Essay Sample on How Policy Can Affect Public and Private Healthcare in this Country

Introduction

Market forces seem to be overridden in the transformation of our health care system across most states in the country. While having access to most of the clinical care is seen to be a causative factor, our behaviors and physical, economic and social environments in which we reside, play and work equally are central drivers of the health care system in our country. Both the private and public sectors have made lots of support to make our health care better (Rowe et al., 2005). Thus, the key to having such transformations in our health care is due to better built bipartisan support and legislation that have. These legislations and support have led to the establishment of reporting systems for all health care providers who are of high quality. Thus, we should acknowledge how various policies have impacted our health care. The dominion of policing the health care is vast. The realm includes regulatory measures, the system of laws, funding priorities to be implemented, and any course of action undertaken either through representatives or government entities. Hence, this paper will examine how policies can affect public and private healthcare in our country.

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The jurisdiction of policing the health care is vast. If the policies in place are correctly legislated and applied, they can effectively influence and shape our economic and social health care environments (Tuohy, Flood & Stabile, 2004). They will also create substantive incentives and opportunities which will change our health care systems. Thus, the policies in place can have the following impacts in our public and private health care in our country;

The policies can construct, regulate and uphold all the public and private goods that nurtures an environment that supports good health - for instance, the condition of our highways and roads. Since these roads are funded by the user fees and taxpayers' money on how they are planned, connected, constructed and maintained can impact significantly on the accessibility of the much-needed health care services. Thus, these public and private goods can create barriers or opportunities in getting the much-required health care.

Well calculated policies can help in regulating natural resources that may harm the health care service delivery. For example, the Department of Environment and Conservation which governs the quality of water and air has a mandate to ensure that these two commodities are safe through policing (Rowe et al., 2005). Most of us tend to believe that the water we drink and the air we breathe is healthy and safe since we have a body entitled to come up with specific policies that safeguards these vital commodities which are essential to our wellbeing, health-wise. If these two entities are either contaminated or polluted, it will lead us being sick and contracting unspecified diseases which will impact our health significantly.

The policies help in providing direct support that will go a long way in affecting all the critical drivers of the health sector - for instance, policies created under the program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) which is funded by the federal and state governments (Williams et al., 2008). This program helps the poor to gain meaningful employment for self-sufficiency. The money given to these folks will help them cater to their basic needs such as transportation, food, health, and housing.

Finally, policies can help in reducing unnecessary barriers, creating opportunities and providing much-needed incentives that will impact the choices that influence our health care system (Tuohy et al., 2005). An excellent example of how policies can help in creating opportunities essential in improving our health is through the award of HOPE Scholarship. These scholarships are considered to aid in creating an opportunity for students. It supports the through reducing financial barriers that may inhibit their progress in attaining higher education. It is evident that income and education are the supreme predictors of health (Williams et al., 2008). Folks who are well educated and have enough income at their disposal are healthier and tend to live long. Financial incentives towards bodies that offer quality and affordable health care make lead to better and cheap health services.

Conclusion

All in all, policy decisions usually have tradeoffs. As our legislators weigh on these policy tradeoffs, they should equally consider the policies' overall outcome. If the policies in place are correctly legislated and applied, they can effectively influence and shape our economic and social health care environments. They will also create substantive incentives and opportunities which will impact our health care systems.

References

Rowe, A. K., De Savigny, D., Lanata, C. F., & Victora, C. G. (2005). How can we achieve and maintain high-quality performance of health workers in low-resource settings?. The Lancet, 366(9490), 1026-1035.

Tuohy, C. H., Flood, C. M., & Stabile, M. (2004). How does private finance affect public health care systems? Marshaling the evidence from OECD nations. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 29(3), 359-396.

Williams, D. R., Costa, M. V., Odunlami, A. O., & Mohammed, S. A. (2008). Moving upstream: how interventions that address the social determinants of health can improve health and reduce disparities. Journal of public health management and practice: JPHMP, 14(Suppl), S8.