1. The Future of Healthcare
The Future of Healthcare Paper instructions: I need some work added to an already written
paper if possible. Analyzed how the single-payer plan will be applicable to your personal
healthcare coverage and provided reasons for preferring or rejecting the approach. (This
section was left out in the paper. Analyzed the single-payer system to identify omissions
and suggest changes supporting the response with valid reasons. Further development and
examples of omissions and suggested changes needed with support and insights needed. (
Find this part in the paper and add to it from the instructions .) The Future Of Healthcare
Lakelya Williams Argosy University Despite the eminent success of the 2010 Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation, a lot of critics still criticize some of its
various aspects. One of the mostly debated shortfalls associated with this landmark
legislation is the fact that it increases the cost of health care in the country. As a result,
concerned parties have over the recent years been seeking for the best cost effective health
care system for the United States. Among the various proposals that have been put across to
address this vital issue is the introduction of a Single Payer health care in the country. A lot
of American citizens believe that this is the ultimate solution to amicably equate and resolve
America’ s imbalanced health care system. Let us now look at the Single Payer health
system in great detail below (Battistella, 2010). A Single Payer system is basically a
financing system where only one entity or body acts as an administrator or as the word
suggests a ˜ payer’ . Therefore, a single payer health care system is a situation where the
government finances all the costs associated with health care for each and every citizen. It
gathers all the health care fees which are in turn utilized in the payment of the individual
citizen’ s health care costs. This is contrary to the current health care system in the United
States which comprises of thousands of totally different health care organizations i.e. those
that act as billing agencies, insurance companies and many more. The single payer health
care system has a number of appealing strengths that makes it stand out from the current
health care plan in America. First and foremost, it significantly cuts on the administrative
costs in the health care industry. Apparently, 31 cents in every dollar spent in the American
health care system covers administrative costs. Therefore, elimination of the many health
care organizations in the system will drastically reduce the administrative costs associated
with running them. This is because with the single payer health care system, it is only the
government that will be charged with the responsibility of settling the citizen’ s medical
bills. Insurance companies and other billing agencies will be out of the picture (Emanuel,
2008). Quality of the American health care system will also greatly improve through the
2. single payer health care system. This is because, the system will be easier to monitor and
control unlike now where it is hectic to gain control over all the individual organizations in
the health care system. This control will in turn ensure that quality is not compromised
while offering health care services to the citizens of the United States. Another important
strength is that business persons will no longer have to pay for medical care in the
compensation packages they offer to their workers. This is because they will have adequate
medical cover that is fully paid by the government. In a single payer health care system,
every American regardless of whether he or she is employed or not will have access to
better health care. This system covers all the American citizens without considering their
social or economic status, age, origin etc. In fact, this is the greatest achievement of the
single payer health care system. However, as every coin has two different sides, the single
payer health care system also has its negative implications. These weaknesses are often
used by the opposition of this system to discredit it and subsequently discourage its
adoption and implementation in the American system (Goodman, 2004). The greatest
weakness of the single payer system is mainly reliant on convincing the politicians to adopt
this system. Given that the general assumption is that the private sector is better placed to
provide quality service compared to the public sector, it is rather an uphill task to gain
support for this type of system. With the single payer system, all the private health
organizations will be done with paving way to the government to take over in financing all
the health care costs. Another weakness is the fact that the single payer health care system
will be subject to fluctuations owing to changes in the political climate. New future
governments may tamper with for example the amount of money set aside for overall
health care costs. This system will also eliminate the need for the services of private
insurance companies. The country’ s economy may suffer as a result of this (Sackett, 2010).
I however feel that there is one important factor that is missing from this solution to
America’ s health care problem. This is the incentive or motivation of the heath care
personnel including doctors and nurses to control costs. Through the single payer health
care these personnel’ s payment will be in accordance to fee for service. This may provide
an avenue for exploitation of vulnerable areas of the system. Another omission notable in
the single payer health care system is the neglect of pharmaceutical companies whose
profits will be slashed once this system is up and running. This is because the government
will always bargain for the lowest prices of prescription drugs through bulk purchases. As a
result, these companies will have less funding for their research endeavors. I would
therefore advocate for the inclusion of relevant guidelines to cover up for the above
mentioned omissions. Examples would be to find for better compensation procedures for
the health care personnel. This could be through emulation of the health care systems of
countries which are on the single payer system e.g. the United Kingdom. A proper
predetermined pricing strategy should also be formulated to cater for the pharmaceutical
companies. They should be able to raise enough funds for medical research and at the same
time offer a reasonably fair price to the government’ s bulk purchases. I totally favor the
single payer health care plan because of the provision of quality comprehensive medical
care to all the citizens of America despite their status in the society. Being under my
parent’ s medical cover, I would love to be assured of medical care at all times despite the
3. situation or condition that am in. This world is quite unpredictable and the assurance of
quality medical attention is one of the best gifts that the government can offer its citizens.
For me, the single payer health care system would definitely have a great positive impact on
my life. First and foremost, with my health guaranteed, I will be able to focus on other
important nation building tasks. As a matter of fact, the incredibly high amounts of money
Americans keep aside for medical cover will be spent elsewhere and thus the country’ s
economy will grow. I therefore believe that a single payer plan is the long lasting solution to
America’ s health care problem (Stettner, 2009).
