Health Care Reform There has been a lot of talk and debate lately over Health Care Reform, as people are trying to answer the question – Should a universally accessible health care system be implemented in the United States (US)? This ongoing highly debatable issue remains a hot topic among US citizens from all walks of life, from the very poor to the very wealthy. Health Care Reform affects everyone. The vast majority of the US population is very dissatisfied with the current state of health care. According to the ABC News and Washington Post cooperative poll, 57 percent of Americans aren’t satisfied with the overall system of health care (Langer, 2009). Consequently, the issue of the Health Care Reform was born, but before analyzing the actual aspects of this reform it will be wise to brush up on those major attitudes and concerns which occupy ordinary people and how they respond to the unfolding changes in the area of health care and social security. More than half of the American population is convinced that the Health Care Reform is necessary and it must be carried out by the government. Hence, the government plays a huge role in the health care transformation as it provides the nation with the health care plans and outlines other possibilities for medical coverage like the health insurance exchange. President Obama suggests his own plan of stability and security for all Americans. This plan is to provide more security and stability for those who have health insurance as well as those who don’t. Obama believes that it will lower the cost of health care for American families, business and government (The Obama Plan: Stability & Security For All Americans). In general, 62 percent of the population supports the idea of the go... ... middle of paper ... ...diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=health%20care%reform&st=cse Health reform at a glance: the health insurance exchange. (2009). Retrieved November 5, 2009, from waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/exchange.pdf Langer, G. (2009). Current satisfaction vs future worry defines the battle on health reform. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from http://abcnews.go.com/images/pollingunit/1091a2Healthcarereform.pdf Pardis, M., Wood, J., & Cramer, M. (2009, September-October). A policy analysis of health care . Nursing economic$ the journal for health care leaders, 27(no 5 2009 r). Retrieved from http://www.nursingeconomics.net/cgi-bin/WebObjects?NECJournal.woa/wa/viewSection?s_id=1073744460. The obama plan: stability & security for all americans. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.w
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
K. Stremikis, C. Schoen, and A.-K. Fryer. A Call for Change: The 2011 Commonwealth Fund Survey of Public Views of the U.S. Health System, The Commonwealth Fund, April 2011. Retrieved April 26th, 2011 from web site: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2011/Apr/Call-for-Change.aspx
During the study of various reforms that were proposed and denied, both the GOP and Democrats attempted to find a balance that would guarantee the success of their proposals. Years of research, growing ideologies, political views and disregard for the country's constitution sparked an array of alternatives to solve the country's healthcare spending. The expenditure of US healthcare dollars was mostly due to hospital reimbursements, which constitute to 30% (Longest & Darr, 2008). During the research for alternatives, the gr...
Healthcare has been a topic of discussion with the majority of the country. Issues with insurance coverage, rising costs, limited options to gain coverage, and the quality of healthcare have become concerns for law makers, healthcare providers and the general public. Some of those concerns were alleviated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, but new concerns have developed with problems that have occurred in the implementation of the new law. The main concerns of the country are if the Affordable Care Act will be able to overcome the issues that plagued the old healthcare system, the cost of the program, and how will the new law affect the quality of the health delivery system.
Bethany Anne Conway, Addressing the “Medical Malady”: Second-Level Agenda Setting and Public Approval of “Obamacare” Int J Public Opin Res (Winter 2013) 25 (4): 535-546 7 January. 2013
In recent years, the number of Americans who are uninsured has reached over 45 million citizens, with millions more who only have the very basic of insurance, effectively under insured. With the growing budget cuts to medicaid and the decreasing amount of employers cutting back on their health insurance options, more and more americans are put into positions with poor health care or no access to it at all. At the heart of the issue stems two roots, one concerning the morality of universal health care and the other concerning the economic effects. Many believe that health care reform at a national level is impossible or impractical, and so for too long now our citizens have stood by as our flawed health-care system has transformed into an unfixable mess. The good that universal healthcare would bring to our nation far outweighs the bad, however, so, sooner rather than later, it is important for us to strive towards a society where all people have access to healthcare.
Nursing Economics. (2004). The effect of case management on US hospitals. Retrieved from Medscape News Today: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/473679
Stokowski, L RN, MS (2010) Healthcare Reform and Nurses: Challenges and Opportunities; Medscape News; Nursing Perspective. Retrieved September 16, 2011 from: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/721049
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
In America the affordability and equality of access to healthcare is a crucial topic of debate when it comes to one's understanding of healthcare reform. The ability for a sick individual to attain proper treatment for their ailments has reached the upper echelons of government. Public outcry for a change in the handling of health insurance laws has aided in the establishment of the Affordable Healthcare Law (AHCL) to ensure the people of America will be able to get the medical attention they deserve as well as making that attention more affordable, as the name states. Since its creation, the AHCL has undergone scrutiny towards its effects on the government and its people; nevertheless, the new law must not be dismantled due to its function as a cornerstone of equal-opportunity healthcare, and if such a removal is allowed, there will be possibly detrimental effects on taxes, the economy, and poor people.
As I began watching Reinventing Healthcare-A Fred Friendly Seminar (2008), I thought to myself, “man, things have changed since 2008.” And as the discussion progressed, I started to become irritated by how little had changed. The issues discussed were far-reaching, and the necessity for urgent change was a repeated theme. And yet, eight years later, health care has made changes, but many of its crucial problems still exist.
Bedside nurses want to change staffing levels to assure that they have enough time to both keep up with the constantly evolving health care and to provide safe patient care. Yet, healthcare employers consider that reducing nurse patient ratio is an unnecessary expense that has not been proven to improve quality of patient care (Unruh, 2008). Employers emphasize that raising nursing staffing level is not cost-effective. In fact, in accordance with ANA’s report (2013), a study, in the Journal of Health Care Finance, confirmed that reducing patient-nurse ratios increased hospital costs, but did not lower their profitability. Higher hospital costs were attributed to wages and benefits allocated to newly hired nurses. Yet, according to Cimiotti et.al (20112), it is more costly for hospitals to not invest money on nursing.
Week, E. and B. Obama (2009). The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide, Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
To briefly summarize, the report acts to identify nurses as an important faction in enabling access to high quality, affordable health care. This was supported by the development of four fundamental recommend...
ObamaCare Summary: A Summary of Obama's Health Care Reform. n.d. Web. 18 03 2014. .