Healthcare Finace Review - Article Example

Healthcare Finance Health care financing and mobilization of resources towards lessening disease burdens are major concerns for the governments all over the world. With many people still falling sick, it the highest time governments had a paradigm shift on how healthcare can be made affordable.In an article by the Task Force on Global Action for Health System Strengthening published by the research team on health financing, it was established that globally, more than 100 million people each year fall into poverty because of the cost of medical treatment.

The team further found that most of this people use out-of-pocket expenditure on health. This makes it difficult for them to see a doctor as it is estimated that they may only see a doctor once in a year when they are critically ill. This in turn increases the cost of treatment to more than what it could have been had the person sought medical attention at an early stage. (Rannan p62)A paradox of medical cost is that people who can least afford- the uninsured- end up being charged most (Tumulty and San Antonio, 2009).

The author of this article was referring to a case where a certain individual had bought a short term health insurance cover and later was diagnosed with renal failure. The insurance company could not settle his bills due to the nature of his illness. He lost his job as he could not continue to work with his condition. Everything he had was getting lost until he had of a certain company that could offer him treatment at low cost in installments. This person could only get federal help once his renal failure was in end stage level.

Struggling not to reach end stage failure was not easy but with the unfolding uncertainties and the hope of getting help while nearing his death had made him focus on that as the only chance of survival. This raises the question on whether the government priorities on health are upright. Should healthcare finance focus on when a condition reaches irreversible status to intervene?Rannan’s recommendations could also be the way forward towards overcoming this challenge. In his paper he recommends:Scaling up of investments to develop country capacity for health systems Policy analysisA fresh look at what has worked before in capacity building, and how agency practices can be improved, to avoid the lip service to capacity building that has unfortunately characterized past activitiesAlthough health care is a human a universal right, its provision is at the mercy of policy makers who in most case will be politicians, yet the matter requires more than political will.

Identifying ways of approach that will help even the poorest in the society achieve basic health care without the overstretching their earning remains a challenge that cannot be left to the health insurance companies. Both preventive and curative approaches to health care should be integrated as early diagnosis will pave way for early interventions hence reduce the overall cost. ReferencesRannan-Eliya, R. P. (2007). Strengthening Health Financing in Partner Developing Countries. The Health Challenges Confronting Developing Countries.

Tumulty, K., & San Antonio. (2009, March 16). The Health Crisis Hits Home. Time, 28-32.