Introduction
Issues on health care policy have soured in the recent past. This is mainly because citizens are dissatisfied with the kind of health care benefits provided. The United States ranks first in health care budget. However, this does not count on service delivery. Moreover, it is estimated that about 20% of Americans lacks health insurance. This has prompted heavy criticism of political leaders to make reforms. The United States offers a hybrid health care system which encompasses two choices.
The first involves funding of healthcare through private insurance companies while the second involves health care programs. The latter includes programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP, which provides health insurance to three groups. These are retirees, the poor and children from low-income families. This paper will explore healthcare policy, its effect on the industry and reforms (Morrisey 1).
Health care policy
Health care policy refers to rules, guidelines and regulations that are aimed at financing and shaping delivery of healthcare. It encompasses various issues that relate to health. For instance, it includes financing of health care, disability, mental and public health, among others. Its area of operation is unlimited within the health sector.
Health care policy also works to prioritize specific health care problems. For instance, in 1971, the former United States President Nixon avowed war on Cancer. Moreover, health policy may involve focus on specific activities aimed at improving health care system. These include research and sensitization on critical health issues such as AIDs and Cancer, among others.
When the government makes it a policy to conduct such activities, they are given priorities and are hence financed from budget allocations. Other issues that have drawn special attention include small pox, substance abuse, cigarette smoking and suicide prevention among others.
Such activities and programs are always targeted for reducing health risks, which are in health policies. Health care policies may involve behavior-changing programs such as public advertising, information, sensitization programs, among others. It is also necessary to note that these programs usually encompass support systems for victims of targeted issues. In essence, health care policy encompasses a wide area of network with uncountable rules, regulations and programs aimed at improving service delivery (Laszewski 1).
Financing of health care has been a major issue in the U.S. This is mainly because of the hybrid system employed in health care policy. In fact, numerous debates have been raised on heath care system. It is quite important to note that this system favors the rich since they have what it takes to access quality health care services. On the other hand, middle-income groups as well as the poor find it difficult to pay for health care insurance.
For instance, statistics show that about 45 Million of Americans lack access to health insurance. This is quite a large number given that health policies should work to encompass all citizens. It is therefore very surprising that the government insists on remaining with current healthcare system instead of making ways to improve quality of life.
The republicans are much more comfortable with current health system. This is quite interesting because they need support in the upcoming elections. It should be clear to everyone that when 45 million are left out of healthcare policy, then reform is mandatory (Morrisey 1).
Various legislations have been enacted to improve health reform. In fact, Medicare, which provides health insurance to those aged 65 years and above was introduced to supplement the overburdened population. It is important to note that provision of universal health care would have minimized such expenditure in government budget. Federal government’s budget on health care has been expanding uncontrollably; in fact, it is now the highest globally.
This is contradictory given the fact that countries like Canada, Japan and Germany, among others provide better health care benefits than the United States. Introduction of the government programs to support the overburdened taxpayers have only worsened achievement of goals of health care policy. This is because it has increased government spending and hence the need to increase tax. A section of politicians has suggested an increase in tax for middle and high-income earners to help fix health issues (WHO 1).
Democrats have emphasized the need to provide universal healthcare like other nations. However, this is yet to pass. Republicans cite increase in middle-income earners’ tax and future uncertainties as the reason for their stand. In essence, politicians are playing blame game instead of acting on the underlying issue (Pauly and Hoff 24).
As much as the government has tried to provide health programs, these are inadequate to support the large population of America. Unemployment rate is at its all time high, meaning that some people cannot access health care insurance through employers. Moreover, Medicaid is only provided to special groups of people, for instance the disabled and those that get welfare payments. This restricts a large number of people from accessing necessities in life.
The United Nations declared health care a right to every individual irrespective of his/her country of origin. Therefore, as a permanent member of the United Nation, the United States should follow suit in their declaration. This would mean strategizing on the best way forward, with national budget in mind too (United States History 1).
Health care industry
Healthcare Industry is considered to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Its growth has been widely witnessed in recent times with advancement in technology. For instance, it provided over fourteen million jobs to the population. Moreover, it is projected that the industry will provide over three million jobs by 2018. This would be more than any other sector. This projected rise is mainly due to ever-increasing population of the aged.
It is also quite important to note that among the 20 fastest careers and occupations, about ten come from Healthcare industry. In addition, the industry employs workers from different fields. These include those working in medicine, IT, finance, education, franchise, sales, and engineering, among other fields.
The industry employs people with different levels of qualification. While some take courses that surpass four years, others attain their qualifications in two years. These include skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers. This paper will explore the Healthcare industry, changes in the last 10 years, and possible changes in future as well as financial and economic issues in that period (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1).
