Public Healthcare Essay Example

As a first generation Canadian, due to the on-going debate about a possible public-private healthcare interface, I have become very familiar with the meaning of public vs private healthcare.In a socialist type government healthcare services are provided, funded and regulated by the government, which constitutes as a public healthcare system.On the other hand, entrepreneur-run (profit-based) clinics and hospitals that are privately owned would be considered part of a private healthcare sect.Public Healthcare Essay Example

As a Canadian I have experienced the benefits of a relatively efficient public healthcare system.

When comparing this to our neighbor’s healthcare system, statistics have shown that although the majority of services provided in the U. S. are through the private healthcare sect, the US seems to spend much more on maintaining this system per capita than Canada.

Somehow indicating that a government regulated system might be run a little more efficiently. Furthermore, from personal experience I have learned that a public health care system also provides access to everyone.

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It eliminates discrimination according to an individual’s income and class, when you are a patient you are treated with the same level of care whether you live in a million-dollar condo or in government housing. This in my opinion promotes equality and unification among st Canadian citizens.

I believe that with the government spending at stake the health of Canadians is more closely monitored. For instance, statistics provide that smoking leads to many health issues that in the end cause the government quite a bit of spending, this intern has encouraged many campaigns against smoking.

For example, in Australia (another country with a publicly run healthcare system) persons born after a certain year will not be legally allowed to purchase cigarettes. Although in the opinion of some people, this is against human rights, in my personal opinion I think it is for the greater good of the future health of Australians. Something that Canadians should consider implementing along with the graphic anti-smoking packaging and very direct television-ads that are currently being used.Public Healthcare Essay Example

Although, there are many advantages to public healthcare, we must not ignore the disadvantages to a completely publicly run health care system. Considering that healthcare spending is dependent on taxes and the allocation of funding is at the mercy of government officials, we are faced with issues such as ‘Cut Backs’.

Recently, the Canadian government has decided to reduce healthcare funding to the provinces, this has been reflected in increased wait times (which are already unacceptably long) and increased the number of services not covered by provincial healthcare.

This along with the comparison of much lower funding for innovation and cutting edge research that has been apparent in the U. S. due to private sect interest and investment, has been motivation enough to drive some of our striving and driven physicians to move down south to further advance their careers.

With the options of private funding and investment, the quality of private clinics can be much higher than what we receive at publicly funded clinic. On the other hand, where funding is not sufficient the quality can be quite low which shows an inconsistent range that cannot be regulated.Public Healthcare Essay Example

Despite this irregular pattern, another advantage to having a private healthcare option is provided and allowing those who would rather not wait and pay for their services to do so and keep this spending in Canada. Therefore, with these clear advantages and disadvantages of both a publicly and privately run healthcare system, there is room for debate.

I believe that is the reason the Canadian government is considering a public-private healthcare interface to reap the possible benefits of both systems. This of course will bring along with it the problems that have to be considered before a transition is made.

Public health is the science and the art of preventing disease, prolonging life and prolonging health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, communities and individuals (C.E.A Winslow, 1920). It focuses on threats to overall health of a community with an aim of controlling rather than treating diseases through surveillance of cases and promotion of healthy behaviors. It also focuses on treating diseases in case of outbreaks. The role played by public health in improving lives through prevention and treatment of diseases in order to contribute to a state of total physical and mental well being of individuals cannot be overlooked.

Health Care Statistics

The 2009 U.S. census bureau of statistics records indicate that 16.7 percent of U.S. residents were uninsured (US Census Report, 2009). Further statistics indicated that more money is spent on health care in the U.S than in any other United Nations Member country (WHO, 2009). The U.S. has the third highest public healthcare expenditure per capita because of high cost of medical care in the country (WHO, 2009). Further US statistics show that 46.2 percent of all personal bankruptcies in 2001 originated from medical debt, while 62.1 percent of filers for bankruptcies in 2007 claimed high medical expenses, leading to an increase in the number of uninsured and underinsured people (7,8).

Some critics of healthcare provision have argued that the system does not deliver equivalent value for the money spent, highlighting that US pays as twice much yet, it lags behind other wealthy nations in infant mortality and life expectancy. According to MacDorman & Mathews (2009) statistics rank US life expectancy as 42nd in the world, below other industrialized countries such as Japan, UK and Germany. WHO (2000) ranks U.S. health care system as the highest in cost, 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall health among 191 member nations included in the study. Furthermore, US has been pointed out as the only industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have private or public health insurance (American Journal of Public Health, 2009). Further statistics indicate that lack of health insurance results to estimated 18,000 deaths annually in US IN 2004, with the number increasing to 44,800 in 2009 (American Journal of Public Health, 2009).

