What are the Critical Healthcare Policy Issues?
Health Care Policy Issues
Introduction
Healthcare is among the most controversial topic of discussion in countries where public health is known to be a critical concern. According to the World Health Organization, there have been several efforts to successfully determine the relevant policy guidelines that are considered appropriate in addressing the various situations in the healthcare sector (World Health Organization, 2003). However, the struggle to create and implement the most effective healthcare policies depends on the unanimous perspective of all the concerned sectors in the society. For example, doctors, hospital administrators and other healthcare providers have different views about the policies surrounding healthcare. On the other hand, the public or otherwise the consumers of health services are more concerned about the quality and cost. Therefore, the effectiveness of the prevailing and soon to be implemented reforms rely on how the lawmakers point of understanding of the issues and their reasonable judgment of what needs to be put in priority. Among these healthcare policy issues, there are three critical issues that needs to be addressed, but the general understanding of each issues depend on how the concerned groups responds.
The Department of Health and Human Services website Healthy People stated that the quality of health care services, its achievement of health equality and comprehensive improvement are important to the people (healthypeople.gov, N.D.). Furthermore, the timely use of resources is essential to healthcare services in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. (healthypeople.gov, N.D.).
Hospital Administrators
Access to care – After recognizing the problem, acting in a timey manner is one of the key factors that the healthcare system should consider in providing the service. It can be measured by analyzing the rate of response that the patient is getting in setting appointment with the doctors and even during emergency situations where immediate treatment is necessary. Reliability is one of the main problems that patients are facing in the United States. This is due to the hospital administrator’s corporate oriented thinking that focuses on profitability, which undermine the sense of urgency to provide immediate service. This problem will continue to prevail and even get worse as soon as the healthcare system was made available to the additional 32 million Americans that will receive health insurance for the first time (Castañares, 2004).
Cost of care - Affordability, promoting wellness and providing consumer based value on cost and quality incentives particularly during catastrophic care are becoming less eminent in the current healthcare system (Ness and Lee, 2009).
Quality of care - From the hospital administrator protecting the patient’s privacy contributes to the deterioration of the quality of healthcare services. Hospital administrators are working hard to keep the patient’s information to themselves, which denies the opportunity for the patient to seek for better health options. This is the result of administrator’s misuse of the patient’s information protection law in order to keep the business going with the patient. Such agenda limits the possibilities for the patient to get a better healthcare service due to withholding of their pertinent health data (Ness and Lee, 2009).
Physician
Access to care – The issue on health care policy from a physician’s point of view includes the Health Care Providers and the Affordable Care Act, which is leveraging on helping to raise the quality of care. However, this law is being implemented differently from its intended purpose because of providers including physicians who are insinuating the importance of the patient to physician’s established relationship as detrimental to providing quality care. On the contrary, this wrong notion of the context of the law brings the patient relationship with their health providers an advantage to the health insurance companies to rake in profits. The particular law was created to ensure that almost a millions of Americans will have entrée to affordable insurance providing them access to the quality care (Stevens, 2011).
Cost of care – In relation to the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2012, it was expected that the cost of healthcare would eventually reduced in order to made accessible to the greater public. However, the presumptions were proven incorrect because apparently, the cost did not go anywhere down, but up. The apparent effect of the newly passed law did not come beneficial in general. First, the law forced the health insurance companies to lower the prices of their plans, but the cost of healthcare services still continued to rise resulting to providers to lose profits and eventually sacrifice quality just to fulfill the obligation to serve the patients.
Quality of care - Act of 1988 the Catastrophic Health Care try to increase medical care for Medicare. It was abolish 17 months after passing in to law, act accursed on many senior citizens already receiving many benefits it offered and resenting paying additional taxes funds and programs.
A Patient
Access to care - The main reason of individuals is because they’re Lack of access to affordable health insurance and there are other people who cannot afford insurance is because of pre-existing medical conditions.
Cost of care - Not all patients are unable to provide health insurance or basic healthcare because of their wages and inflation are not the same.
Quality of care - Increase patient’s confidence to provide their own health insurance if they offer quality assurance, effectiveness and efficiency must be given equally.
Politician
Access to care - Politicians have the power to produce a comprehensive healthcare policy particularly in terms of regulating costs. Obstacles to health care access represent a profound national concern that keeps on getting worst every year. Despite having more innovative technologies available more Americans are still being left behind or at risk of not getting enough access to reasonable healthcare services. The only way to mitigate the emerging problems is for political leaders to create more effective alternatives that will address the discrepancies in healthcare access (Castañares, 2004).
