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Health Care in the U.S.A & it's effect on Society
Introduction
In the United State of America, there are various organizations that distinctly provide health care. The main owners and operators of the health care facilities are private and the government provides insurance of health to the public employees in the USA with around 60 to 65 percent of the spending and provision in the health care coming from programs like the Veterans Health Administration, the Children's Health Insurance Program, TRICARE, Medicaidand the Medicare. Most of the population below 67 years old is insured by either employers of their family members or by their own employers while a section of the population buy the insurance on their own. There is a percentage of the US population that remains are uninsured for health care.
Health care in the United States of America
The life expectancy level in the United States of America is rated at 78.4, an increase from 1990’s 75.2. This life expectancy level makes USA to be ranked 50thout of 221 countries. Among the developed nations, the life expectancy of the USA is ranked at 27th position out of 34 countries. The prevalence of the infant mortality in the United States of America is rated among the highest if not the highest among the countries with high income. This is the similar trend on prevalence in disability, homicides and injuries, pregnancy of the adolescents, sexually transmitted diseases, lung and heart diseases among other illnesses.
The World Health Organization 2011 report indicates that the 8,608 dollars was used by the United States of America on the health care per capita. This was the highest as compared to any other nation that year. According to the Commonwealth ranking, the cost of USA healthcare was ranked high and the quality of healthcare was ranked at the last position in comparison to other countries in the same level as the United States of America. The ranking of USA effectiveness in as far as health care is concerned was position 46 out of 48 countries in a research that was done by Bloomberg in the year 2013
The health care debate
The health care in the United States of America has experienced a lot of challenge. The health care system has been in other times termed to be ineffective and not up to the expected standards. This has elicited for the call for several reforms in the healthcare system in America. These reforms have been pushed to enable quality healthcare service provision and to help address the issue of poor health services provision.
The United States of America healthcare services provision systems have had a very long history. There have been several reforms that have been proposed to the healthcare system with very few of them being implemented. However, in the year 2010, America experienced a major stride towards healthcare system and reforms with the enacting of laws as statutes of the Federal government. The two statutes include the 2010 Act of Healthcare and Education Reconciliation and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The two were enacted in 23rd March the year 2010. There have still been proposals for further reforms which have seen a proposal of a system of single- payer and the reduction in the medical care service fee. (Aaron, 1996)
There has been an activate debate concerning health care reform in America, with several entities, organizations, share holders and individuals adding their voices to the debate. Majorly, the areas of concern have been the quality of health care services, value, choice and the cost of accessing health care in the United States of America. The debate has also been based on the efficiency, fairness, accessibility and the general right to health care. There have been arguments that the delivery of health care services in the United States of America has not been equivalent to the value of the money that is spent. The money spent in the United States in health care is around twice that spent in Canada yet the life expectancy and mortality rates are still lower as compared to other nations that are as wealthy as America. The infant mortality rate in the USA is currently higher as compared to most of the developed economies.
Health care providers and facilities in the USA
The health care providers in the United States of America are majorly from the individual health care personnel. There are also other medical products and health care facilities. The health care facilities in the United States are majorly in the hands of private service providers. However, there are other health care facilities that are owned by the city government, county, state and the federal governments
Determinants of health in the United States of America
There are several determinants and indicators of health in the United States of America. These range from biology and genetics, individual behavior, health services, social factors, policy making and the strategies. There factors’ interrelationship is vital in determining the general public’s and individual health. Carrying out interventions focused on the multiple determinants of health become more effective in healthcare provision.America has had policies at Federal, State and at the local levels which have been vital in shaping of both the population and individual health. Such policies include those on tobacco among other aspects. ( Jonas, 2003)
Medicare and Medicaid
The Medicare and Medicaid have been instrumental in the shape up of healthcare services and development in the country. Through the Medicare policy, there is a reduction of up to 50 percent on the drugs that have brand names. The program also has measures to have cuts on the medical bills up to 500 billion dollars in the next decade. Through the Medicaid policy, the government intends to have a 133 percent expansion of the Medicaid to the levels of poverty in the federal level amounting up to 29.327 dollars. This targets families of four people.
