Right to quality and affordable healthcare remains a fundamental human right that is envisioned in the American Constitution and entitled to all American citizens. The federal government has the moral and legal duty to provide quality and affordable healthcare services for its citizens through the enactment of effective legislations, which initiate major reforms in the healthcare docket and promote provision of universal healthcare (Glied 62). In the last few years, the federal government has strived to reform the healthcare sector and address some of major challenges facing the healthcare sector. One of the challenges is reducing the number of citizens without a healthcare cover to facilitate provision of universal healthcare. According to a report by the U.S Census Bureau in 2014, indicates that number of uninsured has been increasing since 2000 (State Health Facts 1). The report confirmed that about 41 million people did not have medical insurance cover in 2013. The report further established about 62% of uninsured was adults without jobs and lived in families with less than 200% poverty. The government has enacted several legislations and programs including the Affordable Care Act and Children’s Health Insurance Program, denoted as (CHIP) to increase public coverage. However, this has pegged the question on whether the government should provide healthcare cover to all Americans or not. The government should not provide healthcare insurance on the premises that the move will increase national and state budget on medical services, lower quality of medical services through standardization and affect performance of insurance firms. The paper will expound on these points.
Discussion
It is imperative to appreciate the government’s effort in reforming the healthcare docket by enacting and implementing effective pieces of legislations and programs, which have reduced the number of Americans without healthcare cover and enhanced quality of life and facilitated provision of universal healthcare. Before the government introduced universal healthcare, many poor families could not afford quality medical services because they could not pay for the services and receive a medical insurance cover. Most of the insurance firms did not allow families with an income of less than 400% to have insurance cover; a move that denied poor families to access quality and affordable healthcare (Mason 74). As a result, this trend increased mortality rate among the poor as they could not afford to pay for insurance covers and receive quality medical services. High mortality rate had negative implications in terms of economic growth and national development as it reduced the workforce.
However, the introduction of healthcare reforms coupled with expansion of Medicaid coverage has reduced mortality rate, improve quality of life and reduced cost of rendering healthcare services, but the government’s move to provide healthcare insurance for all Americans will increase national and state budget on medical expenditure. Currently, the federal government in collaboration with state governments fully funds Medicaid coverage program-that anticipates insuring about 17 million people by 2022 (Roehr 520). Since the inception of Medicaid coverage program, the government pays about 58% of the mean cost, whereas state governments remit about 42% on the program yearly. The federal government and state governments have jointly funded the program since 2014, but the federal government intends to assume more responsibility in 2022.
According to a report by Congressional Budget Office (2014) indicate that the federal government now pays about $930 billion on Medicaid coverage- (which represents 93%), whereas state governments remit about $73 billion-which translate to approximately 7% (Broaddus 1). This is a clear picture that the government uses more money to expand Medicaid coverage; considering that only a small fraction of Americans are insured under Medicaid program. It is anticipated that states budget will increase by 2.9%, whereas the national budget on healthcare coverage with escalate by 15.6%, in an event that the government decides to provide healthcare insurance cover for all people (Cummings 89). This move will affect quality of life and income of the citizens because the government would increase taxes to generate more revenue required to sustaining the healthcare sector; a move that will affect economic growth and development.
The role of the government in reforming and improving quality of healthcare services cannot be undermined. Following the introduction of Medicaid coverage and universal healthcare, the government created an avenue where poor people could have access to quality and affordable medical services. It also opened an avenue where the uninsured individuals have eligibility to access medical cover services cost effectively, but bestowing the government with the fully responsibility of providing healthcare insurance for all people will lower quality of medical services. Currently, the government represents the largest public shareholder in the healthcare docket, but it does not control the affairs of the sector alone because there are other stakeholders, especially the insurance firms, which represent the private sector. As a public shareholder in the healthcare docket, the government funds Medicaid coverage program, but it has minimal control over employer-sponsored and private insured programs. This arrangement allows the private sector to compete with the government in providing quality and cost effective medical and insurance services (Ginzberg 225). In such a scenario, insurance firms will strive to offer competitive healthcare coverage services and compel healthcare facilities to offer quality medical care to satisfy the needs of their clients. In other words, rich people will have medical cover that is linked to those insurance firms, which have partnered with healthcare facilities, which render quality medical services. Consequently, the government will tend to monopolize provision of medical cover service thus lowering quality of healthcare service via standardization of medical services.
Insurance firms play an integral role in facilitating economic development, reforming the healthcare sector and improving quality of life. Insurance firms are allowed by law to provide medical cover to citizens and improve the entire sector. However, they are directly affected by legislations enacted by the government to regulate their operations and performance in disseminating medical cover services. As business units, insurance firms derive their profits by rendering competitive medical cover services to win client trust and loyalty. However, in an event that the government is bestowed with the responsibility of providing healthcare covers as a single entity, then the insurance sector will collapse, as a result of unhealthy and stiff competition. In the same vain, the impact will negatively affect the economy because it will reduce government’s revenue. In this regard, it is evident that the government should not provide healthcare insurance to all people.
Conclusion
Every citizen has right to access quality and affordable healthcare service. The government has moral and legal duty to improve quality of life and living standards of its citizen through provision of quality healthcare. The federal government has initiated several reform programs to decrease the number of people without healthcare cover and expand public coverage. Although this is the case, the government has no sole responsibility to provide healthcare insurance because such a move will increase states and national budget on medical expenditure, lower quality of healthcare services and affect performance of insurance firms.
Works cited
Broaddus, Matt. "Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 28 Mar. 2012. Retrieved on Web on 31 October 2014 from Http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3161.
Cummings, Nicholas A. Understanding the Behavioral Healthcare Crisis: The Promise of Integrated Care and Diagnostic Reform. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Ginzberg, Eli. "Providing Universal Coverage under National Health Insurance." West Medical 172.4 (2000): 220-31. Print.
Glied, Sherry. "What Other Programs Can Teach Us: Increasing Participation in Health Insurance Programs." American Journal of Public Health (2003). 56-78. Print.
Mason, Diana J. Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Saunders, 2012. Print.
Roehr, B. "What Healthcare Reform Means for Rural America." BMJ 1.3 (2013): 509-678. Print.
