government can give private goods to private citizens. The effective health care service policy that I am moving for is actually against the cost-cutting measure that President Obama is pursuing. The truth is he is actually moving for the “Your Life, Your Choice” program which allows the people with interminable illness to choose death thus lessening the burdens from the government. But hey, the veterans are not burdens to us. In fact the health service is just a reward for what they have already worked for and it is obviously delayed. Thus, no matter how difficult it is to cut the costs in spending, the veterans should not be those that should be sacrificed. The political and economic plans of Obama should be in adherence to the over-all health of the social spectrum. Another societal ill that will be possibly answered by this improvement is the treatment of abused women in the military. As of 2007“( Christine) McKinley, who works as a veterans employment representative with the state Department of Labor and is president of New Mexico Women Veterans, said the VA system remains poorly equipped to address the needs of women, pointing to scaled-back services at a womens clinic at the Albuquerque VA hospital” (Gisick, 2007). With this move, women will also benefit and be given proper attention on their concerns. Evaluation using comparative decision-making techniques for health-care issues, strategies, and programs. Some citizens are aware of the many hassles and the humiliation that our veterans face every day. That’s why some are suggesting other ways to serve the veterans. We will analyze them shortly and then compare them with my health care policy. An article by Sandy Cook moves for a “Medicare for All” premium for veterans instead of utilizing the service of the veterans Affairs Office. “Instead of trying to get into the VA system to get all of your medical problems taken care of, the government could take care of paying the veteran’s monthly ‘Medicare for All’ premium. To be fair it should be in varied amounts such as say 25% for those who serve one enlistment, 50% for ten years, and 100% for a career through retirement. You would still go into the VA system for service connected trauma or disease, but you would go in without waiting since requests for ordinary healthcare would not be choking up the waiting lines. The reward for service would still be there, it just would come in a different form. It is the benefit that is important, as are the results for the veteran, not the form that it takes” (Cook, 2009). However, she also said that this step is opposed by many since it will tend to “devalue the service and sacrifice” of the veterans. The reason why the VA was established was to primarily provide service for the veterans. As the VHA mission statement says, “The mission of the Veterans Health Administration is to serve the needs of Americas veterans by providing primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support services. To accomplish this mission, VHA needs to be a comprehensive, integrated healthcare system that provides excellence in health care value, excellence in service as defined by its customers, and excellence in education and research, and needs to be an organization characterized by exceptional accountability and by being an employer of choice” (U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009). Providing for the “Medicare for All” premium will not only devalue the service and sacrifice of the veterans but it will also fail to let them feel how precious they are to the government since the government is not the one that directly provides the service. The Veterans Affairs acts as a home that is provided by the government for the veterans, therefore whatever health care provided by the VA has a personal touch that does not only heal the veterans physically but also makes them feel appreciated and honored. The health policy that I am moving for strengthens this kind of honor and respect for the veterans by giving them a service which is timely and abundant. This is better in both economic and social terms. In economic terms, this will allow the government to enjoy economies of scale out of the large volume of patients that they have to serve. Economies of scale provides for the doubling of service outputs without necessarily doubling the inputs (Robert S. Pindyck, 2003) Possible Dilemmas in the Implementation Obviously, the possible dilemmas in the implementation can come from the ecnomic side. The society’s sentiment over this would certainly be in favor of a better health service for the veterans. Certainly, this would be a popular decision by the government. This can even increase the popularity of the government officials who are pursuing this. But, just as I mentioned, there is an opportunity cost to programs. This means that the bugdet or this must come from somewhere else. It might even mean that other services might be lessenes or stopped to provide for this service. Although the governemnt’s money depend on its variety of revenue sources, if this remains lower than the over-all expenditure, it means that the budget for the health care fo the veterans should come from somewhere else—may be from other social services. Another difficulty is the commitment of the governmetn to the program. How sure are we that the givernment will give priority to such a project? This is where the political scope will come in. Largely, the concern is with the budget. As I have mentioned this will be a radical move- from denying primary health care to the veterans to prioritizing them and giving them first class health care services. The question is that “is the administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs ready for this?. There will also be a question of who should be adminestering the program. Is it the national or the local government? The devolution of authority and responsbility might be beneficial but would coem with costs. In America, it was observed that the “so-called devolution in the USA has been far from a wholesale transfer of power but rather a series of halfway measures” (Kincaid, 2001). The Policy’s Proposed Benefits The proposed programs will yield a variety of benefits which can be seen as economic, social and political. Among the economic benefits are: (1) with renewed respect for veterans, recruitment costs for new military soldiers need not be so expensive and (2) economies of scale can be achieved in contrast to providing medical aid premiums. Social benefits can be far-reaching. Among these are (1) empowerment of the military and those who work in the military institutions, (2) the improvement of the marginalized sector of the community such as the elderly veterans and the women and (3) better over-all health of the military so that they can still be of help to the community. Lastly, in the political side, this move will strengthen the trust of the citizens to the current government. CONCLUSION Currently, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has variety of health care services offered to the veterans. Examples of these are blind rehabilitation, center for women veterans, dental care benefits, mental health, smoking cessation, weight management, substance abuse programs and suicide prevention among the many others (U.S Department of Veterans Affairs). While it is remarkable that there are varieties of services, it is effective and quality service that we are looking for. It is the first class service given out of gratitude and honor that the veterans are looking for. This kind of service gives them importance by not allowing them to wait on long queues, giving them service with a smile, attending to their needs with hospitality and giving them complete service. These are the things that my proposed program would contain, radical change in how the veterans are treated especially in taking care of their health. Works Cited Cook, S. (2009, August 25). Healthcare. What’s the fuss? Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www.veteranstoday.com: http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8368 Gisick, M. (2007, April 5). Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www.abqtrib.com: http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/apr/05/female-veterans-slam-va-citing-lack-services/ Kincaid, J. (2001, November). Devolution in the United States: Rhetoric and Reality. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www.ingentaconnect.com: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oso/352758/2001/00000001/00000001/art00008 Mankiw, N. (1998). Principles of Macroeconomics. Orlando, Florida: The Dryden Press Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Robert S. Pindyck, D. L. (2003). Microeconomics (5th ed.). Singapore: Pearson Education Asia Pte. Ltd. Stieglitz, J. (2000). Economics of the Public Sector (3rd ed.). W.W Norton. Towey, J. (2009, August 18). The Death Book for Veterans. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204683204574358590107981718-lMyQjAxMDA5MDMwMDEzNDAyWj.html U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www1.va.gov: http://www1.va.gov/health/HealthWellness.asp U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. (2009, June 9). Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www1.va.gov: http://www1.va.gov/health/AboutVHA.asp Read More