Good Example Of Healthcare Essay

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Should the U.S. have nationalized the healthcare?
The nationalization of health care in the United States has been an issue of debate since decades. I believe that the U.S. health care system must be nationalized because of the dramatically rising cost of health care in the country since past four decades. This is due to the fact that there are no longer life spans that increase the health care costs, and old age people require more of health care facilities and greater home and hospital care services. There have been various technologies that have extended the lives of patients, such as ventilator system that has further increased the cost of health care which no one can afford. For this, it is important, that some support from government and insurance sector be provided so that citizens can benefit from quality healthcare at low cost (Hasselt, p.253).
At the start of the 20th century, the concept of health insurance was not present in the United States. The early managed care plan was designed and developed in small sections in the mid- twentieth century and was merely provided by an employer to provide the employee the benefits. Health insurance on a broader scale was developed during post World War II time period. In the late 1960s, the HMO projects began to operate in some cities that were way ahead in progress than other cities. In 1973, the HMO Act was signed which officially funded the federal HMO projects. It is viewed that Paul Ellwood launched the concept of health maintenance organization (HMO) in order to promote the health care industry and improve the health delivery system. Throughout, the end of the twentieth century, most of the American citizens considered that health insurance was not a luxury anymore, rather it was required and essential for the provision of health care (Hasselt, p.253).

Should medical malpractice awards be limited

Medical malpractice is known as negligence by a healthcare provider during his treatment which can be considered as professional negligence as well, which falls below the standards and law of health care. This causes death long-term injury or death to the patient. This mostly occurs due to medical errors by healthcare providers. The medical malpractice awards must be limited because the malpractice litigations have increased over the years and the liabilities have increased upto US$ 1,000,000 but now the awards range has declined to US$ 200,000. Even still this amount is too high and must be limited as it is widely believed that many doctors have been out of practice and out of business because they have to have malpractice awards and due to which they move to other states for medical practice where the tort system is considerably relaxed. Even though the malpractice awards is not the only reason for this shift, but it is considered to be the key driver for the cause (Hasselt, p.254).

Should Obamacare be repealed?

The managed care system led to the development of the Obama Care or Affordable Care Act (ACA) which was signed by President Obama in 2010. The Affordable Care Act along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, represents the most prominent and popular regulatory amendment and evolution in the healthcare history of the United States since Medicaid and Medicare were launched in 1965. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in line with the concept of managed care to provide affordable and quality health care insurance plans to the citizens and lower the rate of insured people in the country by expanding the insurance coverage to both private and public sector. This also demanded the decline in the overall health care costs for both the private and public sector. Various health care mechanisms were introduced such as insurance exchange and different subsidies within the insurance standards and coverage provided. Different reforms were introduced that increased the competition in the health care industry (Neelam, p.21).
The Obamacare must not be repealed, in fact, major changes must be introduced in the program. The healthcare system of the country faces significant challenges that require urgent reforms. There are more than 45 million American citizens who still do not receive insurance coverage, and many have to pay premiums from their pockets in order to avail good quality services (Niall, p.1). It is important that Obamacare must focus towards maintaining uniformity and standardization in the health care industry. Still the focus remains on individuals who can provide utmost benefit to the doctors and manage their own healthcare. With the dramatic changes in healthcare, it is important that a shift in culture must occur that promotes a more decentralized structure and decision-making process to purchasers of insurance plans. It is important to note, that the hospital management has always been dependent upon the physicians to cooperate with patients and provide them with quality health care. The advent of managed care has limited the number and type of specialized healthcare professionals and overcrowding of hospitals, it is integral that the health care industry must shift their focus and provide training to improve the overall culture (Niall, p.1).

Work Cited

Hasselt, Martijn, Total Cost of Care Lower among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries Receiving Care from Patient-Centered Medical Homes, Health Services Research. (Feb 2015), Vol. 50 Issue 1, p.253-254.
Neelam Sekhri. Managed Care: the US Experience, World Health Organizations, (2000), p.21 http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/78%286%29830.pdf
Niall Brennan. Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System, Brookings, (Aug 2009) p.1. http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2009/08/21-bpc-qualityreport