Effects of Health Care on the USA society
Through the signing of the law on health reform by President Obama, the healthcare program now is set to cover a lot of people, with the quality of healthcare increasing and the cost of accessing the healthcare reducing. The law is vital as it sets to address the issue of promotion of health services without discriminating color. The community that is set to benefit more is the African American community. This is specifically because the law seeks to expand the accessibility of healthcare coverage in America. This is through the expansion of Medicaid set to start in 2014. This will further see the increase in the funding in various US territories. The law offers protection to various groups in America including the Africans.(Chapman, 1994)
Increase in use of emergency care and delays in seeking healthcare
There are several uninsured Americans. This is because of the high cost of health care in the country. These individuals are going to lack preventive care and are less likely to access the regular health care. The services of seeking health care are more likely to be delayed hence leading to more crises in health related complications. These crises are going to be more expensive than the treatment that is ongoing for other health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. The people who are uninsured are less likely to seek a follow up of medical services after an accidental injury as compared to those who are insured. The uninsured people are also more likely to make visits to the emergency care hence burdening the centers that are supposed to be meant for emergencies only.
Variations and efficiency
The variations in the health care efficiency provision have caused several variations in the general health outcome in the United States of America. The distribution of health care resources has been varying over the last 20 years of health care provision on the US. This has been marked by variations in the outcomes and has had effects on the American society at large. The physicians’ willingness and readiness to work in various areas has been affected by the conditions and amenities offered at the health care services provision centers. This has basically affected the primary health care service provision, meaning that a majority of the Americans are affected by these conditions. These variations have effects on the accessibility of quality healthcare services by the people of the United States of America. Several people have succumbed to illnesses which could otherwise have been dealt with earlier. This has been as a result of less information, poor health care services and lack of access to the health care services. This has had a bad effect on the greater American society.
A number of Americans have fallen victims to diseases which could otherwise have been treated with a well designed and organized healthcare system. Diseases like pulmonary diseases, stroke, lung cancer, artery diseases among others have caused many deaths in America. Others have succumbed to neck pains, depression, low back pains, high blood pressure and sugar, kidney diseases and cancer. The access of basic health has been inefficient and the American people have been skipping going for checkups.
The national (U.S.) agencies and nursing organizations that address health care policy, regulation, standards, and delivery.
Among the agencies that are responsible for health care policy, regulation, standards, and delivery in the America include the various centers for Medicaid and Medicare services. These include the CMS, which is an agency affiliated to DHHS and is charged with the responsibility of the administration of Medicare programs. It works in partnership with administrator of the state governments. There is the Department of Veteran Affairs which provides healthcare services to people who are actively involved in duty. The American Nurses Association is an organization of professional nurses that ensures that the nursing standards are set high in the country. It is charged with the responsibility of promoting, transferring and looking at the needs of the nurses.(Forman, 2009)
Through the healthcare agencies, the provision of health can at least be improved. Through the organizations like the nursing organizations, the health care service providers are able to have a collective bargaining power and be in a position to set the pace and quality required in the nursing and health care system. Better health care service provision can just be achieved through adequate staffing and enabling environment for the health care professionals to be able to carry out their work. Without the necessary equipment and resources needed, health care provision will basically be of low quality hence the American people will suffer. The health care system in America has had to contend with several challenges towards the achievement of quality health care service provision.
Conclusion
Health care in the United States of America has gone through a lot of transformation and improvement over the years. The system has had to meet several challenges all the way through. Despite the fact that America is a developed economy country, the health care sector has not been up to the expected quality hence attracting a lot of criticism. There have been a lot of discussions pertaining to how the health care in the United States of America can be improved to well serve the American society. This has been based on the fact that a health nation is a working nation and that the society can be in shape only if people are healthy. There is an increasing pressure on the various governments to ensure that the health care system is well developed to take care of all the people who are in need of the services.
Work Cited
Aaron, H. The Problem that Won't Go Away: Reforming U.S. Health Care Financing. Washington D.C Brookings Institution Press, 1996
Chapman, A. Health care reform: a human rights approach. Washington D.C. Georgetown University Press. 1994
Forman, L. Health Care Reform. Minnesota: ABDO. 2009
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