NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

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NURS 6050, Foundations of Graduate Study

Since the 1960s government has taken on an ever-expanding role in health care that continues to impact each of its stakeholders.  Difference of opinions exist on whether health care is a right or a privilege, however for all purposes of this discussion, health care is a right.  As stated in the second sentence of our Declaration of Independence, humanity has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Knickman & Kovner, 2015, p.4). The right to life suggests that all of society, regardless of social or economic status, race or color of our skin, is entitled to reliable, quality, and affordable health care.  Government’s role in health care has been an all but straightforward one.  Programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, present with different program benefits and limitations providing pros and cons to each one, ultimately impacting the state of the United States’ economic position. NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege.

Health care delivery in the United States faces an economic dilemma that may never be resolved.  “The United States has the best health care, yet we don’t have complete access by all Americans” (Laureate Education (Producer). (2012d).  As Americans, we are subject to health policy put forth, essentially, by the government.  We do not live in a socialistic society, so the government does not have complete control over our health care system, but their decisions on access and cost, effect American health outcomes.  Different parties within the government all have different views on what an effective health care policy looks like, which creates disparity when deciding what monies go to which programs, and the obstacles individuals face when trying to apply for coverage.

What is the answer to America’s growing health care debate?  According to Scott (2016) convergence, in health care, is a trend that would create more changes, and ideally more value for consumers (p. 66).  Convergence refers to the collaboration of payers and providers to provide population health management, and divergent health care organizations becoming similar organizations (Scott, 2016, p.66).  In regards to health care being a right versus a privilege, convergence has the potential to create more accountability with government programs, insurance companies, and providers.

In summary, health care is by all means a right that every American deserves.  We may have government funded programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, but none of them has been effective at driving health care costs down or providing care for every American.  As health care is evolving, there is more push towards wellness programs and preventive care, which could ultimately help drive growing health care costs down.  Until America can get a grasp on health care costs growing more rapidly than their income, health care will remain a privilege that not every American can afford.

References

Knickman, J.R., & Kovner, A.R. (Eds.). (2015) Health care delivery in the United States (11th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012d). Introduction to healthcare deliver, part I. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Scott, B. C. (2016). Convergence in Healthcare: Providers, Employers, and Health Plans. American Health & Drug Benefits, 9(2), 66-67.

NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Post – Michelle Knight

Health care:  Right or Privilege?  This is a tough question.  As Healthcare professionals, everyone is trained to treat everyone, regardless of race, religion, financial status, etc.  Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires anyone presenting to the emergency department be seen, evaluated, and treated with stabilizing measures, or admitted to an acute care setting, regardless of insurance status or the ability to pay (Knickman, & Kovner, 2015). This law made the mindset of healthcare being a right versus a privilege.  In my recent research on this topic, I came across a blog, written by an MD, Brian Joondeph, who gave an interesting outlook on this subject.  He compared healthcare access to the education system.  In education, everyone has the right to access the public, low cost education provided by the state.  However, there is also the option of private institutions, that may or may not be sought out for their higher standards and increased opportunities.  These features are at a higher cost than public education, but anyone who decides to pay the increase in tuition may access this avenue as well.  This concept would allow everyone to have access to healthcare services, but those who wish to pay for increased specialties and options may do so.

The United States Government, a body of elected individuals, who are in place to serve the people, are to be the voice of the American People.  Knickman & Kovner state “The Government is entrenched in every aspect of the U.S. Health Care system” (pp 29).  This can be perceived as a good thing to some people, and a bad thing to others. NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

Access to rural health care is an increasing problem.  The population, that lives in the rural areas of the United States, faces a challenge in not only healthcare access, but specialty treatment as well.  People living in urban areas, that are flooded with larger hospitals and physician groups, have greater access to specialty care than those living in more rural areas.  Rural areas have seen an increase in the closing of small, community ran health care facilities due to a lack of funding (Goozner, 2017).  The counties and small private groups do not have the money to keep these facilities up to date with the ever-changing technologies and advancements in healthcare.  Staffing critical access hospitals with healthcare providers is another challenge to promote the health and wellbeing of the rural populations it serves (Goozner, 2017).  Telehealth services, a growing section of healthcare access, provides disadvantaged populations access to specialty services that otherwise might be unattainable (Goozner, 2017).

