«Econ427 Paper 3» - Free Essay Paper

Introduction

Health insurance has been considered a basic necessity of any modern individual’s life. The benefit of health insurance is that the plan indemnifies one from the risk of sustaining medical expenditure. Moreover, health insurance offers outpatient care, inpatient care treatment and, in some instances, the provision of prescription drugs. Nonetheless, health care insurance also involves certain health care fields and policies that are determinant to its running. Some of these fields include government health care policies and regulations and its role in providing personal healthcare to patients. At the same time, the government is a key player in ensuring the quality of the provision of the main components of the healthcare industry: service delivery and financing.

Discussion

Delivery

The government provides assistance programs that offer healthcare solutions to individuals or groups of people. To begin with, as an industry regulator, the government ensures licensing at national and regional levels. The government also provides industry standards to ensure that the quality of healthcare is adhered to. Since the health care industry involves multiple players ranging from medical providers, patients, and practitioners, the government plays as a benchmark player in controlling that rules are followed. Indeed, by playing the purpose of an intermediator, the government ensures that the industry is not monopolized by private organizations.

Additionally, the government works hand in hand with the private sector to provide healthcare insurance. It offers training programs for private health care insurance providers so as to ensure that they are able to deliver effectively in areas where the government may not be able to. This form of coordinated collaboration ensures that individuals who are unable to acquire health insurance coverage under the public entity do so under the private entity under the government’s supervision. Moreover, the government can offer a health insurance program for volunteers working in pandemic-stricken areas.                         

Financing

In the United States, the government has taken the initiative of providing healthcare insurance under the Obamacare initiative. Government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are perfect examples of private-sector healthcare enterprises that have influenced growth in the industry. More and more citizens have been catered for under these programs. The Obamacare initiative has been a boost for participation progression. The government encourages initiatives that work towards the adequate and qualitative provision of medical insurance to its citizens in a timely and cost effective manner.

The government’s role in financing the healthcare insurance sector comes down to moderated taxation. Through taxation, regional and national administrations are able to raise finances to pay workers, doctors and medical coverages for individuals. To raise money for the provision of necessary services required to ensure that the medical industry runs smoothly, from purchasing medicine, catering for surgery, paying workers, to catering for patients, the government raises capital through several measures. Some of the broad-based financing methods commonly used are the social security financing and the tax-based financing.

For an individual receiving a form of medical insurances means that one is adequately covered to get medical assistance with reduced risk of medical expenses. The system works in a way that an approximation of overall risk of medical care and well-being system expenditure is calculated by the insurer so as to develop a repetitive finance assembly. The insured individual is required to make regular premium payments or a form of the payroll tax to guarantee that the medical cover is provided when required. The government, along with not-for-profit and private business entities, consequently stands to offer the benefits of receiving the necessary insurance (Quadagno, 23-24).

Advancements in modern medicine and medical coverage place strict regulations for ensuring that patients are treated under medical care insurance. Even though a large proportion of the USA’s medical insurance is catered for by the private sector, the government’s continued role in the industry ensures that vulnerable citizens receive the services under subsidized costs. The government works towards enacting laws that work towards easing the process of obtaining a health insurance plan. An example of such an act is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) of the Obama government that requires every American to have a medical insurance, failure to which causes a fine being charged.

Conclusion

Conclusively, facts reveal that individuals benefit adequately from having a medical insurance cover. For this to be achievable, the government plays a role in ensuring that all its citizens receive one, either from it or a private entity. The government’s main roles are financing and proper delivery of these medical covers to citizens. Financing is achieved through tax-based financing or social security financing. Delivery, on the other hand, is ensured through training of medical personnel or insurance auditors. Furthermore, the government works hand in hand with private organizations to cater for medical cover privileges. It is important that each and every individual is catered for under a legal and proper medical cover program to ensure that in case of any treatment, medical expenses are catered for by the insurer in a cost-effective manner.