UNIT 5 DISCUSSION BOARD - Essay Example

UNIT 5 DISCUSSION BOARD Introduction: Dramatic advances in the field of science and technology has seen equally unrelenting advances in the field ofmedicine. These advances have not come at a price, and the spiraling cost of healthcare has been the consequence. The United States of America spends the most amount of money on health care, but the benefits of either the expenditure nor the benefits of the advances in the field of medicine have been equally felt by all segments of the population. This has led to considerable pressure for rethinking in the manner in which healthcare is made available to all segments of American Society.

Contentious Issues of Managed Care Implementation: Healthcare in the United States of America is managed through the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), which organizes health plans outside of that which is provided through the insurance companies. There are different plans that through which HMOs make healthcare available. The total estimated cost of healthcare in the USA during 2004 was $1.9 trillion, which was equivalent to 16% of the GDP, making the USA the largest spending country on healthcare.

Many of the employees on the payrolls of companies have healthcare plans that are taken care of by the companies themselves. This has given a false impression that the vast amount of money spent on healthcare is rooted in the private sector. This is far from true, and nearly half the money that is spent on healthcare comes from government coffers. The reason for this is that a large portion of the healthcare is paid for by employer-based insurance, but this is tax subsidized. In essence the government pays part of the healthcare bills of employees in private companies that are receiving healthcare plans through their employers.

The soaring medical costs are causing private employers to cut back on wage increases to their employees in an effort to find the means to meet the growing healthcare bill, leading to dissatisfaction. In short the main issue of the healthcare implementation is the scarcity of funds. This situation is hardly going to change with the Government unwilling to consider tax reforms. Therefore managed care has to look after soaring medical bills with a paucity of funds. In such a situation the dissemination of healthcare to all segments of the population becomes difficult, and as usual it is the weaker segments of society that feel the pinch of inadequate healthcare provisions.

(Americas health-care crisis: Desperate measures). Problems Associated with Macro-and Microallocation Within the System: The American healthcare system is an umbrella organization. The World Health Organization (WHO) has in its recommendations suggested that umbrella organizations transfer funds from well off programs to programs that are short of adequate funds. (Towards a national health insurance system in Yemen - Part 2: Options and Recommendations). In America the shifting of funds is not based on making funds available to poorly off healthcare programs, but rather a shifting of funds based on other priorities.

The current focus is on making healthcare available to those to whom the government is already committed. This is at the cost of making funds available to where it is most needed. At the macro-level this means funds are made available to meet the commitments of healthcare provisions of the employees, and so funds flow to states, where there is more business activity at the expense of those states where there is less business activity, but more segments of society, whose health care requirements need to be take care of on a priority basis.

As this percolates down to the individual level it means individuals, who are not currently enjoying any healthcare benefits or a minimal of it, will continue to remain in this sorry state. Yet another example is that health care programs targeted at prevention of certain specific diseases that are considered dangerous for society would lose out on funds, and the priority for it. HIV/AIDS, prevention programs should remain a priority on national basis. The scarcity of funds makes this more of a pipe dream than a reality, which means that the nation is exposed to the threat of this disease.

Moving on to an individual level, such an approach leaves individuals afflicted by the disease likely to face difficulty in getting adequate healthcare facilities, and for those individuals free of the disease an increased risk of contracting it. (Cohen, D. A., Wu, S., & Farley, A.T. 2005). Guiding Ethics: My guiding ethics for the changes required in the American healthcare system would be based on the medical utility of healthcare goods and services, based on the best prognosis. For, I believe that healthcare is a human right, and the care of individuals should be the focus of healthcare systems.

Yet, it needs to be tempered by the necessity that the healthcare system has to generate the greatest possible health gains across all groups and populations. This also means that the healthcare system needs to include prevention of disease and alleviation of disability as part of its responsibilities. (Tavistock Group. 1999)Works CitedAmericas health-care crisis: Desperate measures. 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2006, from Economist.com. Web site: http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?

story_id=5436968. Cohen, D. A., Wu, S., & Farley, A.T. (2005). Cost-Effective Allocation Of Government Funds To Prevent HIV Infection. Health Affairs. 24(2), 915-926.Tavistock Group. (1999). Shared ethical principles for everybody in health care: a working draft from the Tavistock Group. BMJ. 318, 248-251.Towards a national health insurance system in Yemen - Part 2: Options and Recommendations. Retrieved October 31, 2006 Website: http://www.who.int/health_financing/countries/yemen_en2-6_8-roadmap.pdf