References:

Goozner, M. (2017). ‘This shift to accountability and value is going to come up in any reform proposal’…Mike Slubowski. Modern Healthcare, 47(13), 0046.

Knickman, J. R., & Kovner, A. R. (Eds.). (2015). Health care delivery in the united states (11th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Discussion Week 1: Introduction to Health Care Delivery, Part 1

Is health care a right or a privilege? Well, in my honest opinion it should be a right to all but it looks like it’s becoming a privilege because not everyone can afford it these days. There are plenty of people, poor people, who can’t afford health care. Being a health care professional, I have noticed that upper class and upper-middle classes are the ones who stay in good health for the most part. Poor people don’t get to the hospital until its too late sometimes. That is partly because poor people cannot afford routine yearly examinations or tests. Also, it is getting tougher to locate doctors who take Medicare or Medicaid since they get compensated pennies to dollars. Many physicians don’t want to deal with that. Whereas, upper class or the upper-middle class go to the doctor for anything that makes them seek medical attention. (Knickman and Kovner, 2015, p5) states that, adequate family incomes, high-quality education opportunities, and being socially connected are all key factors that predict the health of a given person.

What role does the government play in U.S health care? I believe that the U.S government plays a major role in the delivery of health care to its population. We have come a long ways from the early days. Most 19^th century Americans received health care in their homes, often from family members who relied on traditional healing techniques (Knickman and Kovner, 2015, p31). As the population grew so did new ways of delivering health care to the population. The government had to come up with programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP.  However, as I stated in the earlier paragraph, it can get challenging to locate physicians who honor those programs. On another note, the government should make an effort to change the way we pay for health care services: The idea is to encourage value-based purchasing and pay for performance rather than traditional models that provide a preset fee for each service provided Knickman and Kovner, 2015, p49).  Health care is a complex subject in today’s politics. I think it will take quite some time to reshape health care in United States. NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege.

There is also a major ethical issue how health care is being delivered in this country. Insurance companies have too much power.  They don’t want to pay or insure for pre existing conditions. Which I think is very unethical in my opinion. Even if one is insured, I have seen instances as a health care professional where insurance companies don’t want to pay for certain diagnostic tests just because of the cost, which to me is not ethical. Even when physicians have an appropriate amount of autonomy in their practice, pressure from administrators and insurance companies leads to a conflict of interest in which the physician is forced to weigh the costs of going against the administration with their own duty to help their patients (Castlen et al., 2017). Physicians should be free to work according to their own professional ethics without financial incentives or fear of damage to their career, as stated in the American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics (Castlen et al., 2017).

Reference:

Knickman, J.R., & Kovner A.R. (2015). The Challenge of Health Care Delivery and Health Policy. In J. Steven (Ed.), Health Care Delivery in the United States. New York , NY : Springer

Joseph P. Castlen., David J. Cote., Wouter A. Moojen., Pierre A. Robe., Naci Balak., Jannick Brennum.,… Marike L.D. Broekman. (2017). The Changing Health Care Landscape and Implications of Organizational Ethics on Modern Medical Practice. Retrieved from

Week 1 Discussion Is healthcare a right or a privilege?

Healthcare in America is a right. No persons should have to suffer with illnesses and morbidities in a country that has the services available for them to receive treatment. Any person should be able walk into any emergency room across the US and receive lifesaving healthcare regardless of the status of insurance coverage. As healthcare providers, we are obligated to treat people that same regardless of status. Anything less would be considered unethical. The issue comes in after the life has been saved. Who’s going to pay the bill?  The fact that healthcare cost $7,681 per person, which equals an astounding total of 2.3 trillion dollars nationwide is sickening (Kickman & Kovner, 2015). The intent of The Affordable Care Act was to make insurance coverage affordable. It does not impact the actual cost of healthcare, which is steadily rising. The root of this rising cost of insurance coverage and out of pocket expenses is unknown to the average American that regularly seeks healthcare, whether in the emergency department or in a private practice.

