The US Commissioner Report (2011) details the rise in patient dumping from in the last ten years. Previously, hospitals were in their legal right to refuse health care to patients. It was not until the ~1980’s that a law was bought in to stop patient dumping and the refusal of treatment. Patient dumping occurs when patients are either uninsured, immigrants or lack funds to pay for medical bills that hospitals ‘dump’/relocate in a dishonourable way those patients to over hospitals. In doing so, that hospital is therefore not liable to provide treatment to the patient. It is now estimated that 250,000 US patients annually are denied medical treatment, in addition 15.4% of US citizens do not have health insurance. Recent research (Blalock & Wolfe, …show more content…
Its bid was to reduce health expenditure by deporting individuals who did not have visas or were uncertain surrounding their immigration status. Agraharkar further argued that deportation of patients is merely a discharge of the prohibition of patient dumping as well as unavailability of health resources. Blalock and Wolfe (2001) found the reason for the increase in patient dumping is related to the underfunded health care system. Only after the law requiring all hospitals to provide medical assistant that the incidence became greater. Additionally, hospitals who provide care to uninsured patients are not often reimbursed for their service. Thus, this trend of patient dumping greatly affects low-income/SES citizens. (2016) report a link between SES and health is due to inequalities in resources. (2016) detailed the fundamental cause theory to be the overall underlying cause of many health inequalities, such as patient dumping. This theory seeks to demonstrate the association between SES and health inequalities (patient dumping) over time to a lack of range of resources to guard and/or improve
Gaining access to health care can be rather difficult for immigrants. There always seem to be some sort of obstacle in the way. For example, the cost of health care is skyrocketing. Immigrants whether they are legal aliens or illegal aliens are impacted the most by high health care costs. Each year the numbers for health care change but they never seem to get lower. Immigrants lack health care insurance due to the high cost of health care.
For example, income often determines one’s access to health-care. Researchers have found that low-income families are less likely to fill prescriptions, have dental coverage, and have preventative care visits (Ives et al., 2015, p. 170). Further, Williamson et al. (2006) declared, “professional treatment services…not covered by provincial health care plans, social services, or Indian and Northern Affairs were most frequently cited by respondents…as services that they choose not to use because of their low-income status” (p. 113). In addition to being unable to afford services, low-income individuals are often unable to afford transportation to appointments (Williamson et al., 2006, p. 116). Clearly, although individuals have the right to health, low-income individuals and families face many barriers in accessing and affording health-care services in
Some medical facilities are not-for-profit organizations. They can be a charitable organization or an educational organization or both. There are other not-for-profit medical and public health programs that provide health care to many communities in this country. Some of the best hospitals in America are educational not-for-profit facilities. They work with some of the newest technology and some perform experimental procedures. Most public health programs are ran as not-for-profit organizations and operated for charitable and educational purposes. The not-for-profit organization is not liable to pay taxes under IRS code 501 (c)(3) (.org). This allows the organization to put its revenues back into the organization versus having to pay investors or owners. Unfortunately, over the past 20 years the amount of for-profit organizations has increased (Santa). The growing commercialization of health care has ethical implications and has become a matter of heated controversy (Santa). It’s becoming more difficult despite all the laws and regulations to protect patient’s privacy and confidentiality. An ethical implication that for-profits face is physicians receiving incentives for keeping cost down to increase profits. Some for-profits will encourage doctors to promote profit producing drugs, surgeries, tests and treatments. (Santa). Some of these same physicians may own the facility they operate which creates a huge conflict. On the other hand, financial incentives can cause physicians to delay important tests and treatments or to not perform them at all. In some cases patients are being discharged from hospitals before they are ready to go home (Orentlicher). On an ethical standpoint, the patient’s well being is put in jeopardy and the...
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 ...
I agree with Moses et al. (2013) when they wrote “As long as health care is caught in a triangle between patients, clinicians, and public health, the problems that are plaguing health care in the United States will continue,” (Moses et al., 2013). I agree with the documentary, Money and Medicine, (2012) when it supported the idea that Americans will continue to have the “do more” attitude as long as they are not educated about the risk to the procedures (PBS, 2012). Warner (2014) wrote about disassociation between healthcare and clients; I believe that supports both of the sources (Warner,
One reason health care costs are increasing are due to an increase reliance on the emergency department (ED) where many medical conditions could have been prevented or directed to a low-cost health clinic for care. Not only does this take away human capital for people who have actual medical emergencies, but also wastes hospital resources where many of these visit are billed frequently to Medicare, Medicaid, and low-cost health insurance (Choudhry et al., 2007). This problem can be attributed to people who live under the poverty line that cannot afford healthcare or qualify for Medicare and Medicaid. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012 report, the official poverty rate was at a staggering 15.0 percent, or approximately 46.5 million people are in poverty with an income of less ...
