The role of the government within the healthcare industry is to ensure that there are federal
compliances when it comes to all foods and drugs being inspected and issued to the public (FDA
agency). It is the obligation of the government to ensure that a standard is in place throughout all
healthcare facilities regarding the level of care of the security of patient records. the time
commitment to document and certify progress notes for patients that are members of the
Medicare/Medicaid system, that certification and board institutes are applying to most correct
credentials and "fine comb" each candidate thoroughly to ensure the required training, levels of
achievement, and regulated qualifications are met before medical practice is rendered to any
patient. The government impacts healthcare in several ways that it goes almost undisputed as
limitations are set for coverages for patients on state welfare, verifications of each piece of patient
information is received annually, where the government determine which form of drug related
treatments are classified and appropriate usages, where "Congress' intent in enacting the Food
Additives Amendment, regulation of substances added to foods must account for the cumulative,
chronic effects on human health. " (Soroudi, R. R., 2020)
Health insurance is impacted by the amount of care they can provide. A satirical reference in
Family Guy as Joe Swanson reveals the tragedy of how his insurance company delegated the
decision of having him use a wheelchair. The truth of the matter is, government support on certain
procedures and programs can go so far to a point where private insurance companies do not really
want to "take hold of the tab" on it. (Helgon, H.,2017)
The debatable tragedy about healthcare is the inequities that exist in our society. We have
individuals who cannot work and cannot afford an insurance plan or have insurance plans that
require members to meet an extreme amount in deductibles and copayments in certain areas that
may or may not complete their plan of care appropriately and/or adequately due to lack of
transportation, insurance contracting concerns, affording medical bills, limitations to
pharmaceutical treatments, shortages in different types of medication from region to region and
many other issues, the overpowering negative forces such as the tobacco industries in the urban
neighbourhoods, the increase drug abuse and safety concerns in these same urban
neighbourhoods, and many other debatable reasons why it's almost impossible to reduce the
uninsured to maximize quality, access, and costs. It will require a complete reform that no
insurance agency or government would want to commit themselves without increasing the already
outstanding debt that the US is currently upholding. "Many health care experts agree that part of
the reason for disparities in health and health care use in the United States are large and
exceptional levels of economic inequality and poverty (Kawachi, 2005; Jacobs, 2005). Race, income
and market ideology are all sources of health care inequalities (Stone, 2005)." (Jennie Jacobs
Kronenfeld, 2008)
The Peterson Foundation stated that the U.S. devotes more of its national income to healthcare
than any other country. Between 2010 and 2019 there was an 8.9% gross domestic spending
annually which was a rise from 16.3% to 17% (PGPF). With $11,100 being spent per person on
healthcare in 2019 vs the second highest spending country of Switzerland which spent $7,700. The
Commonwealth Fund stated that within the country there was 27.5% of the population without
health insurance in 2018, with the indoctrination of Obama care there were 20 million Americans
that gained health insurance coverage, this also helped patients with preexisting conditions gain
coverage without higher cost. The American progress also states that they assisted with the cost to
lower income families, women coverage cost was the same as men, which before was 1.5 times
more. Younger adults and children have greater access to care, improvements of access to
prescription drugs, lower cost to senior citizens and protection to disabled people were enhanced
(Progress). Healthcare cost is based on utilization, the number of services used, and the price being
charged per service, an increase in either the price or quantity of services used would increase
healthcare cost. The U.S. even with having shorter hospital stays, surgeries like knee replacement
and angioplasty when compared to other countries exceed the cost for each, according to Kaiser
Health system. They also discussed that possible reasons could be from consolidation of hospitals,
this can mean no competition, which results in price gauging, and the inefficiencies of our
healthcare systems. Duplication of care, lack of value-based care, product waste, the concept of
quantity over quality, all these have made the cost of healthcare high.
With the higher cost for healthcare, the quality of life in healthcare outcomes are sadly no better
than other developed countries. We in the U.S. have an opposite effect, in that we perform worse
in some cases like infant mortality, life expectancy, and diabetes that goes unmanaged, and other
chronic health conditions. 30% of the healthcare cost and spending go towards overpriced,
wasteful, and ineffective services. Changing the way, the federal government pays for healthcare
to ensure that low-income families have high quality of care. With small changes pay-for-
performance initiatives would improve care and lower cost. Currently the cost of healthcare is not
transparent, we truly do not know what the average cost of a procedure is going to be at one
facility vs. another. e Making the cost of healthcare more visible to the patients would mean that
they are able to make more informed decisions on what care they should receive. If patients have
higher out of pocket cost for their care, those who live in lower income communities would seek
the care that they need. They would live healthier lifestyles and the number of chronic conditions
in these low-income communities would decrease. Reducing what the government pays for would
make a decrease in healthcare spending. Medicare and Medicaid pay for medication that have not
been fully proven to have a high positive patient improvement result. These medications hit the
shelves with little clinical trial that claim to be beneficial for patients with chronic issues, they are
approved and prescribed to patients. This causes patients to use a medication that has little to no
effect on them. With this they would possibly be placed on multiple medications and have limited
chance of improving from their condition. Value based care is going to have to be the deciding
factor for all care, this would motivate the providers in to improving care. The Peter G. Peterson
Foundation also stated that with combining Medicare’s Part A with Part B ambulatory services in
would reduce cost. Making Medicare into a premium based program, which would mean
beneficiaries would purchase insurance through health insurance exchanges and making state
block grants from converting Medicaid. Shorter hospital stays can lower the cost, once it does not
have any change in health effectiveness, with this change it could improve patient quality of care
and satisfaction. The patient would have more independence and control of their care and would
cost the treatment facilities less.
References:
Calsyn, M., & Gee, E. (2021, November 2). 10 ways the ACA has improved health care in the past
decade. Center for American Progress. Retrieved July 5, 2022, from
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-ways-aca-improved-health-care-past-decade/
Finding Solutions: Healthcare. Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (n.d.). https://www.pgpf.org/finding-
solutions/healthcare.
Peterson, P. (2020, July 14). How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to other countries?
Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2020/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-
countries
Tikkanen, R., Osborn, R., Osborn, R., Mossialos, E., Djordjevic, A., & Wharton, G. A. (2020, June 5).
United States. Home. Retrieved July 5, 2022, from
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/countries/united-states
Soroudi, R. R. (2020). Government Repudiation of Americans' Safety: Call for Reformulation of
FDA's GRAS Notification Program. Food and Drug Law Journal, 75(1), 39-64.
Helgon, H. (2017, February 23). Family Guy Satire Example [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBkvgdv-000&feature=youtu.be
Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld. (2008). Inequalities and Disparities in Health Care and Health: Concerns
of Patients, Providers, and Insurers. JAI Press Inc.
