Cost or Benefit of Sustaining Life Paper Example

It has always been clear that spending on medical care and the end of life is high, forcing certain government programs to intervene in the situation. Under certain economic considerations, the poor or those with chronic illness could either deserve life support or not. The two judgments regarding extending life are related. These are related because many economists tend to measure the benefits of action as the thing that various beneficiaries would offer to have it taken off. Again, there are a lot of publicly-funded health systems that apply certain cost-benefit frameworks as a way to respond to the dilemma of selecting the best way that the scarce healthcare resources can be allocated effectively. In an economist perspective, various special cases with a specific type of health benefits can be considered valuable than others as a result of the implementation of suggested ideas based on cost and benefit calculations along with challenges. There should be expected a drastic decrease in income for a family that has an ill person at their presence. As a result of low income, many may tend to shift to cheap, less effective treatments. Additionally, some could go further and offer their assets and find credit to counter the situation, creating a public health concern and multigenerational poverty without their consent.

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Cost-Benefit analysis is appreciated by various healthcare practitioners in that they can value all benefits against the costs while in their workplaces. As a result, a cost-benefit ratio can then be used to offer a clear perspective of whether or not costs outweigh benefits or it is the benefits that outweigh the costs of a certain implication. From the results, a recommendation can be made based on the perfect decision drawn, based on the ratio and with a wide societal view (Shah, Tsuchiya, Hole & Wailoo, 2015). In the analysis, various healthcare resources are analyzed, those that are relative to the medical benefits of a condition (Gunderson & Kantian, 2004). Through the assistance of specific units of cost and benefit, healthcare practitioners can offer cost-effective medical care after comparing multiple interventions of a condition.

A low-income family with an ill family member can be required to offer their assets for finances to make ends meet for the end of life of the sick individual. As a result, the government can intervene through providing certain programs as a way of concentrating on public health and offering cost-reduction since the situation is by then a public concern. However, one can note that there is that philosophical position, in a public opinion that has dominated debates on the allocation of healthcare resources. Additionally, various health insurance companies can come in handy to make sure that they are assisting the family to claim the medical costs for the chronic patient. In the area of work of the ill person, there should be a health coverage that can offer security in case a worker falls ill. Even with the security measure in place, various states still prefer that those that leave their jobs by a viable reason can extend their coverage.

The family ought to find a private hospital that has a financial advisor who discusses the cost of care and life expectancy of the patient with the members. The family can then be left to decide to pay for the beneficial offers given to follow an insurance cover that can assist them in the entire treatment. However, in weighing the options, many families would prefer to continue the treatment even if it were for an unseen benefit. In this case, since the patient is paying checks, the financial advisor would discuss with the members of the family the cost of the entire treatment and sources of a government's reimbursement terms in the country they are living. When the family members feel that they are incapable of handling the situation with such a huge-some amount, the rest of the family members could have a hurdle in the end. Therefore, the family members would just be required to spend their money to sustain the life of the sick person.

A health care reform would cost at least $4-$5 per saved life under Obamacare in the United States (Cohn, 2014). This does not represent the most cost-effective method of reducing mortality and end-of-life should be taken into account even with offering a healthcare reform. Health insurances do not only work in saving the lives of a people but offer insulation for people from getting unpredictable bills. Health insurance does not extend the life of an individual but rather offer a smooth money flow. Various other financial benefits can be seen and enjoyed by the family including the freedom to change their jobs easily and start a business because a lot of people who have pre-existing conditions do not further depend on employers for an insurance cover. With health insurance, the entire family can also be protected from financial ruin.

Alternatively, such a family should have had a living will and advance directive for medical decisions since the family members cannot make a feasible decision by themselves. At an advance, the doctors and caregivers can be given a broad alternative to guide their choices even to levels where the patient is in their last stages of dementia or at their end of life (Mayoclinic, 2014). In getting such, the family can get the medical care they ever wished for without much straining regarding cost-benefit analyses hence; avoid the unnecessary suffering of the patient. In doing so, the caregivers could also be relieved of decision-making challenges especially when there are moments of crisis of grief. Additionally, the living will and an advance directive for medical decisions can assist in reducing confusion and disagreements regarding the choices that the family would want to hear from other people (Mayoclinic, 2014). One of these is a power of attorney, which is an advance directive that one can name a person along with an alternative which should be making possible decisions when one is not in a position to do so. On the other hand, the living will is just as necessary in that it spells out the medical treatments that one would expect along with other decisions including the management of pain and even the donation of organs. While determining one's wishes, it is also quite remarkable to think about specific values including the importance of one being self-independent and the barriers towards the expectation of extended life. Multiple end-of-life care decisions can be addressed in the living will. There, there can be included Resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, dialysis, tube feeding, palliative care, organ transplant, medication and donation of the entire body for scientific studies.

References

Cohn, J. (2014, May 16). Obamacare Critics Now Admit the Law Is Saving Lives, But Say the Price Still Isn't Worth It. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from https://newrepublic.com/article/117774/obamacare-cost-benefit-analysis-saving-lives-just-part-it

Gunderson, M & Kantian, A. (2004). View of Suicide and End-of-life Treatment. J Soc Philos.;35(2):277-87.

Mayoclinic. (2014, November 11). Your guide to living wills and other advance directives. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/living-wills/art-20046303

Shah, K., Tsuchiya, A., Risa, Hole, A. & Wailoo, A. (2015). Valuing health at the end of life: a stated preference discrete choice experiment. Soc Sci Med, 124:48-56.