This paper takes a case analysis approach to considering the ethical and legal implications of the “right” to health care in contemporary America. The case scenario assumes that the government has enacted a new national health care policy. All citizens are guaranteed an annual income of $20,000 and the right to purchase (at an annual cost of $1,500) a comprehensive health insurance policy covering all routine medical and hospital costs. People who fail to purchase this insurance plan must pay cash for all health services. If non-insured individuals do not have the money to pay for services, the hospital and/or physician will deny treatment. This “comprehensive” insurance package is not without certain important limitations and exclusions. Notably, no coverage is provided for illness or disability arising directly from the individual’s own unhealthy behaviors (e.g., smoking, overeating, drinking, etc.).
This paper examines the legal and ethical implications of this health care system (for individual patients, hospital administrators, health care providers, and the society at large) by looking at the situation facing two hypothetical patients. The first patient, “Mr. Puffer” purchased the $1,500 plan but finds that costs related to the treatment of his lung cancer are not covered (because Mr. Puffer is a long-time smoker). The second patient, “Mr. Spender” has failed to purchase the insurance plan and is now being denied admission and treatment for his acute appendicitis since he has neither insurance coverage nor the cash to pay for the treatment. Both Mr. Puffer and Mr. Spender contend that the hospital has violated their right to health care.
Health Care as a “Moral Duty” versus a “Moral Right”
The two patients’ claim...
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...only solution to the dilemmas posed in this case is to completely re-design the health care system. It must have as its starting point a system of distributing health care benefits based on moral values, not marketplace values. A good beginning would be adherence to the moral principle that health care is (as both Mr. Puffer and Mr. Spender asserted) a basic right not a privilege based on income level or “good behavior.” If health care is indeed a right and not a privilege, an ethical system should provide for universal access to health care. Having established these basic guiding principles, the system designers would then have to grapple with the logistics of rationing existing health care resources (as necessarily limited by technology, funding, etc.) in a manner which takes into account principles of distributive justice and the underlying values of the society.
Today, there are so many legal dilemmas dominating trial for the courts to make a sound legal decision on whose right in a complicated situation. Despite the outcome of the case, the disagreement usually has a profound effect on the healthcare organization, and the industry as a whole. Many cases are arguments centered around if the issue is a legal or moral principle. Regardless what the situation maybe, the final decision is left to the courts to differentiate between the legality issues at hand opposed to justifying a case based on moral rules. According to Pozgar (2012), an ethical dilemma arises in situations where a choice must be made between unpleasant alternative. It can occur whenever a choice involves giving up something good and suffering something bad, no matter what course of action is taken (p. 367). In this paper, I will discuss cases that arose in the healthcare industry that have been tried and brought to justice by the United States court system.
Health Care workers are constantly faced with legal and ethical issues every day during the course of their work. It is important that the health care workers have a clear understanding of these legal and ethical issues that they will face (1). In the case study analysed key legal and ethical issues arise during the initial decision-making of the incident, when the second ambulance crew arrived, throughout the treatment and during the transfer of patient to the hospital. The ethical issues in this case can be described as what the paramedic believes is the right thing to do for the patient and the legal issues control what the law describes that the paramedic should do in this situation (2, 3). It is therefore important that paramedics also
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
Healthcare professionals want only to provide the best care and comfort for their patients. In today’s world, advances in healthcare and medicine have made their task of doing so much easier, allowing previously lethal diseases to be diagnosed and treated with proficiency and speed. A majority of people in the United States have health insurance and enjoy the luxury of convenient, easy to access health care services, with annual checkups, preventative care, and their own personal doctor ready to diagnose and provide treatment for even the most trivial of symptoms. Many of these people could not imagine living a day without the assurance that, when needed, medical care would not be available to themselves and their loved ones. However, millions of American citizens currently live under these unimaginable conditions, going day to day without the security of frequent checkups, prescription medicine, or preventative medicines that could prevent future complications in their health. Now with the rising unemployment rates due to the current global recession, even more Americans are becoming uninsured, and the flaws in the United States’ current healthcare system are being exposed. In order to amend these flaws, some are looking to make small changes to fix the current healthcare system, while others look to make sweeping changes and remodel the system completely, favoring a more socialized, universal type of healthcare system. Although it is certain that change is needed, universal healthcare is not the miracle cure that will solve the systems current ailments. Universal healthcare should not be allowed to take form in America as it is a menace to the capitalist principle of a free market, threatens to put a stranglehold on for-...
Governing bodies for the prevention, treatment, and management of illnesses in America are now in a commotion because of the cost of care and patient access and the need for a more efficient system. There are approximately 50 or more million people currently in The United States that are without insurance today. In March of 2010 a country wide health care charge called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed, that seemed to offer solutions to some of the major issues facing our health care system. June of 2012, this new health care law or tax was challenged in the U. S. Supreme Court on the Constitutionality of the bill with proponents wanted the Act repealed. A few weeks later the Supreme Court gave its answer, which was the law or tax is Constitutional and upheld it as tax. One of the biggest issues to this Act was the part where all Americans have to be insured by someone or be penalized, but the final analysis of this...
