Universal Health Care: Ensuring Accessibility, Affordability, Quality - Essay Sample

Introduction

Universal health care system is essential in that it ensures accessibility, affordability, and quality care to a more significant portion of populations in a nation (Sen, 2015). Many developed countries have adopted universal health care. The nations that have adopted universal healthcare in the globe support more than 90% of citizens in accessing affordable and quality health care services through government regulations, taxation, and initiatives. Although the United States is one of the developed nations, it is yet to adopt universal healthcare coverage. This article addresses issues revolving around universal healthcare in the United States. My name is ...

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According to Papanicolas et al., (2018), United States spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country in the world. In 2016, the total budget for healthcare costs amounted up to approximately 18% of GDP. An estimated 18% of citizens were reported to escape prescriptions due to costs. Medical errors were reported to be high by the United Nations, lowering the quality of care.

As researched by Mitra (2018), the existing healthcare system in the United States, Obamacare, is based on insurance coverage. A large number of the population depend on the employer or private insurances. According to the policy, the employer pays a large portion of the insurance premium as the individuals pay deductibles, leaving the elderly, disabled, and the unemployed not covered. The government incurs the expenses of these vulnerable populations through public insurance programs; Medicare for elderly and Medicaid for the poor with low-income levels.

Despite the public insurance programs designed to boost accessibility and affordability of care by the less advantaged, the majority of the population in the United States remain uninsured (Papanicolas, Woskie & Jha, 2018). Some of these citizens are those that earn above the minimal requirement to benefit from Medicaid, yet their employees do not offer them insurance. Often, insurance that not connected with employment is too expensive for uninsured citizens to subscribe to it.

According to Sen, (2015), lack of universal healthcare insurance has led to the healthcare crisis in the nation. There is restricted access to healthcare services, while the healthcare costs are alarming. The federal government is pushed to fund healthcare provided to its citizens through public programs. The government expenditures on health care costs are high and even expected to rise with time if the government does not take appropriate measures. This is making the healthcare costs a burden not only to the public sectors but also to the private sectors as well.

Apart from lowering the healthcare costs, universal healthcare minimizes administrative costs, especially of dealing with various private health insurance. High administrative costs contribute to the healthcare crisis in the US nation where healthcare insurances are a mixture of both private and government-run insurances. The government is responsible for most of the cost as well as chips in to subsidize private insurances for healthcare. According to Mitra (2018), in the United States, almost a third of the total costs are for administrations instead of patient care.

In the research by Dickman, Himmelstein, & Woolhandler, (2017), the Healthcare system is rapidly changing from cost reimbursement to the capitation system. In a cost reimbursement system, there is compensation of healthcare providers for the service provided to the patient. This system leaves no room for healthcare providers to seek incentives to keep healthcare costs minimum. However, in the US, more efforts are put in place towards capitation, whereby incentives are required for healthcare providers to minimize costs. Under this system, reimbursement of healthcare facilities and providers is fixed depending on the patient diagnosis and not the service provided, making healthcare providers neglect some essential services such as tests that are crucial for the patients.

Conclusion

Lack of universal healthcare insurance in the United Nations has compromised accessibility and affordability of care in the country. Despite the government spending a lot of healthcare costs, a good number of citizens remain uncovered, contributing mainly to reduced quality of care, which is alarming. Excessive funds spent on treating the patient than the insurance policy covers forcing the government to cover up the gaps, contributing to high healthcare budgets.

References

Dickman, S. L., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2017). Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1431-1441. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28402825

Mitra, M. (2018). Free universal health care system in United States. Open Acc J Pol Sci Int Rel, 1(1), 16-22. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327021218_Free_universal_health_care_system_in_United_States

Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L. R., & Jha, A. K. (2018). Health care spending in the United States and other high-income countries. Jama, 319(10), 1024-1039.

Sen, A. (2015). Universal healthcare: the affordable dream. The Guardian, 6(01), 2015.