Government Supported Health Care System
Essay Preview: Government Supported Health Care System
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Under the U.S. Federal Health Act, individual citizens are provided preventative care and medical treatments from primary care physicians as well as access to hospitals, dental surgery and additional medical services. With a few exceptions, all citizens qualify for health coverage regardless of medical history, personal income, or standard of living. However, for new residents, there is typically a waiting period before health coverage will be granted. This can vary, but cannot exceed three months. Under the U.S. Federal Health Act, however, health services cannot be denied due to financial inability to pay premiums. This will give all of the citizens an opportunity to have health insurance.
Health care in the U.S. will be funded at both the state and federal levels. The financing of health care will be provided via taxation both from personal and corporate income taxes. Additional funds from other financial sources like sales tax and lottery proceeds will also be used by some states. At the federal level, funds are allocated to states via the U.S. Health and Social Transfer (USHST). Transfer payments are made as a combination of tax transfers and cash contributions. At a state level, funding will be between one-third and one-half of what states spend on social programs. On the other hand, about three-quarters of all funding come from public sources, with the remainder from private sources such as businesses and private insurance. Therefore, funding programs which relate to the maintenance and the improvement of the health care system includes; The Health Care Policy Contribution Program (HCPCP) which is a national program designed to promote policy research and analysis, evidence-based pilot projects and evaluations on current and emerging health care system priorities. The HCPCP will use contributions to fund non-profit, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, and provincial, territorial and local governments, in order to develop, implement and disseminate knowledge, best practices and strategies for innovative health care delivery.
This program will address on-going and emerging priorities in the health care system by funding projects that support key areas such as: health human resources, the integration of internationally educated health professionals, access to health care and reduction in wait times, primary health care and chronic disease management, home and community care, quality care and patient safety, and palliative and end-of-life care. However, with the use of the Health Infrastructure Support Program (HISP), it will support the efforts to test and assess the use of new information technologies and applications in the health care field through pilot projects in areas such as public health, health surveillance, and pharmaceutical care. It will be open for the non-profit, non-government groups and organizations in the U.S. On the other hand, HISP funding, however, will allow the hospital to develop a computer network that enables the proper transfer of electronic patient records. (
The types of government committees that would be in charge are:
The federally funded program will function as an alternative for patients who cannot afford healthcare benefits or continuum of care after they have been discharged for treatment. In an effort to eliminate the need for patients to continue utilizing the Emergency Department as a primary care physician office more services will be available to the community at each state. Services covered through the funding include assistance with immunizations, prescription drugs, dental care, substance abuse, mental health assessments, and most importantly preventative care measures that encourage screenings and routine checkups.
Given the mission of the organization to help not only provide treatment to the ones that need it most, but to also educate on the importance of healthier living, the program will focus heavily on preventative care. By educating the community there is a better chance of avoiding illness in the future. With health care insurance becoming more challenging to afford for both the employers and employees shifting the focus on lowering costs overall by supplying more of a wellness education program into the treatment will prove to be beneficial. Wellness programs are growing quickly in the United States due in part to the introduction of health care reform and what it will do for hospital and insurance revenue. In fact, according to Corporate Wellness Magazine, “corporate health and wellness is now one of the fastest growing industry segments within US healthcare” (Edelheit, 2009).
In an effort to attract more funding options, health care providers would be set up to refer patients who need continuous care, but are not emergent or insured to continue utilizing the hospital service. This would assist in receiving more clientele referred over to continue to assist the community and provide education on preventative