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
Health care system is a prominent subject all over the world. Every country wants to provide the best health facilities and services to their people. Even than there are so many lapse in the health care field? As regard to U.S there are also so many short comings in the health care organizations. I have gone through and studied the background of the health care system being run by clinics, primary health care centers, and hospitals etc. People has to pay very high charges on every visit to the doctor or surgeon for medical treatments, follow-up and as indoor patients. Theses health care organizations demand plenty money and other hidden expenditures from the patients which is some time beyond the reach of the patients.
In recent years, the number of Americans who are uninsured has reached over 45 million citizens, with millions more who only have the very basic of insurance, effectively under insured. With the growing budget cuts to medicaid and the decreasing amount of employers cutting back on their health insurance options, more and more americans are put into positions with poor health care or no access to it at all. At the heart of the issue stems two roots, one concerning the morality of universal health care and the other concerning the economic effects. Many believe that health care reform at a national level is impossible or impractical, and so for too long now our citizens have stood by as our flawed health-care system has transformed into an unfixable mess. The good that universal healthcare would bring to our nation far outweighs the bad, however, so, sooner rather than later, it is important for us to strive towards a society where all people have access to healthcare.
Heath care is currently, and has been, a hot topic in politics and the average person's life today. Since Obama has come into office he has brought up the issue of providing every American with health care coverage while keeping costs low. Since his re-election, we have been faced with a healthcare reform that tears our country, and politicians, down the middle. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” is “A federal statute signed into law in March 2010 as a part of the healthcare reform agenda of the Obama administration. Signed under the title of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the law included multiple provisions that would take effect over a matter of years, including the expansion of Medicaid eligibility, the establishment of health insurance exchanges and prohibiting health insurers from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions” (Affordable Care Act). The reform is meant to help those who cannot cover the costs of coverage due to low income, or no jobs, as well as those who have been denied because of pre-existing heath conditions; it is essentially there to help those ultimately in need. Unfortunately, Obamacare is not beneficial to those who are currently covered, typically known as the average American, as it it is not cost effective nor constitutional.
America is known for democracy, freedom, and the American Dream. American citizens have the right to free speech, free press, the right to bear arms, and the right to religious freedom to name a few. The Declaration of Independence states that American citizens have the rights including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” America promises equality and freedom and the protection of their rights as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. But with all the rights and freedoms that American citizens enjoy, there is one particular area where the United States seems to be lacking. That area is health care. The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t have some form of legal recognition of a right to health care (Yamin 1157). Health care reform in the United States has become a major controversy for politicians, health care professionals, businesses, and citizens. Those in opposition to reform claim that health care is not a human right, therefore the government should not be involved. Supporters of reform believe that health care is most definitely a human right and should be available to everyone in the United States instead of only those who can afford it, and that it is the government’s responsibility to uphold that right.
In today’s society, there is growing sentiment that our government should provide a “socialized” type of universal medicine for the masses; that the onus to provide healthcare should no longer be on the individual or business. I posit that entrusting our healthcare to a government that can barely manage itself is misguided; that even if The United States could successfully implement a system of socialized medicine the economic and medical hardships this would cause to so many would far outweigh the benefits to a relative few. Although socialized medicine appears to provide adequate healthcare for each person, regardless of economic status, in reality this flawed and expensive system penalizes everyone associated with it. It will cause wide spread economic distress, a marked increase in taxes, and will severely limit access to care.
Studies have shown that non-compliance causes 125,000 deaths annually in the US, leads to 10 to 25 percent of hospital and nursing home admissions, and is becoming an international epidemic (Smith, 1989). The healthcare field is very familiar with attempting to deliver ethically and medically appropriate care to patients who are either actively or passively interfering with or refusing to cooperate with their treatments or plans of care (NET, 2001). By dealing with these patients healthcare professionals are having to deal with high demands of services and the patients will only seek services on their own terms. In 2010, a new Patient Bill of Rights was created along with the Affordable Care Act, this bill was designed to give new patient protections in dealing with insurance companies, and just recently did all the protections come into full effect (ACA, 2014). The cost of noncompliance not only has medical and ethical concerns but also financial. 10% of hospital admissions due to noncompliance can cost up to $15.2 billion for 3.5 million patients (Smith, 1989).
Health is by far the most important thing for a human being, so every penny invested on it has to work. This essay is about the study of the current state of American health reforms and why they are desperately required. Unfortunately things are not that bright as they might seem, an American investing most of their money on health care is basically not getting the level of health care they deserves. With all the investment in the medical field and all the advancements of medical domains, government should be providing best health care in the world for its people.
health care, only those who are “privileged” enough to afford health care can receive it. So is this what health care in the United States is and should be?Arnold Schwarzenegger the former Governor of California stated “Health care is not a right, but its cause is a government interference in the healthcare system. The solution is to leave doctors, patients and insurance companies free to deal with each other on whatever terms they choose, not to socialize American medicine” (Russo). Schwarzenegger then went on about how this would cost the government too much money and that this is not the answer to the healthcare improvement (Russo). Sen. Shelia Keuhl, the senator that wrote the bill stated in a press release “It’s important to understand that vetoes of health reform legislation have very serious consequences […] Because of these vetoes, there will continue to be very little regulation of the runaway health insurance market and no protections for consumers”
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...