Healthcare Reforms in the United States: A Historical Perspective

This document discusses the healthcare reforms in the United States during the 1900s, including the attempt to pass a universal healthcare coverage policy. It explores the pros and cons of developing a state health insurance policy and the new provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Additionally, it examines the North-South divide in healthcare access and suggests ways to improve health outcomes in developing countries.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
HEALTHCARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Response to Discussion post 1:
The 1900s witnessed a revolution of health care reforms within the United States. The
first landmark healthcare policy that was attempted to be passed at this point of time included
the ‘universal healthcare coverage’ policy. The policy making was greatly inspired by the
social welfare acts such as the National Insurance Act of 1911 which was passed in the
United Kingdom at that point of time (Sommers et al. 2017). However, the policy was deeply
opposed by the American Medical Association and they labelled it as ‘Socialized medicine’.
This paved the way to the ‘Early Industrial Sickness Insurance Schemes’ which was
inexpensive and was made available to the workers by the employers. Thus, it can be said
that the presence of the employer based sickness funds had led to rejection of the government
based insurance scheme in U.S when it was already popular in UK.
The two pros and cons of developing a state health insurance policy can be mentioned
as follows (Sommers et al. 2015):
Pros:
 Better affordability of prescription drugs and physician visit
 Coverage over emergency and surgery bills
Cons:
 High premium of coverage makes it unaffordable for the client
 High chances of denial and rejection in other states
The best exchange that could be beneficial for the majority in the state would include the
short-term state based insurance policy. The rationale for the choice can be explained as
the convenient affordability, coverage over major health ailments and most importantly
the validity of the coverage in other states.

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Response to Discussion post 2:
The two new provisions of the Affordable Care Act can be listed as the following (Croft
and Parish 2013):
 Coverage offered to young adult dependable children in the family who are in need of
insurance coverage
 Coverage offered in case of a pre-existing chronic health condition
These new provisions would be beneficial for improving access to healthcare facilities for
the family members. In case of young adult children deprived of a job security, the provision
would help in securing health care benefits to them. Also, in case of a family member who is
suffering from a chronic long-term illness, the coverage would help in securing healthcare
benefits.
The Affordable Care Act has critically realigned the structure of the existing
healthcare system (Blumenthal and Collins 2014). In this regard, it can be said that the
implication of the Act has urged the healthcare systems to include health information
technology deliver quality in terms of service delivery. On the other hand, the act has made
primary health care facilities readily accessible to the medically underserved population at
high risk, improve community health and long-term care outcome.
Response to Discussion post 3:
The North-South divide can be explained as the socio-economic disparity that disrupts
the promotion of an equitable healthcare access. While the North comprises of the developed
nations such as the United States and Canada which are socio-economically stable, the South
is referred to as the region of the developing nations such as Brazil, Somalia and Sudan. The

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Southern region despite the greater population strength is socio-economically as well as
politically fragile. It should be mentioned here that the population base within the North have
longer life-expectancy due to improved access to health care facilities (Borgean 2019).
Hence, in order to improve life expectancy and ensure better health outcome, the leaders of
the South must include the provision of cost-effective health packages, universal vaccine
coverage, ensure better sanitation practices and improve access to cleaner drinking water.

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References:
Blumenthal, D. and Collins, S.R., 2014. Health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act
—a progress report.pp.40
Borgen, C. 2019. How to Gradually Improve Health in Developing Countries. [online] The
Borgen Project. Available at: https://borgenproject.org/improve-health-in-developing-
countries/ [Accessed 17 Feb. 2019].
Croft, B. and Parish, S.L., 2013. Care integration in the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act: Implications for behavioral health. Administration and Policy in Mental Health
and Mental Health Services Research, 40(4), pp.258-263.
Sommers, B.D., Gawande, A.A. and Baicker, K., 2017. Health insurance coverage and
health—what the recent evidence tells us.pp.79-82
Sommers, B.D., Gunja, M.Z., Finegold, K. and Musco, T., 2015. Changes in self-reported
insurance coverage, access to care, and health under the Affordable Care Act. Jama, 314(4),
pp.366-374.