Healthcare industry involves combination of both human touch as well as medical technology to diagnose, administer drugs, care and respond to patients’ needs. The industry serves millions of people in the United States alone, this ranges from terminally ill people to newborn babies.
Healthcare industry is composed of over 595 800 establishments in terms of its organization. These vary highly in size, pattern and organizational structures, as well as staffing. It is also quite important to note that most of the establishments in the Healthcare industry are offices, which have been established for health practitioners such as dentists, physicians and doctors, among others.
Interestingly, hospital constitutes just about 1 percent of establishments in Healthcare industry even though it employs more than 35 percent of the industry’s workers. In essence, the industry consists of a variety of establishments. These range from private practitioners in small offices to public hospitals that employ thousands of workers. The industry is therefore very large. Moreover, it has embraced technology to help in its development as well as efficiency (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1).
Healthcare Industry has enjoyed transformation since its inception to provide Healthcare products and services. It was based mainly on reactionary type of practice. Tests were done on plants to determine their effects concerning treatment of human ailments. The industry started to make headway later on, when various cultures started emphasizing on purposeful study of plants for medicinal use.
The 19th century saw an advancement in technological understanding of biological as well as chemical elements of plants for medicinal use. The last 10 years has witnessed continual advancement in technological, chemical as well as biological methods of analysis that aid physicians in diagnosis as well as treatment of such ailments.
Moreover, this period has seen evolution from medicinal practice to modern Healthcare, which is continually evolving with further advancement in technology. Despite the positives, Healthcare industry is becoming more expensive day by day. This is worrying to American population who value Healthcare services (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1).
The last decade has seen evolution of modern Healthcare. Some of the changes include prepaid services, which has come in to overshadow insurance. Other changes that took shape during this period include administration. It is quite important to note that the next 10 years will see several changes as Healthcare industry seeks to address ever-increasing number of infections. In addition, prepaid plans are increasing, especially in PPOs and HMOs, which generally emphasize on preventive measures.
The plans are relatively cheap as compared to insurance as they work to reduce cost of treatment. The future looks bright although there is an uptrend in cost of Healthcare. United States has put in place measures aimed at reforming the industry, with its focus on improving quality of life at an affordable cost to all. This shows a positive outlook for the future of Healthcare industry (Michigan State University 1).
Health care reforms
As much as technology advances, several costs are incurred in research and development. These costs need to be accounted for, and this has driven the cost of Healthcare. However, it is also quite important to note that various reforms are set to be rolled to help address the cost of Healthcare.
Ultimately, reduction of these cost lies with the general population, who should ensure preventive measures taken to reduce on other costs. Nonetheless, the future looks bright as technological advances work to improve quality of life (Michigan State University 1).
The industry has continued to embrace advances in Technology, which are also aimed at improving quality of life. For instance, it currently not only helps physicians to diagnose diseases, but also treats patients in a better way that earlier done by human.
For instance, advances in technology have enabled treatment of ailments such as cancer, which were formerly seen as untreatable. Moreover, laser technology has been vital in reaching out for internal organs, which were difficult to treat in the olden days. Technology therefore presents a bright outlook for Healthcare industry and is set to continue improving quality of life (Michigan State University 1).
Social security act and health insurance
It is estimated that about 20% U.S. citizens lacks health insurance. Moreover, the level of disparity in this respect is higher than that of other countries. Interestingly, the United States has the most advanced technology in Health care services. It is therefore quite surprising that a good chunk of its population cannot access state of art treatment due to health insurance policies.
Moreover, its elimination from the Social Security act was catastrophic. This paper will explore the effects of excluding Health Insurance from Social Security Act. It will also ascertain how we could have changed our future in this respect (Morone, Litman and Robins 16).
More than 45 Million Americans lack an access to health care insurance of any kind. This number would be greater, save for government programs such as SCHIP and Medicaid, which provide a cushion for low-income families, especially children. This is mainly due to the exclusion of health care insurance from the Social Security Act.
The Social Security act was amended in 1965 after its initial enactment in 1935. It was signed into law by the former president Franklin Roosevelt. Its funds were deposited in the Social Security Trust fund. This was to be made available for access after retirement. President John Kennedy anticipated provision of health insurance to elderly through the Social security Act reforms in 1962. This bill continued even after his assassination in 1963.
It was passed in 1965. This was mainly aimed at providing health insurance to the elderly and unemployed. However, it is quite important to note that nonelderly population was left out of the bill. This is because institutions like the Congress and medical industry such as American Medical Association opposed the move citing significant increase in social security expenditure (Vladeck 16-19).
In essence, health insurance for nonelderly people in the United States has been from their own pockets. This has placed great pressure on individuals since they have to pay for it themselves. Moreover, health insurance premium are very high causing people to live unsustainable lives as they struggle to pay for health insurance. It is also quite necessary to note that people lack access to quality healthcare because they cannot afford it.
