The US healthcare system is a mix of private and public health insurance, with costs shared
between the government, employers, and private citizens. The government subsidies employer-
sponsored healthcare insurance for employees through the internal revenue service (Supa nick,
2021). Employers are incentivized to offer their employees affordable group insurance, or the
Affordable Care Act charges employers’ penalties (Supa nick, 2021).
To reduce the number of uninsured people, we can offer healthcare universally at the government
or state level. The government can offer yearly bidding for private insurers chosen annually.
Whichever insurer provides the best benefit for the most affordable price, those insurers can be
offered as options to the citizens. This will help maintain competition which will help to reduce the
cost of health insurance overall. Additionally, health care systems, like hospitals and clinics, can
offer health insurance to patients as opposed to employers, and these insurances can be offered
according to need and at an affordable price point.
The rising cost of health care is having a significant impact on lower-wage individuals. The price
point is 28 percent higher in the United States compared to healthcare systems in economically
equivalent countries (Supa nick, 2021). With rising insurance costs, many are forgoing health
insurance coverage and for those who do not have health insurance; when they become sick, the
burden of those paying for the cost of health care increases. This is due to expenses relegated to
be covered by CMS, whose funding is provided by taxpayers. Health insurance helps to cover the
cost of services provided to the individual. Health care helps to subsidize the total cost of service
through a minimum-maximum cost regulator. These prices are calculated by combining records for
patients receiving a particular treatment or service at a facility (Supa nick, 2021). These prices are
then submitted to health insurers, who then determine the average procedure cost, helping to
maintain affordability in the health delivery cost overall (Supa nick, 2021).
What is the government's role in healthcare? How does the government impact healthcare
organizations?
e e e e e e e e e e e The governments involvement in healthcare and protecting the patient information is
important. The accountability part of HIPAA protects health information by ensuring the
confidentiality and integrity of those handling the medical records. Medical records/data not only
hold medical information, they also hold personal health information which can clearly identify
who the patient is. This information can identify the patient and pose as a risk in their information
coming across the hands of the wrong people. Of course, it should go without saying that a
person’s name, date of birth, social security number, medical information should never be shared
with another however, HIPAA protects this information not from getting out but it holds people
who handle patient information accountable for protecting it. Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), is broken down into five titles:
Title I—Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability,
Title II—Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse, Administrative Simplification, and Medical
Liability Reform
Title III—Tax-Related Health Provisions
Title IV—Application and Enforcement of Group Health Plan Requirements
Title V—Revenue Offsets (Bowie & Green, 2018).
How does health insurance impact healthcare delivery?
e e e e e e e e e e Health insurance impacts healthcare delivery in a way which can be both positive and
negative. For example, for people who do not have health insurance they do not typically know
whether they have high blood pressure but visit the emergency room regularly and have high
medical bills. They do not typically have a provider they visit regularly. By not having healthcare
coverage, it costs the patient more money and they know less about their health. For those with
insurance, they tend to visit their health care providers regularly. By having this healthy
relationship with their provider, they can maintain a positive relationship with their providers.
(Bowie & Green, 2018.
e e e e e e e e e e e How can we reduce the number of uninsured people while maximizing quality and access
and minimizing costs?
e e e e e e e e e e e Uninsured people spend more out of pocket for the care they receive. If they do not pay
for their care, the medical bills will go on their credit and put people further in debt. Reducing the
amount of uninsured people will promote and encourage more people to have a regular primary
care doctor that they see and in turn, physicians will be paid more because they will see more
patients. By seeing more patients means they can expand their practice to reach even more
patients. It would be great to have affordable information for people all over.
References
(PDF) Barriers to health information systems and electronic medical records implementation: A
Field study of Saudi Arabian hospital. (n.d.). ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259678954_Barriers_to_Health_Information_Systems_a
nd_Electronic_Medical_Records_Implementation_A_Field_Study_of_Saudi_Arabian_Hospital
Bowie, M. J., & Green, M. A. (2018). Essentials of health information management: Principles and
practices. Cengage Learning.
Laws & regulations. (2021, April 28). HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/regulations/index.html
Top 10 factors for successful EHR implementation. (2010, November 24). Healthcare IT News.
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/top-10-factors-successful-ehr-implementation
Why is health care regulation so complex? (n.d.). PubMed Central (PMC).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730786/
Supa nick, M. (2021). Private Insurance and Universal Healthcare: How Can Private Insurance Be
Utilized within a Universal Healthcare System in the United States? Southern California
Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 30(2), 551–586.
