Healthcare Financing: Policy Decisions and Ethical Considerations

This discussion board post delves into the critical issues surrounding health care financing in the United States, addressing the complex interplay between policy decisions, ethical considerations, and access to care. The author examines the roles of both public and private sectors, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the American Health Care Act, highlighting their respective impacts on different segments of the population, such as the elderly, low-income earners, and those with pre-existing conditions. The post explores the ethical implications of financing decisions, particularly concerning the balance between cost containment and ensuring accessible, high-quality care for all citizens. It references relevant sources like the World Health Organization and the World Bank to underscore the importance of universal health care for economic prosperity and human well-being. The author critiques the potential consequences of policies that prioritize financial considerations over humanitarian concerns, particularly for vulnerable populations. The assignment concludes by advocating for policies that prioritize equitable access to medical coverage for all.

Running Head: HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC AND FINANCING 1
HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC AND FINANCING
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HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC AND FINANCING 2
World Health Organization acknowledges that better healthcare is essential for human
health and well-being. For a country to optimize the productivity of its citizens and increase
gross domestic product, it should ensure that its citizens have access to good health care. This
need and desire to respect human rights, The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human
Rights to which many countries are entreaties asserts that everyone has the right to health
(Assembly, 2018).
In the United States of America, most of the medical expenses are born by private sector
even though the government program covers elderly people via Medicare, low-income earners
via Medicaid while military veterans are given state insurance via Veteran’s Administration. In
this paper, I will discuss economic and ethical issues that have been raised in the United States of
America concerning the financing health care policies by the government and guidelines on risks
that can be covered by private medical insurers and the impacts of this on individual’s access to
healthcare services
Healthcare policies covered by the public and private sector are Medicare, Medicaid, the
Affordable Care Act and the American Health Care Act which is a review of the Affordable Care
Act. Medicaid is a free medical insurance program low-income earners, children, pregnant
women, seniors and people living with disabilities. It is collaboratively financed by the federal
government and states.
According to Kaiser Health News, Medicaid faces the following challenges: as a
consequent of the Supreme Court’s ruling that it is not mandatory for states to participate in
Medicaid expansion (Rau, 2012). Medicaid allocation takes a good portion of state budgets
thereby forcing states to lower payments to doctors in order to avoid deficits.

HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC AND FINANCING 3
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people aged sixty-five, young people
with disabilities and people with end-stage renal disease. It is funded through payroll taxes paid
by employees, employers and people who are self-employed (Murray, 2000).
Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010.Many Americans became eligible for
Medicaid. The program was based on the humanitarian need for good health for everyone in the
USA rather than costs involved to meet such costs. Significant declarations made in the
Affordable Care Act are
(i) Insurers were prohibited from declining to cover individuals with a long history of illness
(ii) Insurers were to cover essential health services
(iii) Insurers were to charge the same premiums for everyone
American Health Care Act was made to repeal some declarations made in the affordable
care act. Its major focus was reducing government expenditure on health, as a result, many are
expected not to be covered secure medical covers due to higher costs. Central keys issues to this
program are that the Medicaid program would have budget cuts, taxes imposed on rich to
subsidize insurance covers for low-income earners would be abolished. It will not be mandatory
for one to have health cover hence many are likely to uninsured particularly the poor. The aged
people are going to be disadvantaged since they will have to pay high premiums to take medical
cover.
To sum up, cutting down expenditure on health is less advantageous. World Bank
maintains that providing universal health care “provides secure and prosperous economic
future.” Most of the issues addressed under Trumpcare make the poor and the aged people
vulnerable since the policy takes into consideration financial issues ignoring humanitarian

HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC AND FINANCING 4
matters and which is totally unethical. The American government should aim at ensuring that
everyone has an insurance medical cover rather than reversing the trend
Reference
Assembly, U. G. (2018). Universal declaration of human rights. UN General Assembly.
Murray, L. A. (2000). MCBS Highlights: Racial and Ethnic Differences Among Medicare
Beneficiaries. Health care financing review, 21(4), 1.
Rau, J. (2012). Medicare to penalize 2,217 hospitals for excess readmissions. Kaiser Health
News, 13.)