The Universal Healthcare - Essay Example

Universal Healthcare: The Only Answer Jim Moran Baker College November 5 2009 Universal healthcare the only answer In order to understand clearly the concept of health care, it is imperative to give its definition. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition, “a health care system can be defined as all of the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore, or maintain health,” (McKee 2001 as cited in Shi & Singh, 2009:29). Health care is very important in any given nation since it plays a pivotal role in determining the welfare of the citizens who are the main drivers of economic development and growth. However, access to health care is mainly determined by levels of income which disadvantages the less privileged members of the society hence the need to make access to healthcare universal since it is of paramount importance in development and growth of the economy. It can be noted that in many countries, the health care system is mainly comprised of public and private sectors. In the US for instance, health care provision ranges from basic primary health care mainly provided by the public sector which can even offer free medication to the less privileged members of the society. The public sector is mainly comprised of government owned hospitals while on the other hand the commercialized private sector is seen taking a leading role in the provision of highly specialized health care. However, of paramount importance is the need to provide a good and fair health care system. According to WHO report in 2000 as cited in an article entitled: ‘The U.S. Health care system: The best in the world, or just the most expensive,’ [online], there are three goals that a good health system should do and these are: good health, responsiveness and fairness in financing where costs are pegged according to one’s ability to pay. In some circles, universal healthcare represents a threat since provision of health is treated as commercial business. Comparatively, the US is currently the only country among advanced industrialized countries which has a health care with disparities. First of all, it has been noted that universal health care is the only answer because lack of healthcare is a national crisis of a higher magnitude. It can be argued that universal healthcare is about representing a true community healthcare principle of access for all, not just for all who can afford it. In view of this notion, supporters of national healthcare tend to argue that there should be a single-payer system in which healthcare is financed by the government but it should not take control of the system in a way that diminishes privatized options. However, a holistic approach needs to be taken into consideration when approaching the current crisis in the U.S. healthcare system. Whilst it can be said that in certain areas of the country, there are problems of accessibility of health care, it is generally agreed that there is fair coverage of healthcare facilities in most places and for most individuals. Against this background, it can be noted that the magnitude of the crisis may not be significant enough to justify the major changes in revamping the whole healthcare delivery system that will result from present reform proposals (Kalkhof, 1994). It is argued that the current system of managed care practiced at modern healthcare facilities should be changed from a consumer-based platform to a patient-based platform in which there is universal coverage and a renewed attention to upholding patient rights. According to principles of American paternalism, “no American should go without food and water, shelter, clothing, sanitary facilities, protection, legal, equal opportunity, education, vaccination, and basic medical care” (Kotlikoff, 52). This means that a community healthcare model rather than a consumer based one is ideal since it makes accessibility relatively easier for all those who need it, not just those who can afford it. Secondly, provision of health care is regarded as a basic human right and every human being is entitled to fundamental health care regardless of creed or belief. In the US Constitution, there is a provision which states that every person has a right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but many Americans do not enjoy these benefits. It is the duty of every government to ensure that every citizen has access to basic health care. Thus, according to article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), “Everyone has the right to standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and family…and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness… or other lack of likelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” From this assertion, health care is not a privilege but is supposed to be a right as boldly enshrined in the Universal of Declaration Rights upon which many countries are signatories. Hence, it is the duty of the government to ensure that that they have a functioning health care system guided by the notion of equality with regards to accessibility of health care. The performance of any economy is to a greater extent determined by the well being of the general populace and it would be folly and suicidal to relegate health care to lower levels of societal expectations. Therefore, there should be responsiveness in the health care system whereby the health care providers ought to respond to people’s expectations of respectful treatment by the health care practitioners. Thirdly, it should be noted that there should be fairness in financing of healthcare. According to the Universal Healthcare website (2009), with a universal healthcare, money can be saved through elimination of wasteful inefficiencies such as duplicate paper work, claims approval, insurance submission for instance, and it is possible to develop a centralized national database which makes diagnosis and treatment easier for doctors. Information obtained from a WHO report in 2000 as cited in an article entitled: ‘The U.S. Health care system: The best in the world, or just the most expensive,’ [online], there are currently about 42,6 million people in the US without insurance which posses a major challenge to their health care needs. There are various advantages for adopting this health care system. With a universal healthcare system in place, the number of uninsured citizens would go down instead of keeping on growing by tens of millions, as immigrants and others are unable to afford healthcare. Universal healthcare is justified on