Cost of care - Nowadays, not all people can afford to have a healthcare because of insufficient money that they own. Perhaps because some are unemployed, some have big families and some have only enough money to sustain their everyday needs and not enough to provide themselves some things such as healthcare.
Quality of care - In a politician's perspective, they are fortunate to have some healthcare for some healthcare are in favor of them to the point that they are granted with a better benefits than the ordinary people who have the same healthcare as what they have. Maybe because some healthcare is scared of these politicians are scaring these politicians or them. Or maybe, some of the healthcare has no choice, but to give them a bigger benefits because its part of the government's policy, and because of this, it gives a negative feedback on the normal people's perspective. Those people who take the same healthcare as to some politicians, they find it unfair when it comes to the benefits that they can get, but they have no choice, but to take it because it has big help to them especially to the poor whenever they need it when someone in their family has been hospitalized.
Tax Payer
Access to care – As a consuming public, each person is obliged to the provisions of tax laws. Taxes on the other hand are essential source of funding for national development, which includes the improvement of available healthcare services. Given that all citizens are considered as taxpayers, they are also entitled to all human services programs such as healthcare. However, that is not always the case because in reality healthcare services are not for everyone that can afford it. The taxes that people pays are not adequate to provide each and every one a chance to fair distribution of healthcare services.
Cost of care – Taxpayers have a different notion of cost, in most cases people believe that paying tax will earn them privilege to everything that the government implements including healthcare programs. The costs are basically determined not by utilization, but the commercial value of each cost unit. In addition, health insurance companies, government, and providers are not honest enough in presenting the actuality of healthcare plan’s cost coverage. In most cases, people are being deceived of the low monthly premiums, but in the end blind-sided by the copays when availing for the benefits.
Quality of care – Normally, the assumptions regarding high quality healthcare service entails the maximization of present opportunities that will deliver all the positive outcomes. Basically, the health system is expected to develop its own mechanism of delivering appropriate healthcare service at every level. However, the problem exists when the prevailing policies are undermined by the lack of response from the providers and health insurance companies.
Staff
Access to care – The health care industry is now experiencing a massive swell of people wanting to access the benefits of the health system. However, the problem exists when the availability of information and its convergence with technology have changed the way people and health care professionals deliver health services to the people. However, due to the limitations in funding, facilities and other important infrastructures, health care becomes less and less becoming a universal system where anyone can freely access its benefits.
Cost of Care - While health care professionals interact with the health care system regularly, they are also facing dilemmas regarding the cost of care. At some point, higher cost entails profit, but given the increasing cost of materials and healthcare supplies. Medical staff, nurses and even administrative level staffs are facing problems implementing the cost due to patients complaining about it. The staffs have no other option, but to bill patients for the price of their service and that is where the problem begins because the patients are refusing to pay for it and the staff are the ones left to deal with the patient’s frustrations.
Quality of care – Healthcare providers are expected to be dedicated in their profession and promise of serving the people with the best of their ability and conscience. Staffs are also taught to embrace the same idealism of service to the people, but the problem begins when the healthcare system itself fails. Failures in legislation in terms of creating and implementing effective healthcare reforms and the level of quality translate the effect of inadequate policies. As a staff of either healthcare provider or healthcare insurance, the initiative to provide the best available service is undermined by the effects of inadequacies and eventually compromises service quality.
References
Americansabroad.org (2013). Affordable Healthcare Act does not apply abroad :: American Citizens Abroad (ACA). American Citizens Abroad (ACA). Retrieved January 25, 2013, from http://americansabroad.org/issues/healthcare/obamacare-does-not-apply-abroad/
Castañares, T. (2004). How can collaboration improve access to health care? Improving Healthcare Access .
Healthypeople.gov (n.d.). Access to Health Services - Healthy People. Healthy People 2020 - Improving the Health of Americans. Retrieved January 25, 2013, from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=1
Ness, D. L., & Lee, P. V. (2009). National Health Care Reform: Policy Options that Can Promote Affordability and Higher Quality. Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project.
Stevens, S. (2011). Modernizing rural healthcare: Coverage, quality and innovation. Working Paper, 6(1).
World Health Organization (2003). Key policy issues in long-term care. Collection on Long-Term Care .
