The government plays a critical role in the overall operation of healthcare.
The government has the authority to regulate, research, purchase, and
provide high-quality health care to all citizens. They have the ability to
provide high-quality, safe healthcare in the United States at almost every
federal, state, and local level of the government.
Tang et al. (2004) provided a framework to understand the various roles
government can play in improving health care quality and safety in the
United States, which include purchasing healthcare, providing health care,
ensuring that all vulnerable populations have equal access and quality care,
monitoring and working on various health technologies and practices,
evaluating the quality of health care, raising awareness and updates to
healthcare decision makers, and proper assembly of different stakeholders
around.
The general market can never provide quality healthcare to all citizens on its
own, so the government must assist and ensure that gaps and barriers to
achieving high quality healthcare are removed. If we talk about the impact of
health insurance on healthcare, it is very clear that having health insurance
makes a huge difference in accessibility as well as where, when, and how
they get their health care. People who do not have health insurance are far
more likely to suffer the consequences of delayed diagnosis, postponed
medical care, and a lack of preventive services (Garfield, 2020).
The United States is the only developed and leading industrialized nation
that does not have universal health coverage. The US spends about twice as
much on health care as comparable middle-income industrialized countries,
but it still suffers from significant access disparities, financial burdens on
individuals, rising mortality rates, and lost economic productivity. (Davis,
2007). Investment and development in Chronic Disease Management,
Primary Care Coordination, Health Information Technology, Comparative
Effectiveness Research can show beneficial in improving the healthcare in
general population (Brennan, 2016). Other solution for quality improvement
and accessibility would be to encourage initiatives at the state and regional
levels that will allow Medicaid and Medicare, as well as other public and
private payers, to take part in private-public initiatives aimed at using better,
outcome-focused performance measures to support payment and benefit
reforms that encourage accountability for greater value. Focusing on
developing a better clinical workforce and better work environment for
immigrant clinicians to practice in the U.S, focus on cost-effective and
reliable tele-health and telemedicine and working on reducing government
and insurance industry regulatory burdens are also some of the areas to work
in order to make healthcare accessible (American Medical Association,
2018).
The federal government might take a number of actions, such as passing laws
requiring states to match federal funds for those with incomes up to 1.5 times
the federal property level, allowing uninsured people and small businesses to
enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, Modify and
expand Medicare's programs and payment structures, dedicate tax revenue to
paying increased coverage, and finance expansion using already-existing
subsidies for low-income charitable care. Various states should also
implement ground-breaking programs at the state level to help the
uninsured(Davis,2007).
References
American Medical Association. (2018, August 6). 5 ways to improve access to health
care. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/patient-support-advocacy/5-ways-
improve-access-health-care
Brennan, N. (2016, July 29). Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care
System. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/improving-quality-and-
value-in-the-u-s-health-care-system/
Davis, K. (2007). Uninsured in America: problems and possible solutions. BMJ,
334(7589), 346–348. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39091.493588.be
Garfield, R. (2020, May 13). The Uninsured and the ACA: A Primer – Key Facts about
Health Insurance and the Uninsured amidst Changes to the Affordable Care Act -
How does lack of insurance affect access to care? KFF.
https://www.kff.org/report-section/the-uninsured-and-the-aca-a-primer-key-facts-
about-health-insurance-and-the-uninsured-amidst-changes-to-the-affordable-care-
act-how-does-lack-of-insurance-affect-access-to-care/
Tang, N., Eisenberg, J. M., & Meyer, G. S. (2004). The Roles of Government in
Improving Health Care Quality and Safety. The Joint Commission Journal on
Quality and Safety, 30(1), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1549-3741(04)30006-7
