The User Pays Model in Aged Care

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The User Pays Model in Aged Care
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The User Pays Model in Aged Care
Introduction
Most Asian countries are undergoing rapid growth in the gross domestic product (G.D.P),
the political atmosphere, and ways of life have also changed significantly. Recently, the
countries in the eastern part of the world are experiencing improvement in life expectancy.
Furthermore, the death rates have gone down; while, the fertility rates have gone up. The
combination of the above factors presents countries with a more significant percentage of aging
individuals. The Asian nations have meager health facilities to cater for the aging population.
This essay looks at the concept of user pays system in aged care. Furthermore, the paper finds
out various governments, especially the Australian administration are embracing the model to
take care of the elderly. Administrations of multiple countries need to borrow a leaf from the
Australian Health Sector on how to attend to the old in the community.
The Model in Aged Care
The Model is applied in Australia to cater for the Elderly, and other vulnerable members
of the society. Three alternative modes for paying for health care exist. Firstly, persons who
prefer to access medical attention through private hospitals can adopt the health assurance policy
(Almgren, 2017). The individuals pay premiums regularly. Families, having elderly members
pay the dividends for those that cannot afford the regular payments. The first alternative is
efficient since it enables the elderly to skip long queues at the health facilities (Barrington,
2017). The Australian administration has subsidized treatment. Patients cater for a minimal fee;
government incurs the remaining expenses. There is a fee that every citizen bears to enable the
government to render free treatment (Chaudhary & Arokiasamy, 2017). The cost is not
exorbitant as most patients regardless of their age can afford the fee.

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Disadvantages of the Model
Even after paying the dues that assist the government in subsidizing health care, the
model has some flaws. Individuals, who choose public over private hospitals, find it difficult to
access the right specialist for their ailments (Clough & Herring, 2017). Almost 80% of the total
population prefers health facilities. Long lines are the order of the day at public hospitals; hence
the elderly have a difficult time in accessing treatment (Barrington, 2017). The government
funding towards the health care cannot adequately cater for the bulging aging populations.
Proposed solutions to the Problems
The government is urging the members of the society to do the following tasks. Firstly, to
desist from overly on the already crowded public sector for medical attention. Instead, citizens
should apply for health assurance cards from private health facilities (Ducket & Willcox, 2015).
By doing so, citizens are relieving the public hospitals of the burden of overcrowding. The
government is encouraging the working class to visit the private hospitals to free up space in the
public hospitals for the elderly population. Furthermore, the national administration is allocating
more resources to facilitate treatment at the grass root level (Yiengprusawan, 2017). The
mainstream hospitals can now specially attend to the elderly and those suffering from chronic
ailments.
Policies Enhancing Aged Care
The political class has realized that Australia has a rapidly growing population of elderly
individuals. Furthermore, the people of the old, demanding for urgent medical attention has
doubled in the past year (Almgren, 2017). Those that require services of a nurse in the comfort of
their home have also increased (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). The national executive has realized
that they are wasting so many resources in the health department. Moreover, the Australian