Introduction
The United States of America allocates huge amounts of money in every financial year to the health care sector than any other nation globally. However, the country does not appear among the countries with a higher life expectancy of baby and mother during birth hence causes contradicting facts about the countries health sector. In a normal situation, the amount of expenditures incurred by a country on any sector (in this case the health sector) there should be a strong correlation between the life expectancy and the amount of financial resources allocated. Therefore, this critique paper focuses on highlighting various aspects related to the health care system in the United States of America and some suggested reforms that will help in improving the service delivery and promote equity among all the citizens.
Evolution of US HealthCare System
The health sector in the United States of America has witnessed significant dynamics from 1750 up to 2000 in terms of gradual but constant evolution in service delivery and health care equipment. Such advancement stages in the medical sector saw changes from home affairs medical remedy situations to semi-skilled medical practitioners through to the up-to-date medical, industrial complex with ultra-modern and sophisticated medical equipment systems and highly skilled human resources (Galvani et al., 2020). Some of the current strengths in the US health care sector include the identification of germ theory as the primary causative aspect of diseases, establishment of medical insurance covers, effective and efficient professionalism in the sector. The construction of grand and modern medical research and training institution facilities, and technological advancement in the treatment of various diseases improves the health care service delivery (Emanuel, 2019).
However, the system has some weaknesses of the US health care system are that they are expensive for patients not covered by Medicare or Obamacare, lack patient-centric, and have relatively long waiting times (Christopher, 2020). Furthermore, forces in the health care sector contribute in one way or another; hence some for the forces in the US medical sector are Republican Party on medical taxations. Other factors are: corporate lobby on dissatisfied consumers, increasing sharing of costs, healthcare complexities, advocacy for healthcare reforms, urge for digital transformation in the health sector, and continually rising cases of the rising cost of drugs.
World Health Organization on Universal Health Coverage
According to the world health organization definition of the universal health coverage, it is an approach where people in a given community embraces the use of inclusive, curative, preventive, promotive, palliative, and rehabilitative medical care services that they require with absolute and sufficient quality and effectiveness. WHO further opines that such practices should aim at reducing the financial burden on the users by enhancing some of the costs incurred get covered by the medical insurance agencies like Medicaid and Medicare (Carroll & Frakt, 2017).
The definition provided by the World Health Organization about the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a rights-based view of health because it requires the relevant government agencies to provide health care services to the citizens using the revenues collected. Its vision and another significant role in the universal health coverage (UHC) are to prevent the exposure of patients to financial hardships and the provision of high quality, effective, and efficient health care services to all (Carroll & Frakt, 2017). Therefore, this approach is effective and enables the less privileged and elderly in society to get access to medical services at affordable prices.
Suggested Reforms in the Universal Health Care
Health care reforms are of great concern and importance to the American citizens in enhancing they gain access to quality healthcare services and promotion of equity. , and the people I usually interact with is because it enhances the acquisition of better health care services and better health status. Most of the people I interact with are family members, friends, colleagues, and business partners whose health status matters a lot hence reinforcing my underpinning health care reforms. Cancryn (2020) described a poll that stated that health care concern is at the top of the list of important issues for voters this year. Health care reform is thus a priority due to its benefits and advantages. It indicates that this group of people cares about this aspect only for their self-gain, as most of my friends and family also have second opinions in their perceptions about the system.
Disparities in the Healthcare Sector and Approaches to Reducing Disparity
Health disparities are dissimilarities in health results and their reasons among sets of individuals. Health equity is when everybody has the chance to be as in good physical shape as probable. Health disparities result from multiple factors, including Poverty, Environmental threats, inadequate access to health care, Individual and behavioral factors, and educational inequalities (Mossialos et la., 2017). The CDC has approved various interventions to mitigate these disparities. They include the implementation of evidence-based programs and policies to enhance screening levels for different diseases such as colorectal cancer (Mossialos et al., 2017). CDC also approved vaccination recommendations for Hepatitis A virus (HAV), which will help curb the spread among children and adults.
The US government’s healthcare system has adopted several approaches to reducing health disparities and achieving equity. Health equity is a situation where everyone has equal opportunity to access health care facilities (Carroll & Frakt, 2017). Some of these approaches include the following strategies, like the implementation of evidence-based programs and healthcare-related poll reforms, provision of medical insurance to all people such as Obamacare, Medicaid, and Medicare (Cancryn, 2020).
The success of the country is on the introduction of a variety of agencies for implementing universal health coverage (UHC) as per the World Health Organization (WHO) and the national standards on health. This approach enables citizens to seek health care services in a variety of facilities of their choice.
The United States of America has failed in dividing the health care insurance agencies into a classical approach that puts the citizen in categories based on their economic and social groups. This approach causes different perceptions among the citizens who are served by a common government and hence may lead to hatred and profiling, which is a negative move for the country.
Use of Information Technology in the Healthcare Sector to Improve Services
Information Technology (IT) can enhance the quality, welfare, and efficacy of health care. Offering value healthcare necessitates caregivers and patients to incorporate complex data from many various sources. By snowballing the capability of doctors, nurses, clinical specialists, and others to freely contact and integrate the correct data about their patients ought to enhance care (Galvani et al., 2020). The ability for patients to get data to handle their situation well and to converse with the health organization has similarly improved the efficacy and quality of maintenance. IT permits healthcare experts to gather, store, recover and transmit information by electronic means.
Application of Human Rights-Base approaches and Principles
Since the World Health Organization advocates for the human rights-based approach and principles in the provision of health care services, implementation of the universal health care coverage (UHC) through the WHO guidance and procedures enable the country to realize the goals of this approach (Gerisch, 2018).
Finally, my opinion on the vision for a better US healthcare system is that the political class should not politicize the health care sector. I believe the US healthcare system offers relatively better services and quality to its citizens. Most of the health care information said by the political class makes me curious about how much could be implemented into realistic services because the majority of their assertions are fallacious.
