Updated:

Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care Essay

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

Introduction

Healthcare is a vital sector in the United States and the most affected by the policy. The high dependence on the healthcare sector for services has made policymaking on care provision and other aspects of healthcare in the country crucial to the industry. Government spending in healthcare is the largest in the world (Crowley et al. 7).

The heavy spending has not resolved issues facing the system as care providers in the country are considered to be poor when compared to other nations with lower spending (Crowley et al. 7). The leading challenges in healthcare include access to care, cost of care, and quality of care. Based on recent research, a significant section of Americans lack access to healthcare services due to the high cost of care. The cost of care remains significantly high despite government initiatives like Medicare and Medicaid. The quality of care is also influenced by policies that affect healthcare professionals. The assessment of the cost of care, access to care, and quality of care reveals that the country experiences several critical policy issues that should be addressed.

Access to Care

Access to care remains a crucial issue in the United States because of policy issues that prevent the provision of the same level of care to all citizens. Access to healthcare in America is through medical insurance that every citizen is required to acquire. Government programs like Medicare and Medicaid are part of the compensation system that helps to reduce the burden on citizens (Shrank et al. 235). However, access to care remains low in minority communities where factors like unemployment, poverty, and low wages prevent the acquisition of medical insurance. The prevalence of these issues is contributed to the lack of policies to adopt a universal healthcare system that will guarantee access to the same level of care for all systems.

Cost of Care

The cost of care in America is significantly high because of a lack of policies to regulate expenses. The high healthcare spending by the government and unregulated healthcare insurance cost in America has systematically led to a rise in the cost of care over the years. The government faces a growing demand for healthcare services from an aging population and an increase in premiums by insurers (Stadhouders et al. 71). The country does not have an effective policy that ensures insurance premiums are regulated to keep costs affordable. The lack of policy gives medical insurers the latitude to exploit the costs, leading to high costs and reduced access.

Quality of Care

The quality of care in the country is affected by several issues that lack effective policies to resolve. Care provision is a process determined by several factors, including the number of care providers, the education level of providers, and funding. The country continues to experience a shortage of healthcare providers despite identifying the issue early in the 21st century (Haegdorens et al. 2). The nation also faces a lack of effective systems to ensure the continued education of healthcare providers and better training of novice practitioners. Policies surrounding the funding of hospitals are also ineffective, as most facilities have a shortage of resources. The lack of policies to address these issues contributes to the low quality of care in the sector.

Conclusion

Policies are crucial to the healthcare system due to their impacts on every element of care. America’s healthcare system experiences low access to healthcare services, high costs of care, and low quality of care because of the continued prevalence of issues that can be addressed through effective policies. These issues have existed for several years, and their impacts have been established. However, policymakers have been slow to create and implement policies to address the challenges and improve the healthcare sector.

Works Cited

Crowley, Ryan, Hilary Daniel, Thomas G. Cooney, and Lee S. Enge. Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 172, no. 2_Supplement, 2020, pp. 7-42.

Haegdorens, Filip, Peter Van Bogaert, Koen De Meester, and Koenraad G. Monsieurs. . BMC Health Services Research, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019.

Shrank, William H., Nancy-Ann DeParle, Scott Gottlieb, Sachin H. Jain, Peter Orszag, Brian W. Powers, and Gail R. Wilensky. Health Affairs, vol. 40, no. 2, 2021, pp. 235-242.

Stadhouders, Niek Florien Kruse, Marit Tanke, and Xander Koolman. Health Policy, vol. 123, no. 1, 2019, pp. 71-79.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2023, August 17). Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care. https://ivypanda.com/essays/policy-issues-of-access-cost-and-quality-of-care/

Work Cited

"Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care." IvyPanda, 17 Aug. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/policy-issues-of-access-cost-and-quality-of-care/.

References

IvyPanda. (2023) 'Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care'. 17 August.

References

IvyPanda. 2023. "Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care." August 17, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/policy-issues-of-access-cost-and-quality-of-care/.

1. IvyPanda. "Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care." August 17, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/policy-issues-of-access-cost-and-quality-of-care/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Policy Issues of Access, Cost, and Quality of Care." August 17, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/policy-issues-of-access-cost-and-quality-of-care/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
1 / 1