Historically, the United States has not had a universal healthcare system. A universal healthcare system plays an imperative role in ensuring that every member of the society, regardless of the socioeconomic status, has access to healthcare services (Reinhardt, 2008). The goal of healthcare service is for the government to provide incentives and regulate the cost of health to make it affordable to all. In the United States, the government does not interfere with the costs of healthcare services. The private sector determines the cost of treatment, making the healthcare system to be one of the most expensive and unfordable to most people. The lack of a Universal healthcare coverage denies a significant number of the citizens, mainly from low-income families, access to affordable health (Makau, 2009). However, even as the government tries to provide a universal healthcare system, it is vital to ensure that it does not inhibit the continuous improvements in healthcare institutions and the motivation of healthcare providers. The purpose of the essay is to assess the healthcare system in the United States by focusing on creation of universal healthcare system, strategic management, the legal implications, and determining whether healthcare is deemed as a right or a privilege.
Creation of a Universal Healthcare System
The creation of a universal healthcare system in the United States might have some adverse effects on the job satisfaction and productivity of the physicians and other advanced practice providers. The rationale is that in the universal healthcare system, the governments’ goal is to minimize the cost of health. As a result, evidence-based practice, which calls for technological advancement in the healthcare systems, might be hampered. The lack of equipment and other resources in healthcare institutions might lead to more medical errors and also interfere with the efficiency of advanced practice providers (Nolte & McKee, 2011) Another example is the lack of incentives for medical practitioners to remain productive. Low morale and low job satisfaction will have an adverse effect on the health outcomes. The creation of universal healthcare insurance might lead to an unfavorable working condition, which limits the amount of time that the healthcare providers spend with clients. In the current situation, incentives in the form of high salaries prompt advanced practice providers to provide quality health and acquire more skills that make them more competent. While there is a need to make access to healthcare services more affordable, it is also necessary to maintain the quality. The provision of universal healthcare coverage should not impede the continuous improvements in the healthcare organizations. Nevertheless, the creation of a universal healthcare coverage is paramount and will help to address the high cost of health challenges in the United States.
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Strategic Management Process
The creation of a universal healthcare system will demand changes in healthcare institutions. If the government decided to make a paradigm shift in the healthcare system and provide universal healthcare coverage, the healthcare organizations would have to consider a number of factors. The organizational culture, particularly the vision and objectives might change to be aligned with the new development. Healthcare organizations will have to think of new strategies that will enhance profitability. The institutions will also grapple with the challenge of keeping all the advanced practice providers as this will add to the cost of operation. One major hindrance is that all healthcare institutions are expected to provide standardized healthcare services to lower the cost of health (Heymann, Casola & Raub, 2011). Therefore, the healthcare organizations must have a strategy that will reduce the cost of operations. Divestment might be one of the primary strategic plans. Most healthcare organizations will only provide healthcare services that add more value to the organization. The organizations will reduce the number of advanced practice providers to cut down the cost of operation. Additionally, the strategic plan will also involve a reduction in further expansions, especially on technologies. These changes help to keep down the costs of services and enable the healthcare institutions to generate profits. Most of the changes in the healthcare organizations will compromise the quality of healthcare, leading to patient dissatisfaction.
Legal Implications
One of the implications will involve the changes in the existing healthcare laws. The amendment of the U.S healthcare act will have to be made to formalize the universal healthcare coverage. Another essential factor will be to provide a guideline for the healthcare institutions both the private and public. As aforementioned, universal health care insurance leads to standardization of the healthcare services. The amendments to the law must capture this to avoid any conflicts between the state and the healthcare institutions. Another possible factor is that the healthcare laws will create a provision that allows the government to intervene in healthcare matters. One of the interventions might include the provision of health care incentives to lower the cost of health further . As a capitalist country, the United States allows the forces of demand and supply to dictate the market prices. For that reason, the changes in healthcare laws to enable the government to interfere with the prices can be deemed as a violation of the rules governing a free market. This move, while it will help ensure that citizens get access to affordable care, might discourage private inventors in the healthcare sector. As a result, the quality of health might get worse.
Healthcare as a Right or Privilege
Based on the group consensus, it is apparent that the United States does not think that the universal healthcare coverage is a human right, but a privilege. According to Kantarjian & Jones (2015), the United States, is one of the few Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that still does not recognize the universal healthcare coverage to be a right to every citizen . This explains why the access to quality health is dependent on the socioeconomic status of the population. The situation in the United States puts the low-income families in an ethical dilemma. For instance, Kantarjian and Jones (2015) indicate that a significant number of the population cannot access quality and affordable health. The healthcare inequality means that only the high-income families can afford quality health. Another ethical dilemma facing many families in the United States is that of Euthanasia (Kantarjian & Jones, 2015). The assisted death, especially when the patient is ailing from cancer and other terminal illnesses, has become common (OECD, 2011). Sometimes the families are left with no choice, but to assist the patient to die because the cost of health has become unaffordable. Therefore, there is a need to address the ethical issues to ensure that every citizen can access affordable healthcare services. The government ought to address the challenge of healthcare inequalities by ensuring that the issue of socioeconomic status does not impede the access to quality health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the lack of a universal healthcare system in the United States makes the country’s healthcare system to be one of the most expensive among the developed countries. A significant number of the population do not have healthcare coverage and cannot afford quality healthcare. The United States does not consider the universal healthcare to be a human right. Healthcare is treated as a privilege, which explains why only socioeconomic factors determine who gets access to quality health. This is unethical as families from the low-income families are unable to access affordable and quality care. The country should reconsider its position on health and amend the laws to ensure that every citizen can have access to healthcare services at standardized and affordable costs.
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