Hsm 315 Healthcare

Maruthappu, M., Ologunde, R., Gunarajasingam, A.. (2012). Is health care a right? Health reforms in the USA and their impact upon the concept of care. Annals of Medicine & Surgery. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2049-0801(13)70021-

Health care is not a privilege. In fact, a good level and quality on healthcare should be an inalienable right for all people. Social class, status or economic situation shouldn’t dictate who live and enjoy of good health or who doesn’t. Healthcare in America should be universal, continuous, and affordable to all individuals and families. Although some of the states in the US are taking unilateral measures not to focus exclusively on the poor, but seeks to guarantee health access to any uninsured people, achieving universal coverage will require federal leadership and support, regardless of which strategy is adopted to achieve this

The concept of social justice is based of human rights and equality, this is the way people are treated in everyday life. The text I am currently studying is The story of Tom Brennan and I am seeing how this has some aspects of social justice like alcohol abuse and property vandalism.

It would be perfect to be governed solely by social justice, but the reality is that there must be a combination of social and market justice to benefit more the population; this combination must be composed mainly of social justice ideas, a majority of market justice will only harm the population. Since market justice focuses on the population that can afford the health care services, it leaves a big part of the population without coverage and this can escalate into a serious health problem. An example can be that, no matter how sick a person is and how much they need the help, if they cannot afford it they do not receive health services. If the disease is contagious this can develop into a serious problem for the country and puts in danger the whole population. In the other hand, having a major focus on social justice makes possible to give service even if the patient cannot afford it and consequently a major problem for everyone is prevented. The reason why there must be a balance is because, no country has infinite resources to cover all the health expenses of the population, but at least coverage for primary care must be a right for everyone. Not having a control in the resources provided can cause a depletion of them and ended up affecting more the population. There must be a control of resources but an emphasis in primary coverage for

* Justice - concerns the distribution of scarce health resources, and the decision of who gets what treatment (fairness and equality).

The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.

By applying the principles of social justice in our identification of health priorities, we can determine the impact these principles have on reducing health inequities and improving the health of the nation.

Health justice is a broad term. For me it means that everyone is able to receive health care despite where they are, what their background is, and how much money they have. Although this is the case, the current world health system isn’t like this. Health care is not as accessible as it should be. Many poorer, developing countries are still facing shortages of health care clinics in their area. The people in the world who do have health care, on the other hand, are the ones who are well off and have more money. Thankfully, due to the efforts of many different individuals and organizations, the healthcare system is slowly shifting over to where we want it to be. Not saying that it is perfect, we still have a long ways to go before we are able to create total health justice, but we are on our way for a world with health care that everyone is able to access and get the proper care they deserve.

Socialized medical systems are designed to disregard the insurance industry and disregard income while providing health care for all. Healthcare in the United States is constantly changing and advancing, which requires the cost of health insurance to rise. The idea of socialized medicine is prominent, until the aspects of socialized medicine are brought to attention. Every aspect of a socialized health care industry is controlled and powered by the government; most doctors, nurses, medics and administrators are government employees, and the government decides when, where, and how services are provided. Even though socialized healthcare systems would save money, it is a prominent idea but not worth the problems because total government control over the way healthcare is distributed would result in complications of the citizens.

The primary ethical issue related to cost containment in health care is distributive justice. The reality of limited resources necessitates their allocation to yield the greatest good for the greatest number of participants. Finding the balance between provision of value in health care and cost containment remains a fundamental ethical challenge for health care reform. Ultimately, there should be effective ways to contain the already high and steadily increasing costs of health care, it will become more and more difficult to provide care in the current or in a reformed health care system (American College of Emergency Physicians ,

However, as time went on, several problems arose which had to do with the principle of justice in healthcare. In America, it is the accepted norm that it is unjust to treat one person better or worse than another person, in similar circumstances (Tong, 2007, p.29). In an attempt

How I define the health equity related to Walden social justice is about the assurance of equivalent access to freedom, rights, and opportunities, and in addition dealing with the minimum advantaged individuals from society. Along these lines, whether something is just or crooked relies on upon whether it advances or hinders correspondence of access to common freedoms, human rights, open doors for sound and satisfying lives, and in addition whether it dispenses a decent amount of advantages to the slightest advantaged individuals from society. It requires that everyone agrees to treat others as equals in a manner that is not selfish or impolite.

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

Social justice is that status of the society where “equity” and “just treatment” of individuals exists. It is not limited to safeguarding the rights but also comes with responsibility to maintain a “society for all” providing equal opportunities. A socially just society can be achieved after examining the inequalities and seeking opportunity to curb the same by total elimination. The concept of social justice varies with the different philosophical approaches about the distribution or allocation of resources.

He states that “it doesn’t matter how you achieve it but that you do” (2011). No one pathway taken to greater equality will be the same for differing countries but there are lessons to be learned regarding how similar countries were able to be successful. Sweden was able to attain greater equality by closing the income gap through taxation, having a generous welfare state and benefits for its citizens; on the other hand, Japan was able to do it by having smaller income gaps before taxes and a smaller welfare state (Wilkinson, 2011). What was eye-opening and previously not considered by me was that the same contrasts were seen among states in the U.S. according to Wilkinson. The relationship between justice and health goes beyond health, and includes the structural and political institutions that are intertwined with health as well. Both avenues to greater equality discussed above contained some type of structural or political change that produced an outcome beneficial to all most likely in the areas of health, education, occupation, and improved social conditions. Having this information can direct actions towards looking at all possible approaches to combating inequalities, even those that seem out of the norm or have not been a part of the conversation in the past. Exploring options such as focusing on reducing health inequalities on a small scale (i.e. state level) instead of on the national level; how this looks and what results could potentially come from it are considerations of justice in our healthcare system. Inequalities, whether income, racial, or health based did not spring up overnight; they are the result of historical, political, and economic policies and decision making that shaped the landscape of countries where inequality