To make it worse, the United States has one of the best medical facilities globally. This is unacceptable as about 45 million non-elderly people struggle to access quality health care. Interestingly, some insurance companies have been found guilty of fleecing individuals of the high premiums by reneging on their tasks of providing quality health care.
Exclusion of health care from the Social Security Act has also caused a big rift between the population and their government as they contemplate changes. In fact, health care reforms have been fore front in political limelight as Americans try to force their leaders into resolving this mess. Universal health care has been the desire of most American as they envision relief from the soaring insurance premiums (EBSCO Publishing 1).
Reversal Strategies
Health sector has witnessed mixed results. This is mainly because use of reversal strategies has had an improved effect on its stocks. Many issues plague health sector. These range from politics, industrial development, infrastructure, natural calamities, global warming and microeconomics, among others. Of great effect to health sector is microeconomic stability. This factor impairs growth of the sector whenever microeconomics is unstable.
Moreover, origin, duration as well as extent of instability usually determine the repercussions on health sector. This, among other factors makes it unique and prone to instability. It is in this regard that reversal strategies help to ensure growth and continued return on profit albeit, on a small proportion. When such events occur, microeconomic adjustment policies are usually employed in implementing short-term austerity actions.
Long-term measures are also researched for ways of minimizing risk. Health sectors also get involved in sectorial adjustment as laid out by international financial institutions such as IFIs (International finance institutions). The scope of such implementations is usually found to be impractical and draw various criticism and debate on their pupated effect on economy. This makes health sector unique and increases volatility in its stocks, which eventually cause investors to employ reversal strategies for sustainability (Soros 15).
Investors count on heavy research and experiences for stock valuation. This enables them to time when to act on different stocks. For instance, some investors buy stocks that perform well for higher profitability. At the same time, they minimize risks by selling stocks that perform poorly.
Reversal strategies involve initiating techniques to protect stocks against unfavorable factors such as downward turns. Similarly, it shields stocks from very high profits since risks are well maintained to manageable levels. This is very important in health sectors as it enables investors to be assured of a given profit.
On the other hand, since heath sector often goes against economies of scale and other fundamental factors that stabilize stocks, it is important for investors to consider reversal strategies. Furthermore, given the high risks involved in health sector, investors do not have alternative options but to shield their capital.
Factors such as microeconomic instability, among others have the capacity to derail development in health sector. It is therefore quite necessary for investors to plan well on reversal strategy, in order to achieve full potential of their investments. In essence, Health sector involves several risks, which range from systematic to microeconomics. These together with others make the overall system highly volatile and hence demanding (Conjecture Corporation 1).
Conclusion
Health care policies are regulations, rules and guidelines aimed at improving service delivery. Moreover, they are aimed at sustaining health care system as well as reducing its risks. Most health care policies in the world encompass a wide range of issues. These include structures and facilities of health care service, financing and specialized programs, among others. Unlike other countries, the United States works on a hybrid health care system.
This involves financing of health services through private insurance companies and government programs. In other countries, a universal health care is usually provided. The federal government has put in place three main programs that serve to assist in financing health care.
These include Medicare, which serves the aged, Medicaid, which serves the poor and SCHIP, which serves children from poor backgrounds. This however, is still inadequate as 45 million people find themselves without health insurance. It is therefore necessary that reforms are made to improve health care service. To achieve this, health care policy must be reformed to align with expectations (Morrisey 1).
Works Cited
Conjecture Corporation. “What is Health care policy”. Wisegeek. WG, 12 Dec. 2011. Web.
EBSCO Publishing. “An Overview of Medicare in the U.S. connection”. Ebscohost. EBSCO, 2011. Web.
Laszewski, Bob. “Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review”. Health policy and market. Health Policy, 2011. Web.
Michigan State University. “Healthcare: Background”. Global edge. MSU, 2011. Web.
Morone, James, Litman, Theodor, and Robins Leonard. Health Politics and Policy. Stamford: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Morrisey, Michael. “Healthcare”. Econ, 2008. Web.
Pauly, Mark, and Hoff John. Responsible Tax Credits for Health Insurance. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2002.
Soros, George. The Alchemy of Finance, Simon and Shuster. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1987.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition: Healthcare”. BLS, 2011. Web.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “ About HHS”. HHS, 2011. Web.
United States History. “Social Security Act”. U.S. History, 2011. Web.
Vladeck, Bruce. “Universal Health Insurance in the United States: Reflections on the Past, the Present, and the Future”. American Journal of Public Health, 93(1): 16–19. NCBI, 2003. Web.
WHO. “The world health report 2000 – Health systems: improving performance”. WHO, 2011. Web.