A Plan for Improving Healthcare Access

A national health care system in the United States has been a contentious topic of debate for over a century. Social reformists have been fighting for universal health care for all Americans, while the opposition claims that a “social” heath care system has no place in the ‘Land of the Free’.

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of two federally and/or state funded programs. The programs that will be discussed are Medicare and Medicaid. In this paper will be information about who receives Medicaid/Medicare, the services offered by these programs, and those long term services that are not.

Improving access to care is imperative to seeing healthcare costs decrease. The cost that could be saved with increased patient access could be as high as $5.2 million (Hamlin, 2015). Access to care affects many aspects of healthcare that are not obvious. For example, patient experience, outcomes, and compliance are all better because of increased access to care.

I admire your vision about starting a low-income clinic for the needy and to cater for the immigrants. I had experienced not being able to get medical care because I could not afford private insurance and did not have enough money to pay for a private clinic. Starting a low-income clinic will really benefit those that cannot afford to pay for healthcare benefits.

The program aimed to increase the number of the insured people and the number of the people accessing basic healthcare in the US. The inclusion of the economically challenged in the care program stimulated the need for reduced contribution to the model. The decreased contribution to the program translated to decreased payments of the services offered in the clinics by the insurer. To operate effectively with the reduced payments, the clinics adopted designs of healthcare delivery or advanced practices that are aligned to the amount paid by the insurer that significantly reduced the quality of the healthcare delivery (Estes et al., 2013).

Obama care is a plan introduced in the US with the aim of reforming the existing health sector. The introduction of the plan was in the form of a bill that was later signed into law in 2010 by President Obama (Manchikanti & Hirsch, 2009). Also, Obama care is referred to as Affordable Care Act (Manchikanti & Hirsch, 2009). The act aims at introducing reforms in the American Health care system offered to the citizens. The Act provides Affordable Quality Insurance to the American citizens so as to help curb the increasing healthcare spending (Manchikanti & Hirsch, 2009). The health reforms outlined in the Obama care include the introduction of new insurance rules to be observed by the Insurance Companies, insurance mandates and exchanges,

Healthcare financing is proven to be challenging. A balance between adequate access, acceptable quality and affordable cost are the main objectives of a healthcare system (Paterson, 2014, p. 13). The island of Tekram is finding extremely difficult to achieve a solution to the current crisis of their healthcare system. The objective to this case study is to recommend a new healthcare strategy to island government.

To begin with, the goal is to gradually introduce the new health care system into the United States. To avoid the idea that the government is introducing a “Big Brother” like plan. The first step is to introduce the usage of smart cards through executive order. Since it is election year it would be beneficial in implementing the new policy. This first step, of using smart cards would decrease wait-time and decrease charges while increasing care and transparency. With this plan the prices would be fixed and be negotiated annually. The system also decreases bankruptcy over medical charges and bills. The usage of smart cards will save paper and decrease the amount of money on paper. Also, it will reduce the amount of money spent to send files to different locations. Instead of waiting for a file patients would just hand over their smart card and their entire medical history would appear in other words increasing transparency of medical information. Concerning Equity and coverage the new system is quite effective. The entire population is covered under the new plan. Individuals can choose to opt out of the plan provided to everyone and add alternative care. If the individuals loses his or her job they will be covered by their job’s insurance for up to six months. That should be enough time for one to find another job. The six month coverage will also decrease the stress that one might have after losing a job that provides great insurance.

Absolutely, the issues relating healthcare affordability and access remains the most pressing concerns. Nonetheless, this has been the case for the most part of 20th century. Perhaps a fresh look at the system to which emphasizes on the special needs of a complex society can bring the most positive change. In systematic terms, the problem with the current structure is that prevention takes time, whereas, political progressions are short-range (McLaughlin & McLaughlin, 2008). Therefore, incentivizing prevention under the current system is almost impossible for the reason that when individuals engage in preventive programs, the continuation of accrued benefits will most likely be compromised or written out in its entirety. Such dilemma is the main concern; hence, cultivating a more consistent preventive care system is the most pressing need (Wyrwich et al., 2012).

Because the child is from the inner-city, she may not have had equal access to quality healthcare and adequate resources for deaf children, which has hindered her from learning official sign language. In the USA, many children that are deaf do not receive “equal access to care, intervention, and follow-up services” (Sacks et al., 2014, p. 92). Socioeconomic, minority status and non-English native language are barriers to children having access to various types of services and health care that produce favorable developmental outcomes (Sacks et al., 2014).

Access to health care can sometimes be a challenge. That challenge is even greater for people whose needs are extensive and costly or those who have special needs and have difficulty figuring out access on their own. This would include the unemployed, the retired and children. Improving access for these individuals is a very necessary, ongoing activity. It will be interesting to see how the U.S contrasts with G.B.

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States

All over the world, accessibility to health care continues to be a major concern for governments. Not only do logistical aspects such as the availability of medical personnel or equipment hamper accessibility, but it is also equally influenced by other perspectives like legal and cultural elements. Therefore, it is imperative that health care authorities discern ways in which they can improve the accessibility of healthcare to populations. In this regard, this research paper highlights some of the ways in which governments, healthcare authorities, and agencies can utilize to enhance the accessibility of health care to the members of the populations.

In Pocahontas county West Virginia, tourism is the primary source of income for many, and the driver of the economy due to the abundance of outdoor recreation available year-round. Pocahontas Memorial Hospital (PMH) is established to be a primary care source for this rural community, serving approximately 5% of the state’s population, with only a 25 bed facility (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2013). PMH wishes to deliver compassionate care and promote healthy lifestyles through working collaboratively with other healthcare facilities, and delivering adequate patient education, while sustaining financial viability (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2016a). This organization has determined a need, and would like to offer a comprehensive

When choosing a health care plan, a patient is given a wide range of choices because of health care access options. Patients are more involved with health care choices than in the past by being able to compare different policies and choosing a plan that fits their needs. Having access to health care, which includes insurance, plays a crucial part in the ability to receive preventive services. Diabetic health care access options are available for all ages. Local community health clinics are a good option for patients who are worried about care cost by offering free care or charge a small fee. Diabetic patients may need specialty care provided by podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and endocrinologists. Diabetic patients need to have access clinics