47 percent of U.S. healthcare spending comes from the government via Medicare, Medicaid, VA system and from state among others. According to CBO’s report, universal health insurance is estimated to raise U.S. healthcare spending by $123 billion annually (The Economist, 2009). Universal health care insurance would greatly increase funds flowing to private medical investors without necessarily solving or improving healthcare provision for US citizens.Public Healthcare Essay Example

Advantages of Public Health Spending

Increased healthcare spending aimed at improving quality of healthcare services results to a decrease in medical care expenses through increased and improved access to new technologies that provide for new treatment options and treatment for large number of individuals (Newhouse, 1993).

At local level, healthcare spending is beneficial because it creates employment for healthcare specialists, increases wages for health care workers, expands local tax revenues and increases demand for related goods and services.

As the health sector becomes a greater portion of GDP, employment and related activities in health sector also grow. The national Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that health sector employed 6.3 million practitioners and technical workers in by November 2003 (US Department of Labor, 2004), and a further 3.2 million Americans were employed in health care support occupations. The health sector is therefore a significant source of employment for America workers. Further statistics reveal that American hospitals account for over $1.3 trillion in economic activity annually (Trend Watch, 2004) while by state, hospitals account for 4.1- 13.3 percent of employment. It is therefore evident that although healthcare costs are a significant burden to all levels of government, the spending represents a substantial economic asset and potential leverage for improving job growth and wages.

Increase in spending for results to greater interpersonal transfers of wealth from younger to older segments of population .Public Healthcare Essay Example

Disadvantages

Raising healthcare spending could lead to slow economic growth and employment (Monaco & Phelps, 1995). Raising healthcare spending has significant impact on federal budget (Monaco & Phelps, 1995). Many employees are interested in limiting their contribution to increasing healthcare costs by requiring their employees to increase their contributions or by providing different forms of coverage that potentially reduce available household income as more costs are shifted from employer to employee (Monaco & Phelps, 1995).

The overall economic growth for US is 3.6 percent, while healthcare spending is estimated at 9.3 percent. A larger share of resources is therefore allocated on health care, negatively impacting on private and public sectors of economy (CMS, 2003). Furthermore, federal states and municipal governments are faced with the cost rising more rapidly than revenues, placing high scrutiny on all discretionary healthcare spending. Companies faced by rising healthcare spending may be forced to cut other expenses, reduce wages, reduce health insurance benefits, or advocate for the employees to pay a greater share of costs. This leads to shifting of more costs to consumers, making them to choose between high value of health care and other goods and services.

Rapidly rising healthcare spending lowers GDP and overall employment, raising inflation (Monaco & Phelps, 1995). However, this may be viewed as transfer resulting to real employment growth and financial prosperity for companies that are largely American owned. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) notes that as income rises, consumers may choose to assign larger portion of their resources to health care services and a smaller portion to other goods and services.Public Healthcare Essay Example

On the side of government, public health spending places an economic burden upon citizens to finance the spending inform of increased taxes and increased long term borrowing. Increasing taxes reduces the amount of income that firms and households would have for other activities (Paul, 2003). Furthermore, increased government borrowing to finance healthcare spending growth has similar impact on availability of resources for other activities. As interest rates increase due to government borrowing, the cost of capital firms and households also increase leading to a crowd out investment in some activities that would been undertaken. (Paul,2003).

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Increasing health care costs reflects on the final product cost and could make the US goods and services being less competitive in international markets , resulting to US trade deficit.

Increasing health care costs has led to increase costs of insuring workers and their dependants, placing a burden on employers. This has consequently resulted to a 63-68 percent decrease in number of employers offering health insurance to their employees and their dependants since 2001 (Kaiser, 2004).

Statistics have revealed that increase in health care cost are offset by direct reduction of wages, increased employee cost sharing and unionized contracts (Porter, 2004). In cases where the employers are unable to offset increased cost of employees health care via reduction of wages and increased hours of work, workforce reductions could result to layoffs and increasing number of part time and temporary workers. Recent statistics indicate that while the overall labor force grew by 1 percent between July 2003 to July 2004, the number of individuals employed in temporary positions grew by 9 percent during the same period (32), evidently employees are choosing differentially fill positions with temporary workers who do not have the attendant rising healthcare cost of full time benefit, eligible employees.Public Healthcare Essay Example

Rising health care costs impacts negatively on households as savings that could be used on consumer goods and covering education costs are diverted towards health care services (Tu, 2004). Low income households without access to government or private charity programs may be particularly impacted by rising health care costs. Statistics reveal that between 2001 and 2003, the percentage of insured low income individuals with chronic conditions that spent more than 5 percent of their income on health care increased from 28 percent to 42 percent. Almost half of uninsured low-income chronically ill individuals have problems paying medical bills, which has less likely contributed to delaying or foregoing medical care (35). Further statistics reveal that increased spending on health care resulted to almost 6 million Americans seeking complementary and alternative medicine treatments in 2002 as a more affordable option compared to traditional medical care (Tu, 2004).

