health

Running head: HEALTHCARE ACCESS 1

Healthcare access

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Healthcare access

Healthcare access is a basic human right according to the United Nations. It is therefore the duty of the government to ensure that its citizens get access to quality healthcare services. The capitalist view on healthcare considers it as a commodity to be bought. In this view, every individual is responsible for ensuring that they get access to healthcare services. The socialist consider the government as the key player in ensuring that there is equitable access to healthcare. The socialists view healthcare as a fundamental right that must be universally accessible (Raco, 2016).

The socialists argue that the government is responsible for creating a healthcare system that provides equitable services. The government regulation on healthcare ensures that the gap between the low-income citizens and the rich in the access to healthcare is reduced. Through government involvement is healthcare planning; the community wellbeing is given a priority. The socialists have the potentially to radically change the healthcare system. The government regulation on the healthcare system would result in a cheaper, accessible and quality healthcare system.

The capitalism continues to affect the distribution of healthcare services in the US. The healthcare system is relatively decentralized towards the private sector hence more expensive compared to other countries that have government regulated system. The unregulated healthcare market system gives rise to competition among healthcare providers hence the quality of healthcare become substandard and expensive (Raco, 2016). The private sector main agenda is to make money therefore the wellbeing on the citizens comes second. The capitalist approach makes on healthcare access hard as it can only be bought by those who can afford it. It widens the gap between the rich and the poor because of the rationing of services depending on the ability to pay. The lack of obligation for collective good reduces the wellbeing of the community.

The healthcare system in the US has continually undergone various reformations to ensure equitable access to healthcare among its citizens. The different government regimes created policies to centralize the healthcare system and although they did not achieve much the journey towards a centralized system has made major strides. The Obamacare act is a recent reform aimed at ensuring equitable access to healthcare services among the US citizens. Obamacare act is one of the major healthcare reforms in the US history to ensure healthcare coverage among its citizens (Thompson, 2015).

The capitalist and socialist views have contributed to creation of reforms that have changed the provision of healthcare system I believe that the healthcare system requires radical intervention to improve the quality of the healthcare system. The healthcare cannot completely shift to a centralized system hence the providers should be patient centric instead of basing their services on economics. The healthcare providers should be committed to transparency through open access to information on information on quality and cost of services (Thompson, 2015). Integrated systems should have specialties to ensure that patients get access to care in specific locations to ensure quality in the care given. All this can be achieved through joint efforts between the government and the private sector.

References

In Thompson, T. (2015). The Affordable Care Act.

Raco, M. (2016). State-led privatisation and the demise of the democratic state: Welfare reform and localism in an era of regulatory capitalism. London: Routledge.