humanitarian grounds in a society where healthcare has become unaffordable for many. “During the last third of the twentieth century, all of the participants in the national healthcare policy discussion, including some of the most hard bitten conservatives, either avowed the virtues or conceded the necessity of a national healthcare program” (Derickson, 2005). The duty of medical professionals should be to treat the patient, not to worry about insurance documents and coverage liabilities. Millions of patients today who have the so called pre existing conditions, are out of the system, and would also be included in universal healthcare. The constituency for a universal healthcare plan in the US can be developed by gauging interest in the problem of access to quality healthcare and knowledge of its history that is mixed with issues of poverty, social and economic status systems. There are various theoretical and practical measures that can be developed to solve this problem domestically. These range from class-struggle theory to the more practical application of healthcare advocacy and systemic delivery of access from private and public entities. Advocacy on the issue of equity within a universal healthcare system will be developed on a targeted and specific level by expanding the definition of the problem to focus on homeless people with impoverished situations, and can examine development based on accessibility, the cycle of poverty, and attention to the local level in examining the problems on a policy level as well. The policy makers should focus on the effect of government controls on the delivery of healthcare services before they embrace any concept (Primary, 2007). Policy level changes may have to precede the changes at individual healthcare facilities and their attendant professionals. Within a universal healthcare system, it can be argued that people can encounter two different kinds of income problems that can affect individuals and hinder their access to healthcare. These categories separate income problems into absolute and relative terms. The focus of universal healthcare is on the relative income problems, which are seen to be perhaps more mutable and changeable than the situation experienced by those with absolute income problems, who may be homeless or destitute. Basically, the difference between relative and absolute income problems that can be addressed by universal healthcare lies in the fact that those individuals with relative income problems can provide for their basic survival, but have trouble with shifts in income and lack of security. As mentioned above, the issue of immigration also comes up in terms of access because these communities are often hit hard by poverty and are also isolated from access to healthcare information, or have a distrust of the western concept of the large hospital. Research has shown that conditions of immigrants vary on numerous factors that affect their access to, and quality of health care. Those factors include: socioeconomic background, immigration status, limited English proficiency, residential location, and stigma and marginalization (Kalkhof, 1994). The modern healthcare facility could be doing more to reach out to these communities. The current system existing now is not a universal healthcare system but instead, it works as a market based system. In most cases, it can be noted that businesses are ruthless in certain instances where they do what it takes to make money. However, provision of healthcare should be guided by moral principles of humanity and respect for life. The center of healthcare in the US is based on a business model. It treats the patient like a consumer and even refers to the patient in consumer terms like client. The healthcare system of the modern US is one in which a business model is operating, not a community based healthcare model. It is based on the notion that increased financial exposure will encourage patients to act like consumers, comparing quality and costs and negotiating lower prices. According to this concept, it also gives people greater control over their health care (Universal healthcare, 2009). This theory may seem ridiculous when compared to systems in which there is no advertising by doctors and drug companies on television, in other countries where healthcare is considered the responsibility of a highly-developed industrialized society, rather than a marketplace. In conclusion, it can be noted that the universal health care is the only answer because lack of it is a national crisis. There are mainly three reasons why health care should be universal and these are; the system should be able to provide good health, health care is a basic human right and there should be fairness in financing of health care. Health care is a human right enshrined in the Constitution under life liberty and the pursuit of happiness as well as the Universal Declaration of Human rights. Over and above, it can be seen that a poor healthcare has catastrophic impacts on the performance and growth of the economy. References Cummings, N (2005). Universal Healthcare. New York: Routledge. http://books.google.com/books?id=S0hrAAAAMAAJ&q=universal+healthcare&dq=universal+healthcare&ei=lazlSq2FL4zyMtLB Kotlikoff LJ. The healthcare fix: Universal insurance for all Americans. Cambridge, Mass.:MIT Press; 2007. Deriksen A. Health Security for All: Dreams of Universal Health Care. 2005. Available at: http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/57/6/887-a. http://www. Tcdailyplanet: net/article/2008/06/05/myth-vs-fact-consumer-driven-health-plans.html#. Retrieved from http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/06/05/myth-vs-fact-consumer-driven-health-plans.html# Shi, L. & Singh, D.A. (2009) Essentials in the US Health Care System. 2nd Edition. Johns and Bartlett Publishers. Retrieved on November 10, 2009, from http://books.google.co.za/books?id=-hpc0v6NyMEC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=WHO+definition+of+healthcare+system&source=bl&ots=LgQhLZxuB_&sig=r7T8ENmjReoBeD1mjW0NPLnngzs&hl=en&ei=QrDxSt6VHderjAfK3IGWAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCkQ6AEwCA# The U.S. Health Care system: Best in The World, or just the most expensive? (n.d.), Retrieved on November, 10 2009, from http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). United Nations Department of Public information. Universal healthcare (2009). www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/02-5 Universal healthcare (2009). http://www.balancedpolitics.org/universal_health_care.htm Read More