Public Policy Issue in Health Care - Assignment Example

Public policy issue in health care Introduction Quality of health care is the most important factor and concern for most patients. Patients visit health care facilities with the hopes of obtaining appropriate treatment to their various health problems. Provision of high quality health care is essential to the development of the economy since health influences the productivity of the population. In the United States, the quality of health care remains the single most important concern to most citizens. Among the leading deaths in the country are chronic diseases, heart complications, cancers and accidents all of which require both effective treatment and management. The United States is the largest economy and strives to position itself as an ideal democracy. As such, the country must safeguard the health of its population by providing high quality health care services to its population. However, cost is an equally significant factor that affects the accessibility to such services. The problem is widespread in the country and therefore requires effective solution in order to safeguard the productivity of the population. Access to high quality health care is minimal in some of the country’s poorest populations. Low-income families cannot access such services. The country has few health facilities especially in low-income neighborhoods with most of such public facilities remaining understaffed. Private health care facilities that have appropriate equipment among other resources target a high market customer and therefore locate their facilities strategically in wealthy neighborhoods and in cities. The rural populations, most of whom are low-income earners face major challenges including few and understaffed health facilities. Such is a factor that requires effective and timely government intervention since the low income earners are always the majority in any economy. Most of such families lead low quality lifestyles and wallow in poverty often dying prematurely. Nature and scope of the problem Cost and skewed distribution of health facilities have remained the most notorious problems affecting the American health system. Americans live in a highly competitive economy where some have more than two jobs just to make a living. Despite such, the cost of health care remains out of reaches for most families. Despite the low rates of unemployment in the country, a large section of the population cannot afford high quality health care owing to the unique features of the systems. Among the problems facing the American health care system is high cost of services, which just as explained earlier, limits accessibility to the high quality services found in private health institutions. Heart diseases, cancers and accidents are complex health concerns that often require costly services. American families including the middle class spend fortunes in treating and managing such diseases a feature that lowers the quality of life for most families. The United States has one of the most expensive yet least effective health care system with more than fifty million citizens from both the low-income category and the middle class expressing both concern and frustration in seeking quality health services. In the rural areas and such low-income neighborhoods such as Baltimore, public health facilities are scarce and understaffed. The working conditions in the facilities re poor and therefore demoralize the health practitioners who often strive to serve a large number of patients with various health problems. The poor working conditions affect the quality of services thereby compounding the problems that such vulnerable populations face in their quest for health care services. Evolution of the problem Pipes, (2010) asserts that the problems facing the health care system in the United States have developed progressively throughout the history of the country. For a long time, the African Americans among other minority groups remained secluded from mainstream services. They did not go to school and therefore lacked jobs. This implies that such minority groups lived in poor neighborhoods and could not afford any high quality services. Their neighborhoods lacked basic amenities such as schools and health care facilities. Successive American governments have strived to change the situation but the budgetary allocations remains significantly low thereby secluding such largely populated and low-income neighborhoods such as Biltmore and Queens among many other places throughout the country. The same problem remained prevalent in the rural areas most of which lacked adequately staffed health facilities and dispensaries. The problem has therefore evolved to affect millions of people in unique ways. Among the problems facing the health care system in the country besides the high cost of services, include avoidable harm that doctors among other health practitioners cause patients. Misdiagnosis and accidents during surgeries compound the problems for most American patients. Such avoidable harm arises from a number of factors including understaffing and lack of adequate resources in the facilities. In private facilities, some health practitioners act unethically thereby causing more harm in their attention to maximize profitability. Lack of adequate information is yet another significant feature that continues to compound the problems the service continues to face. Bryant, (2009) explains that Americans have adequate information on any product in the market including real estates and cars but health care services. This implies that the populations do not understand the health problems they are likely to face and how best to find solutions. This enhances the cost implications as patients waste money in a series of hospital visits and a series of referrals. Level of government involvement Successive American governments have recognized the problem and strive to reverse the situation hereby improve the quality of life for the citizens. Despite such efforts as increased government spending in the sector throughout the years, the private sector remains the largest service provider with the sector owning and operating 58% of the health facilities in the country. Nonprofit community hospitals own and operate 21% of the facilities (McClelland & Asplin, 2014). The above statistics show that addressing the problems facing the health care sector in the country requires the incorporation of the private sector. The private sector operates with the sole objective of maximizing profitability. Most of such facilities have adequate facilities and resources and therefore offer high quality services but at an equally higher costs. The year 2010 witnessed the formulation of a raft of policies that sought to enhance accessibility to high quality health services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced a number of policies all of which sought to enhance efficiency of health insurance in the country thereby enabling more Americans to overcome the cost implications of health care. The President Barack Obama’s administration that health insurance was the only way of enabling Americans to seek services from the numerous private health facilities in the country. As such, the new law enhances the operation of insurance service