Health Care Policy and Law in the United States

The Legal System and the Healthcare System

Law has had a tremendous impact, ranging from the regulation of healthcare personnel practice to controlling the structure and healthcare organization. The Federal and state governments have enacted laws guiding the financing and administration of healthcare. Also, certain aspects of patient care, including obtaining informed patient consent before doing any procedures on them, ensuring privacy and confidentiality of the patient’s information, and advocating for the patient, are guided by laws and ethical principles. Health laws guiding healthcare financing are of particular interest due to their socio-economic implications for the United States citizens.

My reading has been dramatically impacted by healthcare financing in the United States, in which individuals majorly do the pocket expenditure. Despite the technological advancements in medicine, healthcare in the United States is still absurd. Unlike in other developed European countries, the United States government spends the highest amount of capital on funding healthcare. Most of this financing goes to providing insurance cover for health to its citizens. The affordable care act of 2014 led to a reduced number of insured people (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). Changes in these laws have allowed persons to seek other private insurance plans to fund healthcare packages not covered by the affordable care act. These laws play a significant role in promoting easy access to healthcare.

The recent nationwide debate on universal health care has changed my understanding of health care policy and law. The United States government does not provide universal healthcare to all its citizens. However, its health care laws offer universal health coverage to special populations, including the aged and those suffering from terminal illnesses requiring intensive medical attention. Medicare is a government-run program that promotes health coverage to individuals over the age of 65 or physically challenged without considering their income level. On the other hand, Medicaid is an initiative of both the federal and state governments to provide health care coverage to individuals of low economic capabilities (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). These initiatives have led to an overall reduction of healthcare costs and standardization in physicians’ types of services.

Healthcare financing has a significant impact on my family. For instance, when a lot of out-of-pocket capital is utilized to cater to healthcare, little cash remains for other domestic use. This calls for the acquiring of an insurance plan to reduce this expenditure. Private insurance by several people leads to a pool of resources lowering the cost of healthcare. The government’s Medicaid program would also help my family offset these medical bills as it only allows for a limited amount of out-of-pocket health expenditure (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). Healthcare financing enables the affordability of high-quality and standardized medical care for my family.

The 2015 Annual Health Reform Update has impacted healthcare financing. First, in this reform, individuals are exempted from paying any additional out-of-pocket cash more than the affordable care act self-only pocket limit. The new reform allows for the payment of the health cost once the individual maximum limit is reached even though an individual is also enrolled in a family plan. This will go a long way in reducing the out of the pocket expenditure. Secondly, the 2015 annual reform allows employers to buy group annuities for their retiring employees. An individual’s healthcare costs are transferred to an able insurer who will fund these costs. Therefore, the new reforms will significantly reduce the financial burden of healthcare costs on individuals.

Speech

“Hello everyone, I hope you are doing fine. In this presentation, I am going to talk about the law and the healthcare system in America. My reading has been dramatically impacted by healthcare financing in the United States, in which individuals majorly do the pocket expenditure. Despite the technological advancements in medicine, healthcare in the United States is still absurd. Unlike in other developed European countries, the United States government spends the highest amount of capital on funding healthcare, most of which provides insurance cover for health to its citizens. The affordable care act of 2014 led to a reduced number of insured people (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). Changes in these laws have allowed persons to seek other private insurance plans to fund healthcare packages not covered by the affordable care act.

The recent nationwide debate on universal health care has changed my understanding of health care policy and law. The United States government does not provide universal healthcare to all its citizens. However, its health care laws offer universal health coverage to special populations, including the aged and those suffering from terminal illnesses requiring intensive medical attention. I want to tell you about Medicare, a government-run program that promotes health coverage to individuals over the age of 65 or physically challenged without considering their income level. On the other hand, Medicaid is an initiative of both the federal and state governments to provide health care coverage to individuals of low economic capabilities (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). These initiatives have led to an overall reduction of healthcare costs and standardization in physicians’ types of services.

Healthcare financing has a significant impact on my family. For instance, when we utilize a lot of out-of-pocket capital to cater to healthcare, little cash remains for other domestic use. This calls for the acquiring of an insurance plan to reduce this expenditure. Private insurance by several people leads to a pool of resources lowering the cost of healthcare. The government’s Medicaid program would also help my family offset these medical bills as it only allows for a limited amount of out-of-pocket health expenditure (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2016). Healthcare financing enables the affordability of high-quality and standardized medical care for my family.

The 2015 Annual Health Reform Update has impacted healthcare financing. First, in this reform, individuals are exempted from paying any additional out-of-pocket cash more than the affordable care act self-only pocket limit. The new reform allows for the payment of the health cost once the individual maximum limit is reached even though an individual is also enrolled in a family plan. This will go a long way in reducing the out of the pocket expenditure. Secondly, the 2015 annual reform allows employers to buy group annuities for their retiring employees. An individual’s healthcare costs are transferred to an able insurer who will fund these costs. Therefore, the new reforms will significantly reduce the financial burden of healthcare costs on individuals.

Therefore, we can all see that the law has had a significant influence on healthcare in the United States. In healthcare financing, for example, the law guides insurance policies by the federal and state governments available to citizens. Private insurance plans are also available to help individuals meet their healthcare bills. Modifications in the healthcare laws have given employers a key role in ensuring that their subordinates acquire insurance plans. Hence, due to the grave implications of the healthcare costs to individuals and families, as a country, we need laws that ensure increased insurance coverage. Thank you.”

Reference

Teitelbaum, J. B., & Wilensky, S. E. (2016). Essentials of health policy and law (4^th ed.). (R. Riegelman, Ed.). Jones & Bartlett Publishers.