Introduction
According to Teitbaum & Wilensky (2007), policies developed in different industries form an integral part of how individuals perform various activities aimed at assisting the society. Signing of patient Protection and Affordable Act by United States President Barrack Obama led to a lot of changes in the health sector. The introduction of healthcare reforms in the health sector act brought about many reforms that ensured affordable healthcare services to all irrespective of financial status. The healthcare reform ensured almost every American citizen has a private or government insurance to take care of all hospital bills. In addition, more than 61% of citizens have their insurance covered by employers while Medicaid covers most low income earners, disabled people, and people above 65 years of age (. Policy formulation is the role of the management of an institution. Healthcare welfare has introduced both virtue ethics and care ethics in the health sector through human resource capacity building and development, and knowledge sharing, as well as information management systems.
Application of virtue ethics in healthcare reforms
The ethical issues that relate to health care requirements should ensure that clinicians and physicians have adequate training on how to handle ethical values in health problems. The health care practitioners are obliged to understanding the ethical frameworks as well as moral theories related to influencing health care practices positively. A healthcare reform must follow a clear moral foundation in order for it to apply to be a virtue ethics. There are three moral foundations that should be followed in the application of virtue ethics. First, the every person requires health care because it is a fundamental requirement. Secondly, health care does not form the only fundamental service needed by an individual, and lastly health care is a public service. On the other hand, health care reforms call for good health for all implying that proper health care is a must to all. Given that good health is a fundamental service for the public, there should be universal accessibility to health care systems. The virtue ethics ensures that every person should be in a position to access quality health care irrespective of financial strains or other possible barriers. The government has the responsibility of making health care services available to all people in all locations (Banks & Gallagher, 2009).
Application of care ethics in healthcare reforms
A lot of issues are found in health provision that require the application of care ethics. Firstly, patient is always in control of his or her own health decisions. Care ethics ensure that individuals stand for their rights through making their own decisions when it comes to health consultation with health practitioners. For instance, an American medical Practice ensures patients have the right to make consultations with families and health care providers before engaging into any practice. Secondly, care ethics ensures a patient receives good medical care at a reduced cost. Moreover, it reduces errors that occur while performing medical practices minimizing the number of deaths for patients while under treatment. According to Loewy & Loewy (2004), care ethics in healthcare reforms focuses on offering quality approach to the delivery of medical care that controls the costs while maintain high standards that are acceptable by all citizens. The care ethics apply to patients and their families who have the right to express their decisions to physicians.
Conclusion
The application of virtue ethics and care ethics in healthcare reforms has ensured health care providers give the necessary services to citizens irrespective of their status. Before the introduction of healthcare reforms, medical practitioners never considered any ethical values while administering care to patients because there were no laws to protect patient rights. In addition, only people who were financially stable received quality health care services. The utilitarian theory suggests that health care is costly and an effort to overcome these costs makes a person lose hope. Utility ensures maximization and consumer sovereignty in all practices. In addition, the utilitarian theory compares ethics and economy. The two deal with people’s behavior and policies governing citizens. Health care sector being an expensive industry should consider the economic status of every individual before involving them in costly medical practices. The availability of healthcare reforms ensures utility maximization by addressing people’s behaviors in regard to moral and rational choices. Moreover, the theory clearly explains the problem because it focuses on making healthcare practices affordable o every one through utilization of available resources. The utilitarian theory also balances the worth of actions with respect to their consequences. According to the theory, maximization of some measure or collective welfare is the correct thing to do (Mack, 2004).
References
Banks, S., & Gallagher, A. (2009). Ethics in professional life: virtues for health and social care.
Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Employee Benefit Research Institute (2009). Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of
The Uninsured. Retrieved from:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db83.htm
Loewy, E. H., & Loewy, R. S. (2004). Textbook of healthcare ethics (2nd ed.). Dordrecht:
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Mark, P. (2004). “Utilitarian Ethics in Healthcare”, International Journal of the Computer, the
Internet and Management, Vol.12, No.3; 63-72.
Teitbaum, J. & Wilensky, S. (2007). Essentials of health Policy and Law. Boston Jones and
Bartlett.
