Uninsured patients in relation to nursing practice in America - Essay Example

UNINSURED PATIENTS IN RELATION TO NURSING PRACTICE IN AMERICA Introduction: The health insurance practice is one in which an insurance company (signs an undertaking with an individual to provide heath care services if and when necessary with a commitment by the issues to make regular payments in this regards. The uninsured patient is therefore a person who for one reason or the other is unable to have this kind of commitment to his or her health. A study of the nursing practice as it obtains in America presently would reveal the fact that attention is concentrated on the insured patients in hospitals to the detriment of the uninsured patients. As not all uninsured patient may query for Medicaid. This therefore poses a question "Is the health policy one for a review" Particularly as it concerns the uninsured and the nursing practice. It is reported that the rate of increase in the uninsured population is at an average of 1 Million people per year from 1987, which culminated into over 32 million adults without health insurance in the United States as at 1998. (permanenete journal 2003). For most of these uninsured people it is by no wish of their own that they found themselves in their present state. Most neither quality for Medicaid nor the insurance care packages. Despite the fact that many of these insurance patients desire no much for health care packages it is beyond their reach by reason of the uninsurance labels they wear. This inability has without doubt complicated seemingly easy - to - handle medical cases, when you consider illness like Cancer where routine checks could reveal a tomour at an early stated of development and for which subsequent application of chemotherapy man prevent the tumor from further development or get it This is the standard practice in nursing, however this routine check man be unavailable to the insured. A possible question at this junction is: should health uninsurance loom larger than the Medical needs of a patients. While we may agree that there is no strength forward and easy answer to this question, an attempt will be made to justify it as much as possible. The major pre-occupation in the minds of the leaders in any nation is the welfare of its citizens. This therefore suggests that irrespective of the background and circumstances surrounding any one of its citizens they all should be entitled to the same level of care and treatment. So many factors combine to contribute to the inability of some patients to meet with their private health insurance needs, factors like infrastructure job conditions - (low paying and part-time jobs) not covered by the health care packages. The unwillingly uninsured patients in this scenario look up to the government of the day to come to their aid and resume. A government's sensitivity and rapid response in this direction will go along way as much as flaming the embers of patriotism among its citizenry. While this may be largely true, it is not also a hidden fact that there are many things that compete for the attention of the government and policy makers. The health sector is only an aspect of an entire spectrum that is exerting pressure in the government for attention. State security, education, unemployment, state of the economy etc. are pact of this spectrum. The resultant of this that a lid is placed over what can be spent on any given sector considering the limited resources available. Budgetary constraints as this make it very difficult to engage in very robust healthcare programs that will adequately provide for the needs of the uninsured patients. Although it is arguable that if the priorities of the government of the day are well spelt out, a drastic reduction in foreign aid and grant could be made thereby making funds available for the uninsured patients. Existing health policy needs not be static in a dynamic world environment. The citizens of a country are the target of any nations health policy an the effects if not having a proper health insurance for individuals is really monumental and finally boils down to great losses for the nation when considered from the view-point of lost man-hours and productivity. Certain factors should be considered when formulating lasting health policies. Factors such as the universality, affordability, accessibility and sustainability of new health polices these factors arguably are the acid test for any policy on health that will be applauded by the citizenry. "uninsured adults were four times likely than insured adults to report that they did not receive medical care they believed was necessary" (permanentejournal 2003). The report above is an offshoot of the preferential treatment granted an insured patient as against that given to an uninsured patient in the current state of nursing practice in America. This belief does a lot of psychological damage to the uninsured patient. The healing process for his ailment could be altered and the result being that he probably does not get healed or may be not as fast as he would have thought and therefore proves right his hypothesis (as contained in the quotes above) albeit wrongly. The nursing practice and practitioners are at the receiving end of this damaging conclusion when the health of the nations citizenry is given prime attention that reflects in the health sectors improved budgetary allocations, Medicaid programs will be enlarged to accommodate a lot more uninsured patients and placing them in the reception line for qualitative health care package. Otherwise a lot of those currently enjoying health uninsurance will slip into the uninsured patients class giving the rising cost of health ,insurance, increased sharing between the insurance provides and the employment of health care costs. Low-income jobs that are not serviced by health care packages e.t.c Health policy reviews are necessary to enhance the nursing practice in America. An absence of this will deal Heavy Blows to nursing as obtainable in America because Decay and Rot caused by dissatisfaction of an ever-increasing ailing and uninsured patients. In conclusion it is important to note that uninsured patients make up a sizeable part of the population in America and for a nation that prides itself in its civilian population steps need to be taken to curtail of the devastating effect of uninsurance of the health of its citizens. Of these steps are enlarged budgetary allocations for the health sector yearly to ensure the enlargement of Medicaid programs to accommodate more and more people who are urgently uninsured. A major health policy review to checkmate the rising cost of health care packages so as to make them readily accessible and universal. REFERENCES 1.Permanentejournal (2003) care of common medical conditions in a managed care Program for uninsured adults. (http://xnet.xp.org/permanentejournal/winter03/uninsured.html 2.American Academy of nurse practitioners (n.d) U.S nurse practitioners workforce 2004(2004) www.aanp.org 3.Bureau of primary Health Care (n.d) uniform data system (2004) national aggregate reports for 2004 www.bhpc.hrsa.gov/uds/2004data/ 4.institute of Medicine (IOM)(2001) Coverage matters: Insurance and healthcare, Washington D.:National Academy Press 5.IOM (2002a) Care without coverage: Too little, too late. Washington D.C, National Academy Press 6.IOM (2003a) A shared Destiny: community effects of uninsurance. Washington D.C National Academy Press Read More