Since 2013, The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services is taking a step toward making a link between what we pay into the system and what is paid out to providers. The CMS is releasing certain charge data of Medicare providers (Kickman & Kovner, 2015) . The complexity of the coding systems can go over many American’s heads. I think the government would greatly benefit by focusing what is being paid out, there may finally be clarity on why the cost are rising. In turn programs can be implemented to control the rising cost and profit margins of pharmaceutical companies and privately owned hospitals. NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

Kovner, K. &. (2015). Health Care Delivery in the United States . New York, New York: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

The Role of Government in the U.S. Health Care System

As stated in the course text, Health Care Delivery in the United States, “the health care enterprise is one of the most important parts of the U.S. social system and of our economic system as well” (Kovner and Knickman, 2011, p. 4); however, with millions of citizens uninsured, rising costs, massive health disparities, and the need to improve quality and access, many view health care as a broken system. As such, it continues to be a significant political issue in the United States. Most agree that something needs to be done to fix the health care system, but the methods and solutions for addressing problems vary greatly, particularly with respect to the role government should play. Proponents of varying approaches often have strong, emotional opinions, making compromise difficult.

In this Discussion, you will consider the role of government in health care, and you will examine the impact of a social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue on health care delivery.

To prepare:

•    With this week’s Learning Resources in mind, consider this question: Is health care a right or a privilege?
•    Review the media presentation for this week, focusing on the role of the government in health care including Affordable Care Act.
•    Pinpoint a social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue that could, or has, affected health care delivery in the United States.
•    Locate a current article from the popular press (within the past 6 months) related to the health care issue you identified. How does this article inform your understanding of the influence of your selected issue in the health care debate? NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

By Day 3

Post your position on whether health care in the United States is a right or a privilege, and explain what you believe to be the proper role of government in health care. Justify your position. Explain how the social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue you selected is impacting health care delivery and whether this issue should be addressed by the government or by private entities. Identify the article you selected, and explain how this article informs your stance.

Benjamin Fernandes: The Role of Government in the U.S. Health Care System

The question of: Is health care a right or a privilege, can be debated forever. According to the text, “our nation is built on the idea that society should ensure an opportunity for ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’” (Knickman & Kovner, 2015, p. 4). Life being the key word in this statement. Health care is an important role in ensuring life. The statement “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is taken directly from our Declaration of Independence. Is not the role of the government to protect its citizens? The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act 2010 (ACA) expanded the role of the government in health care. The ACA was designed to protect patient rights and make health insurance more available to the people. The theory was to make health care more available and affordable to the public. As this week’s video stated, the U.S. provides some of the best health care in the world as far as technology to deliver. The video also goes on to explain how on average, people in the U.S. end up pay more for health care in comparison to other countries (Laureate Education (Producer), 2012d). NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege

We are a pivotal place, waiting and watching, to see which direction our nation will go. We have two candidates debating on issues, and we will have to choose which person to lead our nation in the coming years. This is vitally important to myself and the state I live, much like others across this country. New Hampshire finds itself in a crisis with opiate abuse. According to a local newspaper, the issue is “More Americans are dying from opioids than at any time in recent history, with overdose deaths hitting a peak of 28,000 in 2014” (Ronayne, 2016). When speaking of ensuring life, this statistic is going in the wrong direction. Internationally, the BBC wrote an article about the heroin and opiate crisis in the U.S., writing “The US is in the throes of a heroin and opioid epidemic – drug overdose has become the leading cause of accidental death, overtaking traffic accidents” (Pressly, 2016). While one candidate is electing to stop drugs via policing and tackling the issue through the judicial system, the other is electing to put money toward health care.

According to the Concord Monitor (Ronayne, 2016), the candidates plan “would send more money to states to expand drug treatment and mental health services, promote greater availability of the overdose reversal drug naloxone and support better prevention programs in schools, among other things.” In NH, we find ourselves with one of the worse rankings in opiate abuse and death rates. Even worse we rank in the bottom for resources for those suffering from addiction. As a nurse working in the busiest emergency departments in the state, we see the effects of having few resources available for our patients.
The U.S. Constitution states that life is a right given to all citizens of the U.S. Providing health care to those citizens helps protect the same right.  NURS 6050 Week 1 Discussion Essay – Healthcare: A Right or Privilege