Introduction
The United States stands out as one of the most industrialized and developed nations in the world with world class facilities. Despite its otherwise booming economy, the health care industry seems to be lagging behind other sectors such as transport, security and education. A key problem that besets the health care sector in the United States is the ever spiraling costs of health care services in hospitals as well as health insurance premiums. Several Americans have been reported complaining about the high cost of health care with a sizeable chunk of them admitting that they could not afford the expensive medical services. Yet, health care remains one of the single most important services for the well-being of a human being. According to statistics, an estimated population of 46.6 million individuals in the United States has not taken any health insurance cover. This essentially means that they are left out since they cannot afford most of the health care services offered by hospitals. In addition, a whopping 62% of the bankruptcies that were reported in the United States stemmed from medical bills. It can well be said that the health care system in the United States is dysfunctional and requires a quick diagnosis and treatment. Problems in health care do exist in the realm of access to health care, and the quality of health care provided. This paper seeks to demonstrate the health dysfunctions in the health care sector in the United States and finally propose solutions towards remedying the problems.
Dysfunctions
One of the biggest dysfunctions relating to the provision of health care is the apparent solution that has been imposed by government of managed health care. The system of managed health care is done through the health maintenance organizations which have always created problems between them and doctors as well as patients. The reason for the tension amongst doctors, patients and these health maintenance organizations is mainly due to the fact that under this system, it is the non-medical insurance employees who make the critical decisions about the kind of treatment provided to patients. As such, the health care provided is implemented with some reluctance on the part of health care professionals and also received with some degree of dissatisfaction by patients. It may be said that the endeavor by the government to cut on costs of health care has presented another problem of quality. Managed health care system has led to reduced costs but caused a decline in quality of health care provided to patients. The system has not obviated the problems that lay relating to access to insurance. Managed health care system was informed by the need to cut on wastefulness that was hitherto experienced and serves as a rationing method of medical services.
Another critical dysfunction in the health care system that must be addressed is the rise in premiums as well as the disproportional coverage of insurance. The quality of health insurance policies continues to dwindle yet their costs continue to soar. This position has resulted owing to the conflict that exists among insurance companies that seek to maximize their profits thus casting a serious dent on the health care of the patients. More so, several deaths and unnecessary suffering is reported owing to the numerous delays and denial propagated by health insurance companies. A dysfunction of health care also manifests itself in terms of the high costs of medical services and treatments. It can well be said that the health care in the United States is more concerned with maximizing profits at the expense of provision of quality health care. A case in point is the cost of an emergency appendectomy which would cost an uninsured individual a whopping $24,500. In addition, patients requiring undergoing an operation will have to foot in excess of $100,000 in hospital bills alone. The situation is exacerbated by the unnecessary procedures and laboratory tests that are conducted which end up ballooning the health care costs for patients. The absence of general care by the government is a big problem more so for the working poor in the United States. People in America continue to lose all their savings in order to take care of the sick relatives.
In addition, there has been an increasing case of medical negligence cases which has led to suffering on the part of patients who receive incorrect health care. More so, the single payer option currently subsistent in the United States is not acceptable to persons who wish to choose their own doctors. Such persons need be given an opportunity to choose their own doctors so long as they can pay for them.
Solutions
With respect to the single payer option, it is recommended as part of the solution for the health care system in the United States to borrow from Australia where there is the availability of both public and private health care. In such a system, every individual is afforded basic health care at the basic level by the government thus catering for the working poor who cannot afford the high cost of health care services. At the same time, person who can afford and who wishes to choose their own doctors are availed the opportunity to do so at their own cost in private health institutions.
Another solution to the high costs of health care services and which is continually ignored is the low number of doctors and other health care professionals. The number of doctors is low compared to the population and as of now, it cannot meet the demands of the populace. A situation that results is the demand meeting supply at a high price, a fact that may continue to remain unless and until the supply of doctors is increased. The reason for the shortage of doctors is because the American Medical Association does not produce enough doctors or does not license enough number of doctors to practice medicine in the United States.
Linked to the problem of shortage of doctors is the problem of low quality of health care and the rising of cases of medical negligence. The low number of doctors means that most of them are usually overworked and stressed thereby increasing the chances that they will make more errors than they would normally do. The upshot of this is an increase in medical negligence lawsuits which in turn leads to high malpractice insurance premiums levied on the doctors. The health care professionals then pass on this high cost of insurance premiums to patients thus exacerbating the already high costs of health care. It therefore means that a key solution to this would be an increase in the number of doctors. This can also e fixed by having more medical schools in America to train doctors and alleviate the need for more doctors.
References
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