The Commonwealth Fund evaluated the United States on aspects of healthcare access, quality, cost, and outcome from 2007 to 2012. The health system was awarded 64 out of 100 points, an indication that it has been performing considerably well. Some of the aspects evaluated were the expansion of coverage expansion of the Affordable Care Act. Commonwealth Fund noted that the US healthcare system had improved with mixed overall performance. Some indicators show that progress has been made while others are still lagging. There were areas which states focused on, such as safe prescriptions, child immunizations, cancer deaths, and hospital readmissions. The scorecard illustrated that access to health care for the adults continued to deteriorate while the cost went up (Radley, 2014). The persistent disparity was noted throughout the states, thus creating the essentiality of expanding the insurance covers, making reforms on the health care delivery, and changing the payment methods. These alterations would promote a health system that is more equitable, with high-quality services.
The 64 out of 100 points is an indication that the United States still has a long way to go before it can achieve access to high-quality health services for all citizens. Health inequality is one of the social problems faced in United States. The issue is related to racial issues with the white Americans being at an advantage of access to high-quality health care services. Other races, such as blacks, Indians, and Hispanics, experience long-waiting time, access problems, and low-quality services. Therefore, the health status of these individuals is variant, with white Americans having an advantage over other races (BBC, 2019). The economic status of the individuals mostly contributes to these disparities. The cost of health care in America has continuously increased, making it hard for the middle and lower-class level people to afford proper healthcare. However, there are efforts to reduce the inequality gap through Affordable care and insurance cover.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The introduction of insurance cover in United States is meant to reduce health inequality issues. There is private health insurance offered by employers, institutions such as schools, or bought personally. The citizens are allowed to select the plan that suits them from the Affordable Care Act. The Act provides subsidies to Americans who are unable to afford the high premium insurance plans. The income of the person determines the subsidy size. Some other states, like New York, California, and Colorado, have tried to reduce the inequality problem by running their own healthcare exchanges (BBC, 2019). The approach is essential in regulating the cost of healthcare services, quality, and outcomes. The Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard noted that despite all the steps of refining health care, performance worsened in most nations. However, there is still room for improvement, and that can increase the rating from 64 to a higher number.
There is still a chance for national and state improvement of healthcare services in the United States. America has a lot of resources that can be invested in refining the health care system. During the Great Recession, as noted by on the scorecard the health care spending increased by 149 billion dollars, and it reached a total of 2.8 trillion dollars nationally. Despite all the spending, there was deterioration in access to care services for the adults, worsened performance in some cases, and increased disparities in the system. Therefore, when investing in healthcare improvements, there are lots of aspects that should be considered to ensure improvement. To improve performance, for instance, some resources should be invested in training the existing healthcare providers (Department for Professional Employees, 2016). It will make sure that they have the required skills and expertise in delivering high-quality care services, thus enhancing performance. Improving the status of health care services in the United States would require addressing some of the problems, as noted in the scorecard.
United States healthcare system is faced with other problems that also need to be addressed to improve overall performance. There is a troubling and persistent gap and inequality in care delivery for children and vulnerable populations. Health issues are also seen with widespread geographical variations. Some nations are performing better than others, such as Minnesota, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Massachusetts (Radley, 2014). Other states should consider checking into these systems and determine the factors responsible for the success. They can even borrow some of the points and apply them in their healthcare system to ensure developed performance and high-quality care.
In conclusion, America has one of the best health care systems in the world, but there is still room for improvement. There are notable changes, such as in the reduced number of deaths in cancer, low mortality rates in children, and general healthcare enhancement. The state government should look into the indicators which still need to be changed. Investments such as in modern technology should be made, and it will enhance the outcome of health services. Other factors include investing in training and health care education to make sure that healthcare practitioners are equipped with improved skills and knowledge on how to address diverse health care problems. In addition, the Affordable Care Act should be promoted to make sure that all Americans, despite race, religion, class, or status, are able to access the same high-quality care and with equal chances. Regular benchmarking on the indicators used by the Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard should be done regularly. It will guide the state and national governments on where healthcare system is performing well and where improvement is required.
References
BBC. (2019). Premiums and Pulses: Navigating the U.S. Healthcare System. Retrieved October 17, 2019, from http://www.bbc.com/storyworks/specials/moving-to-america/navigating-the-us-health-system.html?cid=PPG0043237&SearchEngine=GOOGLE&Keyword=+us++healthcare&MatchType=b&AdID=43700045660701069&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoqDtBRD-ARIsAL4pviBtPbcx93ECHkwP6YuQQ6i61ZUS5mDhItl9YUgZkLk5docx9bulG98aAiOxEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds .
Department for Professional Employees. (2016). The U.S. Health Care System: An International Perspective. Retrieved October 17, 2019, from https://dpeaflcio.org/programs-publications/issue-fact-sheets/the-u-s-health-care-system-an-international-perspective/.
Radley, D. C. (2014, April 30). Aiming Higher: Results from a Scorecard on State Health System Performance, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2019, from https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/apr/aiming-higher-results-scorecard-state-health-system-performance .