Healthcare plays an important role in almost every person’s life at one point or another. Many times, one can get caught without, or underinsured and it can be detrimental to their livelihood. With the rising cost of healthcare, it is likely that having a national healthcare policy in place, and as an individual, being able to afford and obtain adequate health insurance has not been required until now. With the new national healthcare plan, it is required for all citizens to obtain and maintain some sort of public or private insurance policy. The rising costs can be attributed to many things. A significant reason for the astronomical cost of health care is because of the staggering amount of uninsured or underinsured individuals receiving medical attention and almost many never paying the bill. Those who do have insurance have seen a gradual increase in their premiums and deductibles to make up for this.
The contentious debate about our healthcare system is an epitome of the ongoing political circus in America. With the 2012 elections looming just around the corner, we can expect the vitriol to rise rapidly. Our country spends twice as much on health care per capita compared to other developed countries. The current system is so dysfunctional and projected spending will increase every year, putting an unbelievable strain to our fragile economy. Majority of health care dollars spending are channeled on to patients with chronic illnesses, many of which can be prevented. Unfortunately, medical doctors practicing preventive care are being squeezed out of the equation. The shortage of primary care doctors in America is inevitable because of limited income, lesser prestige, and fewer opportunities.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
Controversy over healthcare in the United States has become prominent since the initiation of Obamacare. People assume that the money America puts into healthcare means it has one of the best healthcare systems. In fact, America has one of the worst ranked healthcare systems in the developing world. The people who are most affected by this injustice are people who are vulnerable and cannot advocate for themselves. One group of people who suffer because of the failing healthcare system is refugees. Refugees should not be receiving inadequate healthcare because they “are eligible for public health insurance after arriving in the U.S.” (Mirza, Luna, Mathews, Hasnain, & al, e. 2014). Refugees can overcome the barriers they face with some
One of the most prevalent and pervasive social issues in the United States today is the provision of equal access to health care for the impoverished. Far too many people live in conditions of poverty and struggle to find the means by which to meet their basic needs. For those without insurance, access to medical care is often preempted by other necessities. An unexpected medical expense can push this group further into poverty. Those who do have insurance may find themselves underinsured in the event of an emergency and unable to make the necessary co-payments. Alternatively, the insured’s provider may refuse to cover certain conditions. Besides the cost of adequate insurance and the booming cost of medical care, there are other factors that affect equal access to medical care for the impoverished. Among these are race, age, and geographic location. Poverty and the resulting inadequate medical care is a ubiquitous social problem that merits further discussion of the issue’s causes and implications.
American’s health-care system is in turmoil. According to Bradley and Taylor (2013), “we spend nearly twice what other industrialized countries spend on health-care” (para.2). See figure 1;
The cost of Medical equipment plays a significant role in the delivery of health care. The clinical engineering at Victoria Hospital is an important branch of the hospital team management that are working to strategies ways to improve quality of service and lower cost repairs of equipments. The team members from Biomedical and maintenance engineering’s roles are to ensure utilization of quality equipments such as endoscope and minimize length of repair time. All these issues are a major influence in the hospital’s project cost. For example, Victory hospital, which is located in Canada, is in the process of evaluating different options to decrease cost of its endoscope repair. This equipment is use in the endoscopy department for gastroenterological and surgical procedures. In 1993, 2,500 cases where approximately performed and extensive maintenance of the equipment where needed before and after each of those cases. Despite the appropriate care of the scope, repair requirement where still needed. The total cost of repair that year was $60,000 and the repair services where done by an original equipment manufacturers in Ontario.
The healthcare industry of the Bahamas is divided into two sectors, public and private health care. There are five hospitals, which includes two private hospitals and three public hospitals, and numerous public community clinics along with the many private facilities through which medical services are rendered (Doctors Hospital, 2009). The Princess Margaret Hospital, which is the main public facility, according to Smith (2010) in 1905 was people’s last choice when seeking medical attention. Smith described the then hospital as being partitioned into four areas, “for the sick, indigent, lepers and insane” (Smith, 2010). Smith (2010) further expressed that the medical services were free and those that were financially stable paid for treatment to be carried out at their homes. Today, 108 years later, much has changed within health care arena. Presently, there is an increase in the number of persons resorting to the public hospitals and public clinics for medical attention. For those that are in good financially standings they make use of private hospitals or/and other private medical facilities. While some people may use the public medical facilities by choice there are others whom, because of their income or lack of income, have no other alternative but to fall at the hands of the public services. Too, for many years the Bahamas has had the problem of immigrants from Haiti crossing the Bahamian borders illegally and this therefore results in an increase in the funds allocated for the health care industry. According to McCartney (2010) the Haitian nationals accounted for 11.5% of the Bahamas population, hence adding to the government health care budget (McCartney, 2013). The reality is that the Bahamas is far from winning...