Bd 101 Public Policy Essay
BPD 101 – Public Policy
My main motivation for taking this course is from my Bridging Disciplines Certificate in Social Inequality, Health and Policy. I became involved in this program because of a growing interest in health disparities and health care system differences. As a pre-med biology major, I had not had a lot of exposure to the non-scientific side of medicine and health in general. However, after traveling to Peru for a month to do medical volunteer work and taking a sociology course that discussed social determinants of health, I came to realize that there is a connection between health and social circumstances that is impossible to ignore. This led me to an interest in the factors that create a person’s social circumstances, which …show more content…
We are stuck between a free-market system and a government-run system. As the government continues to increase subsides and provide insurance for more and more people under Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare, as well as new stipulations under the Affordable Care Act, the system can not realistically be described as a free-market. This has created dramatic price increases in health care and has also made the costs of care entirely unrealistic because there is a total diffusion of responsibility for the payment. Additionally, as emergency rooms are required to provide care to people in need, all people technically can access care. However, this care is extremely expensive and an inefficient use of valuable resources. In order to prevent people from “free riding” in this system and just going to emergency rooms but never paying their bills, it follows that everyone must have health insurance. However, in order for that to be possible monetarily, there have to be subsidies and policies that prevent people from being excluded from coverage for preexisting conditions or other factors. Ultimately, it makes little sense to provide universal coverage of emergency care but not provide primary or preventative care, which is much more cost effective, efficient and
My main motivation for taking this course is from my Bridging Disciplines Certificate in Social Inequality, Health and Policy. I became involved in this program because of a growing interest in health disparities and health care system differences. As a pre-med biology major, I had not had a lot of exposure to the non-scientific side of medicine and health in general. However, after traveling to Peru for a month to do medical volunteer work and taking a sociology course that discussed social determinants of health, I came to realize that there is a connection between health and social circumstances that is impossible to ignore. This led me to an interest in the factors that create a person’s social circumstances, which …show more content…
We are stuck between a free-market system and a government-run system. As the government continues to increase subsides and provide insurance for more and more people under Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare, as well as new stipulations under the Affordable Care Act, the system can not realistically be described as a free-market. This has created dramatic price increases in health care and has also made the costs of care entirely unrealistic because there is a total diffusion of responsibility for the payment. Additionally, as emergency rooms are required to provide care to people in need, all people technically can access care. However, this care is extremely expensive and an inefficient use of valuable resources. In order to prevent people from “free riding” in this system and just going to emergency rooms but never paying their bills, it follows that everyone must have health insurance. However, in order for that to be possible monetarily, there have to be subsidies and policies that prevent people from being excluded from coverage for preexisting conditions or other factors. Ultimately, it makes little sense to provide universal coverage of emergency care but not provide primary or preventative care, which is much more cost effective, efficient and