Public Health Policies
The health of any population is mainly influenced by both the economic situation around it as well as the social circumstances with the inclusion of the health care services that it provides (Kim, Farmer, & Porter, 2013). Lack of quality health care access is a global health issue for obesity patients as despite the health developments taking place most individuals have not been able to access proper care. Many individuals have proper access to quality health care which enables them to profit completely from the national system of health care. However, other individuals face barriers that hinder them from obtaining basic care services. This is thus illustrated by extensive research which confirms that ethnic and racial minorities and individuals from low economic levels are represented disproportionately among the individuals with health care access issues. Accessing poor health care comes at societal and a personal cost as this raises the burden of diseases for the society in addition to the burden that is subjected to individuals bearing the disease (Kim, Farmer, & Porter, 2013). This, therefore, necessitates the implementation of health policies which will work to ensure that the individuals are well accessed to medical care.
Several health policies can be utilized in ensuring that health care quality and access is distributed among every member of the society. This, therefore, requires additional capital in the health care system which may be utilized in the distribution of programs. The following policies will ensure that the demand and accessibility of health care are increased in order to solve the access issue. Extending individual insurance coverage is crucial as health insurance makes a big difference in determining whether individuals access necessary care, where they receive it and their ultimate health status (Jha, Larizgoitia, Audera-Lopez, Prasopa-Plaizier, Waters, & Bates, 2013). Those individuals who are not insured are likely to forgo health services and the general consequences are thus severe especially when those conditions that can be cured are not detected. Additionally, this results in diseases being recognized at advanced stages which make treatment complex, expensive and increases the mortality rate.
Health care financing via pocket payments strengthens the limitation effect on the present price and income on utilization. The limitation is tightened further by the lack of opportunities to borrow. Insurances coverage is mostly limited to the formal employment which thus excludes individuals from other sectors who are mainly from the low socio-economic sector (Jha, Larizgoitia, Audera-Lopez, Prasopa-Plaizier, Waters, & Bates, 2013). Insurances covers should be extended and this should not include extending insurance covers to those individual that are poor directly but this can be achieved by granting health covers that are grounded on several characteristics like age which is directly correlated with the level of poverty. The policy can thus help in increasing the health care utilization thus reducing the disparities between the poor and the rich individuals (Jha, Larizgoitia, Audera-Lopez, Prasopa-Plaizier, Waters, & Bates, 2013). The financing system will additionally ensure that the government utilizes less capital in health care provision budget through setting up financing schemes in all communities.
Price subsidies are an effective policy that will work to ensure that health care provision and access is increased. Health care prices are the major Deterrent to health care demand. The cost of living has gradually risen over the recent years and the income still remains low thus limiting individuals from accessing care. In addition health care is characterized by high cost which is distributed among the general population without the distinction of social classes. The national government is therefore required to subsidize the health care prices to ensure that services are offered at reduced prices to increase demand. Additional medicines are highly priced especially for those suffering from chronic illness. Chronic diseases health care services should be waivered to ensure that the access difficulties are eliminated and the mortality rate will thus be lowered since most disease will be identified at early stages (Bauer, Briss, Goodman, & Bowman, 2014).
Cash rewards should be utilized in addition to lowering the distance barrier. This involves ensuring that services are provided to individuals or they are taken to the services (Bauer, Briss, Goodman, & Bowman, 2014). Price and insurance subsidies weaken the financial limitations to the access to health care. The effectiveness of this policy, therefore, depends on the significance of health care pricing. If education, poor knowledge, and cultural factors are the major influences of lack of health care access the barriers should be eliminated. Cash rewards can be utilized in inducing changes in seeking behavior of health (Bauer, Briss, Goodman, & Bowman, 2014).
An ethical policy can be defined as a written guideline set that is subjected by an organization to the management and the workers to ensure that they conduct their actions in regard to the ethical standards and primary values (Gostin, & Milbank Memorial Fund, 2010). An ethical policy is a theory that relates to the things that make actions of an organization right or wrong morally. The policy is aimed at raising awareness and the desire to access health care among the poor Individuals thus encouraging positive results (Gostin, & Milbank Memorial Fund, 2010).The proposed health policies are ethical because they are aimed at ensuring that health organization conducts their actions based on the things that are right morally. Additionally, the policies provide guidelines on how their actions should define the impacts on the general health of organizations. This will, therefore, ensure that the health care facilities are guided by the good-being of individuals regardless of their racial, ethnic or social economic status. The policies are additional ethical because they define the importance of how those that are within the organization should interact with each other as well as with the patients.
The policies may, however, be hindered by federal law, government policies and health policies. Federal law holds the authority of assessing whether proposed policies are effective by evaluating the benefits as well as the disadvantages. Since the policies require a high budget in the implementation the federal, as well as the national government, may hinder their progress if the budget is unmanageable. Ethical and legal concerned in implementing health policies may include, whether the policies will generate positive results, legal regulations as well as the general effects of the proposed policy (Turnock, 2012).
References
Bauer, U. E., Briss, P. A., Goodman, R. A., & Bowman, B. A. (2014). Prevention of chronic disease in the 21st century: elimination of the leading preventable causes of premature death and disability in the USA. The Lancet, 384(9937), 45-52.
Gostin, L. O., & Milbank Memorial Fund. (2010). Public health law and ethics: A reader. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.
Jha, A. K., Larizgoitia, I., Audera-Lopez, C., Prasopa-Plaizier, N., Waters, H., & Bates, D. W. (2013). The global burden of unsafe medical care: analytic modelling of observational studies. BMJ quality & safety, 22(10), 809-815.
Kim, J. Y., Farmer, P., & Porter, M. E. (2013). Redefining global health-care delivery. The Lancet, 382(9897), 1060-1069.
Turnock, B. J. (2012). Public health: What it is and how it works. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
