Government policy decision on medicare/medicaid - Essay Example

Government Policies on Health Care Introduction Government in the process of making, amending and implementing laws and policies relating to national issues do affect other organizations and institutions directly or indirectly. Among the bodies affected are the medical care field and other related bodies. The policy or law may have an impact on patients, nurses, practitioners or the whole medical field (Maioni, 1998). The Supreme Court is the highest court that has power on matters concerning the national law in America.

Currently, the court is in the process of amending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This bill was/ is enacted in order to reform the medical care sector. The bill was signed by American president Obama and passed into law in 2010 by congress. The law known as Obama Care Ruling advocates for easy and cheap health services mainly to the poor and disabled people. This program known as Medicaid program is supported by the central and state government. The main idea is that every individual should have a medical insurance cover and a penalty is charged to those who disobey the law.

In one way or the other, the American government is forcing its citizens to buy medical insurance since 1% percentage on income in form of tax is charged to those who resist. This tax penalty is increasing each year with a certain proportion. This ruling requires even those with private insurance to enroll wit health care insurance so that they can enjoy the benefits (Maioni, 1998). Members of the states opposing this law will lose their contribution to medical care insurance since it is not forcing anyone.

Some of the states which are against the Medicaid are; Dakota, Texas, Iowa, Kansas. Ohio, South Carolina among others. This means that the state members will have difficulties in accessing proper medical services and if accessible, at a higher cost. States like Massachusetts which was the pioneer of the idea in 1996 has some benefits to show. One of them being decrease in states’ costs and 98% of its members are under health insurance. This drastic improvement is due to increase in businesses offering health covers to people.

Additionally, the law is benefiting other entrepreneurs like private insurance providers who have increased the pool of risks (Lundy and Janes, 2009). The increase in number of people buying medical insurance has resulted to benefits to insurance providers. Due to these benefits, they are advocating for the law to be implemented and ensure all citizens have medical insurance. It is estimated that 16 million Americans will be under cover if many states support the bill (Quadagno, 2005). Positive effect The Medicare Health Plan provides all Medicare services to those people who register with it.

Some of the services include Programs of All types of Care to the aged and Elderly (PACE), Medicare Cost Plans and Pilot Programs (Greenwald, 2010). The Medicare Plan covers all emergency cases and critical problems. This ensures that the affected will not struggle looking for finances to cover their bills. Some of the problems faced by the aged are included in Medicare plan which include hearing, vision, dental among others. These are some of the benefits for those who enroll with Medicare program enjoy.

In addition, the medical care sector enjoys some benefits of the plan in a way. For example, the practitioners and nurses are relieved the problem of payment by the patients. Since the plan covers the elderly and the poor, being the people who have difficulty in clearing their medical bills, the government comes in and such bills are cleared. This relieves the medical sector unnecessary debts from patients which hinders proper medical services due to outstanding bills. Negative effect Laboratory charges on Medicare directly affect the physicians’ fees (Committee on Medicare Payment Methodology for Clinical Laboratory Services, Division of Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine, 2000).

This is due to the fact that laboratory spending is not associated to cost. This means that as the number of laboratory services increase, the physician’s fees will be reduced since they are the only costs which can be managed. The number of laboratory services increase due to different ailments affecting the senior citizens that need laboratory tests. The final decision by the medical committee is that the Medicare and Medicaid program are not adequate when it comes to payments. This is because after an increase or decrease in charges, there are no appropriate mechanisms for stabilizing the differences.

Additionally, this problem is accelerated by changes in technology which is taking long before implementation. This makes it difficult to incorporate provision of services to patients and technology adoption in laboratories and the whole field of medical care. Conclusion Government policies and regulations affect operations in many organizations. Since there is always a winner and a loser in every decision made, there is a need for involving all prospective parties who will be affected by law.

This means that before a bill is passed in parliament for confirmation, the government should scrutinize the negative effects to companies and other bodies. This is to provide a chance to parties involved of giving their views on the bill. Therefore, the government will have time of making necessary amendments at an early stage before the bill is passed to law. In addition, it is important for the citizens to be given ample time of reading the bill at hand in order to raise their views and opinions.

References Committee on Medicare Payment Methodology for Clinical Laboratory Services, Division of Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine, (2000). Medicare Laboratory Payment Policy: Now and in the Future. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press Greenwald, H.P. (2010). Health Care in the United States: Organization, Management, and Policy. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Lundy, K.S. & Janes, S. (2009). Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning Maioni, A. (1998). Parting at the Crossroads: The Emergence of Health Insurance in the Unites States and Canada.

Princeton N.J: Princeton University Press. Quadagno, J. (2005). One Nation, Uninsured: Why the U.S. Has No National Health Insurance. Oxford: Oxford University Press