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Governments providing Free Health Care Every government provides services for their citizens. One of the key areas governments focus their attention on is public health care. Citizens have the benefit of receiving free health care services whenever they need it. Yet, everything that is provided for free has its drawbacks. There are disadvantages as well as advantages associated with free health care services provided by governments for their citizens. Firstly, with the anticipation of free health services, there is a high likelihood of poor quality of services.

According to the Ministry of Health’s Strategic Plan 2011-2015, Fiji has one of the lowest total health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) when compared to other Pacific Island countries. As a result of a lack of finances, it can be expected that health services and products may not be of high quality. Moreover, cheaper and less effective medication may be given in place of quality and effective drugs. It should not be expected that citizens have the best quality of health services due to the limited budget and expenditure of the ministry.

Another disadvantage of free health care is the shortage of doctors and nurses. The Minister of Health (Fiji), Dr Neil Sharma said that doctor shortages were a common occurrence in every part of the world and Fiji was no exception (Malo 2011, p. 5). For instance, at Rakiraki Hospital one doctor looks after over ten thousand people and only three doctors cater for the twenty-nine thousand population of Tavua (Malo 2011, p. 5). From this information it can be seen that the doctor to patient ratio is very low.Public Healthcare Essay Example

Thirdly, free health care services leads to overcrowding in hospitals. With the availability of free medical services, citizens have the opportunity to make the most use of the services provided to them and this in turn leads to overcrowding. It is an all too common site to see long queues and frustrated patients at the outpatient section of major hospitals (Fiji Times Online 2008). Many people wait for hours before they are seen as the hospitals are just not large enough to cater for them all. With the large population of Fiji, it is not surprising that overcrowding occurs in hospitals. However, free health care services have many advantages as well. Governments spend a lot of time, money and resources in providing health care services and it is only after carefully examining the benefits that these services are provided. The advantages that will be considered include benefit to all classes of people, the continual improvement of healthcare services and the reduction and control of disease outbreaks. Equally important to consider are the advantages of free health services.

Free health services benefit all classes of people especially the poor and needy who cannot afford expensive treatments offered at private hospitals and those citizens who do not have health insurance. In Fiji, the healthcare system is mainly financed through general taxation (Ministry of Health Strategic Plan 2011-2015, p. 11). The revenue collected from taxation is based on income levels and the ability of the individual to pay. Consequently, the poor families benefit greatly from this service as they get the most out of it. In addition, another advantage to consider is that the government continually improves its services.

Citizens benefit greatly from the improved health services governments provide. According to the Minister of Health, Dr Neil Sharma, the ministry’s foremost objective is to strengthen primary healthcare services in the country. The Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr Salanieta Saketa added that one major target for the ministry is to improve the delivery of primary healthcare services (Ministry of Health Annual Corporate Plan 2011, pp. 3-4). The Fiji government also spends a substantial amount on educating and training health professions (Panda 2003, p. 37). These are only a few of the many ways the government is improving the healthcare system. Finally, free health services help to reduce and control disease outbreaks. Those individuals who are carriers of infectious diseases are treated and cared for.Public Healthcare Essay Example For example, the Ministry of Health has sections dealing with HIV and AIDS, adolescent and reproductive health, oral health and non-communicable diseases to name a few. Information is also provided on these diseases and prevention. These services are very beneficial to the itizens and the nation as a whole as it stops the risk of spreading the illness to the entire population. Free health services are indeed beneficial for the entire population. In conclusion, free health services provided by governments have its disadvantages and advantages. Although there are disadvantages to this service, in some ways, the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages. Governments do recognise the need for poor and needy families’ access to healthcare services and also know that in order to cater for their citizens needs, they must continually improve their health services.

Governments also recognise the need to control or if possible eliminate the outbreak of infectious diseases in order to protect the entire population. The government has done a great job in providing the citizens with healthcare services and this can be improved by allocating more finances to the health sector. With these in play, it is safe to say that the free health care services governments provide have great advantages for their citizens.Public Healthcare Essay Example