Health Care System in Turmoil Essay

Is the health care system today really in Turmoil? What are some of the major problems that healthcare is experiencing? What is the impact of each of the chosen problems on not just consumers but also the community? What are some of the benefits and risks of national health insurance? The health care system has been in a bad position for a while now. Not only is the healthcare system in a bad position, but after the Affordable Care Act has taken affect there still several million citizens without health care coverage. This paper will be addressing these important questions about our Health care system. The current health care system as we know it is in trouble. Health care is still an issue and millions of Americans are still not insured and cannot afford to be. It is understandable that the United States has a lot more technology and cures that other countries do not, but the fact that our health care is double the price of other countries is mind boggling. The health care reform was supposed to be the answer to all the problems with our health care system and though it was extremely helpful, the system still doesn’t provide universal care for all of its citizens which is a huge problem. â€Å"For decades, health care policy leaders have focused on two huge problems in American health care finance. The first was the coverage problem—that the fraction of Americans with inadequate or no health insurance was substantial and growing. The second was the cost problem—that total health spending was high and rising, although quality was uneven† (Rivlin, A., 201 3). These two problems remain an issue for our health care system. Myers (2013) states that coverage alone is not enough. Instead focusing on things like having providers that are acceptable, also the care received should be effective. There can be plenty of providers that are available, but how beneficial are they if they are not providing quality care to patients. Quality and Value need to be a goal for the Health care system. Some necessary changes were made because of Affordable Care Act. This was just the beginning and more steps need to be taken in order to rectify our health care system. Renovation of the delivery of health care is necessary to make better connections in the chain. Coverage will be a great first step, following access to high- quality health care, and improving patient outcomes and population help. Coverage has a positive impact when it comes to the community but as far as the consumer it has a negative impact. Cost of Care is the second problem that is causing our Health care system to go in Turmoil. Affording Health care has always been one of the main issues with Health Care in the United States. The Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama in 2010 and was taken into effect in 2014. It has provided millions of people with insurance who didn’t have it before but still leaves millions of citizens without. Having insurance is a tax, if it is not purchased a fine will be added to the 2014 tax return. So somehow everybody will be paying out of pocket cost for health care. The cost have reduced in some areas and have increased in others. The cost has a positive impact on millions of citizens â€Å"the community† who now have health insurance. Like mentioned previously there are still millions of citizens that can’t afford to have insurance so it has a negative impact on a portion of consumers. National Health insurance pose several risks. â€Å"At least three broad problems characterize U.S. health care and insurance: (1) high and rapidly growing costs, (2) large numbers of nonelderly people without insurance, and (3) enormous projected Medicare deficits and continued Medicaid cost growth. The health care reform debate and reform proposals have focused largely on expanding the number of people with health insurance† (Harrington, S., 2010). Instead of focusing on how many people we can get sign up for health care, we need to be looking into these important factors, because they are just as significant. Cost being one of the biggest issues, but also the  alarming number of non-elderly people without health insurance. Sometimes diseases could be caught early on if middle aged and younger adults had affordable health care to get checked out. Additionally Medicare deficits and continued Medicaid rising costs. There needs to be more focus on these issues in order to beg in to get the health care system where it needs to be. On the other hand, National Health insurance has several benefits, some of which have already began to take place. Mandating companies to provide insurance for their employees is a great example. According to Panning (2014) some of the benefits include financing, cost reduction, payment reform, quality and process improvement, and prevention and wellness. Financing referring to healthier and younger will subsidize part of the care of the less health and elderly patients. Cost reduction is pretty self-explanatory, decreasing the cost and evening out the rate of growth. Payment reform in the new Affordable Care Act will pay for outcomes and value achieved opposed to being rewarded for doing more. Quality and process improvement will include a quality indicator quantity and reporting as well as comparative efficiency research. Lastly Prevention and Wellness, investing and providing incentives for preventive medicine and wellness. Our health care system is unstable for several reasons. The Affordable Care Act was designed to provide not just insurance to everyone but affordable insurance. It has made a significant impact, but still has things that need to be worked out. National Health Insurance has risk and benefits, benefits outweighing the risks. One of the great benefits discussed previously was the mandating of employers having to offer their full-time employees health care coverage. Within the next ten years the Affordable Care Act is supposed to make a huge impact and save trillions of dollars. Hopefully this reform is the solution to our health care system’s problems and that one day everyone will have health insurance and doesn’t get in financial debt paying trying to pay for it. References: Harrington, S. E. (2010). The Health Insurance Reform Debate. Journal Of Risk And Insurance, 77(1), 5-38. Myers, C. R. (2013). Coverage is Not Enough: We Need a Transformation of the Delivery of Health Care!. Tennessee Nurse, 76(1), 1-14. Panning, R. (2014). Healthcare Reform 101. Clinical Laboratory Science, 27(2), 107-111. Rivlin, A. M. (2013). Health Reform: What Next?. Public Administration Review, 73S15-S20. doi:10.1111/puar.12091