providers by making it mandatory for citizens to have health insurance while enhancing the operations of the health insurance service providers. This way, Americans are likely to enjoy effective funding thus access to high quality services from the private or the public health facilities throughout the country. Among the provisions of the Affordable Care Act is the fact that it prohibits health insurers from denying patients the coverage based on their medical histories. This implies that unlike in the past when insurers could not offer insurance t patients with chronic diseases, the law made it mandatory for the coverage of such vulnerable individuals especially children. The act further established minimum standards for the health benefit plans and demanded employers to provide health insurance to their employees irrespective of the nature of the employment terms (Stevens, Rosenberg & Burns, 2006). Other intricate features of the legislations included increased funding for health facilities, provision of incentives to both employers and insurers and the betterment of working conditions and pay for health practitioners. This would in turn improve their morale. In short, the legislation sought to increase efficiency and quality of health care services by enhancing competition both among the insurance services providers and among the health care service providers. Conflicting public opinion Despite the evident advantages of the Affordable Care Act, the legislation has faced intense criticism and opposition especially from Republican lawmakers and politicians who view it as an idea fronted by their Democrat counterparts. Those opposed to the law front a number of reasons including the claim that the policy will disrupt the existing health care plans. Such voices of opposition maintain that health is like any other commodity in the market that is not an entitlement to everyone. They view the law as striving to make health care universal to every citizen. Such individuals hold the opinion that the policy will affect business in the country. Those opposing the legislation are a number of business people who benefit from the skewed system of health care in the country coupled with other influential politicians who have interests in the existing capitalist system. Worker unions have also opposed the new act claiming that it will disrupt the existing union health plans. Apparently, worker unions have health plan for their members, which have worked systematically thereby safeguarding the health and social wellbeing of their members. Such unions as the AFL-CIO therefore view the new legislation as disruptive and threaten the existence and profitability of their unions and relationships with their employers. The unions and employers and some insurers have opposed the act owing to the implications it will have on their operations (Brill, 2015). Explained earlier, the act requires employers to insurer every employee a feature that may prove costly. The act further demands that insurance service providers do not deny clients any services despite their health history. Such is likely to increase risks in the industry since it forces the insurers to provide services to people with chronic diseases most of which are always costly to treat or manage. In 2012, Republic politicians opposed to the act took the law to the Supreme Court in their attempt to enhance their opposition to the act. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the court determines that the National government should not coerce states to adopt the Medicaid program and that the federal government should let the states accept the program voluntarily. From the ruling, numerous states with Republican governorship rejected the Medicaid program. Unfortunately, more than half of the country’s uninsured population comes from such states a feature that continues to benefit the capitalist entrepreneurs in the region while risking the lives of millions of poor Americans who cannot afford the exorbitant health care services in the states without insurance. Suggested policy direction From the above discussion, it becomes evident that the high cost of health care services is the biggest impediment to the provision of high quality services a feature that continue to limit the ability of Americans to access the desired health care services. This shows that the country requires an effective legislation that will ensure that the population access high quality services irrespective of the cost. The Affordable Care Act is one such legislation since it introduces a unique product that promises to safeguard the health of the population. The legislation appreciates that private institutions offer the best services but at a higher cost. As such, it introduces a way for the citizens to access the high quality services from either the private or public sector (Teplin, Mericle & McClelland, 2003). Furthermore, the legislation seeks to increase competition among the service providers thereby ensuring that they provide high quality services to the discerning clients. The Act requires an equally radical policy that would deal with the prevalent opposition to the act. The representatives should address the contentious issues with the law in order to increase its acceptance throughout the United States. The current stalemate in a number of states does not help the need population. Conclusion In retrospect, the health care system has a number of issues that requires effective policy solutions. The country has arguably one of the most expensive yet equally the most ineffective health system, the health system in the country has for a long time benefited the wealthy leaving the majority poor lacking the basic service. The Affordable Care Act sought to address some of the basic concerns thereby encouraging the operation of the ideal private health facilities but making it possible for the citizens to afford their services. Encouraging the citizens to seek health insurance is an appropriate way of safeguarding affordability of high quality health care. The current opposition to the law simply because it arose from a Democrat government is not health. The lawmakers should debate and amend the law in order to make it address the concerns raised by the various institutions in order to make the law suitable for the otherwise vulnerable public. References Brill, S. (2015). America's bitter pill: Money, politics, backroom deals, and the fight to fix our broken healthcare system. New York : Random House. Bryant, T. (2009). An introduction to health policy. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc. Kronenfeld, J. J. (2002). Health care policy: Issues and trends. Westport, Ct: Praeger. McClelland, M., & Asplin, B et al. (2014). The Affordable Care Act and Emergency Care. American Journal of Public Health Vol. 104, No. 10, pp. e8-e10. Pipes, S. (2010). The truth about Obamacare. Washington, DC: Regnery Pub. Stevens, R., Rosenberg, C. E., & Burns, L. R. (2006). History and health policy in the United States: Putting the past back in. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. Teplin, L., Mericle, A. & McClelland, M. (2003). HIV and AIDS Risk Behaviors in Juvenile Detainees: Implications for Public Health Policy. American Journal of Public Health Vol. 93, No. 6, pp. 906-912. Read More