Essay Example on the Impact of Healthcare Policies: Ensuring Quality Health Services for All

Change is inevitable. However, the changes that are made should bring more improvement rather than harm to the people making them. Healthcare is a sensitive area since it affects all the people in various capacities. The policies that govern healthcare should be made in the best interests of the people so that they can receive quality health services. Some of the policies in the healthcare system, however, may be working against the benefit of the people, for instance, the cost of medical care. In this paper, the issues that arise from the healthcare cost policy will be discussed, as well as the changes that would be necessary to ensure that the policy is favorable to the people.

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Healthcare has become quite costly with time. Rother (2017) describes the increasing healthcare costs as a financial threat to American families, public finances, and businesses. As Medicare and Medicaid costs increase, so do the premiums that people pay for healthcare (Rother, 2017, pp. 30). More people will be unable to insure themselves when the costs are too high. Solutions have to be found regarding the increasing costs of healthcare so that people can be able to access much-needed services.

The process of change is likely to be challenging, but it is necessary. Some reforms that can be made to the healthcare system include; caring better for the chronically ill, making prescription drugs more cost-effective, and reducing demand for healthcare by employing public health initiatives (Rother, 2017, pp. 31). The applications of the initiatives could result in positive impacts in the healthcare system for the individuals, their families, and the economy at large.

The first reform addresses a major concern in the healthcare system since the chronically ill accounts for 66% of the total healthcare spending (Rother, 2017, pp. 31). The people suffering from chronic illnesses should be given quality primary care that will facilitate their recovery and also help the government save some amount of money while doing so (Rosella et al., 2016, pp. 397). The health care providers should learn to work as a team while taking care of patients with multiple chronic illnesses. Also, social service interventions such as in-home support services, supportive housing services, and nutrition can be used to reduce the costs of healthcare, especially for elderly and disabled patients.

The second reform is the provision of more affordable prescription drugs. Prescription drugs have the ability to improve the well-being of a patient significantly. Unfortunately, many prescription drugs have become too costly for patients to afford. Some pharmaceutical companies are putting more weight on the profits they stand to gain from the sale of the medicines instead of the affordability to the patients. There should be transparency in the value of the medications before they are sold to the patients. It is the mandate of the FDA to approve medicines before they are issued to the patients, and the FDA should, therefore, ensure that the patients purchase the medicines according to its value. Competition when selling drugs should also be assessed by the FDA to ensure that the competition between the drugs does not affect the quality and cost of the drug to the patients (Rother, 2017, pp. 33).

Lastly, the demand for healthcare services can be controlled through healthy lifestyles. The behavior adopted by some people facilitates their poor health. Taking the use of drugs such as tobacco as an example, it is evident that many people die or get unwell because of excessive smoking. Deaths caused by tobacco can be classified as preventable deaths since people consume the drug with the knowledge of the harm that it can cause. Increased consumption of sugared beverages and junk leads to obesity. The costs made for dealing with obesity-related health conditions amount to about $190 billion. Policy changes such as increasing the tax on the sugar-sweetened beverages would contribute to a reduction in the consumption of the foods, thus a reduction in the cost burdens of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes (Rother, 2017, pp. 35).

Other recommendations can be the incorporation of e-health interventions, especially for patients who suffer from depressive disorders. The e-health interventions can help the patients get instant care, which is less costly than the traditional methods of treating depression episodes. Telecare, even for elderly people with chronic illnesses, promotes their well-being and makes them more satisfied with their lives (Lokkerbol et al., 2014, pp. 9).

A more suitable balance should exist between finance and ethics. It would be unfair for the patients to pay for expensive healthcare services and not receive the treatment that they deserve. The government should desist from its consideration to increase taxes for healthcare systems. Instead, the government should take it as their responsibility to take charge of some health services like the homes for the elderly or nursing home services. Globally, campaigns should be made through conferences or social media to communicate the importance of keeping the healthcare costs at a bearable amount to facilitate the recovery and survival of the people who require the services. The changes that will be implemented will not only favor the people in the current generation but also those who will come in the future.

Works Cited

Lokkerbol, Joran., Adema, Dirk., Cuijpers, Pim. Reynolds III, Charles. F., Schulz, Richard., Weehuizen, Rifka., & Smit, Filip. Improving the Cost-effectiveness of a Healthcare System for depressive Disorders by implementing Telemedicine: a Health Economic Modeling Study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(3), 2014. 253-262. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4096928/

Rosella et al. Impact of Diabetes on Healthcare Costs in a PopulationBased Cohort: a Cost Analysis. Diabetic Medicine, 33(3), 2016. 395-403. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/dme.12858

Rother, John. Top of the Administration's Agenda: Stem the rising cost of healthcare. Generations, 40(4), 2016. 30-37. https://www.nchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Top-of-The-Administrations-Agenda.pdf