Health Insurance: The Affordable Care Act

Health insurance has been a controversial topic for many years. Most people tend to think, assuming they live in the United States, that all citizens should have some form of access to health care. But in reality, many people are unable to afford health insurance so they end up going without health care because that in itself is also expensive. Even when the Affordable Care Act was put into place, people were still facing the lack of coverage due to the high cost of insurance, absence of employment providing health insurance, and people not able to be eligible for public coverage. There are certain consequences when it comes to not being able to obtain health insurance. It has been shown that people who are uninsured are less likely to seek
medical treatment, prescriptions, preventive tests, and follow-up care than those who are insured. The risk of death is actually 25% higher in those who are uninsured versus insured. There have recently been fewer employers who offer the benefit of health care. Even if employers do offer the benefit, some individuals are unable to afford their portion of the premium. People under the age of 65 usually fall under the category of being full-time workers, but do not obtain insurance because they are unable to afford it. People who are age 65 and older with permanent disabilities are covered by Medicare. Medicare collects payroll taxes from workers during their years of employment and uses those collected funds to pay for health care expenses after they turn 65. Medicaid is another program that covers very few people aged 65 and under who are low-income households that have children or the disabled.
I believe that health care is intended for all living people, but in regards to the high costs, not everyone can afford it. On page 722 in our book, the fact file states that “In 2014, 32 million Americans under age 65 had no health insurance… 48% of uninsured adults said the main reason they were uninsured was because the cost was too high.” Since I support the egalitarian position, I believe that health insurance should be offered to all, including government programs such as Medicaid. This government funded programs are not seen as unjust in the egalitarian position. There are a lot of programs that support those who are unable to afford health insurance; however, some of these programs, such as Medicaid, should take a look at their standards so that more people could qualify for public coverage. The United States has the highest capita in spending specifically for health care, yet the United States does not support over half of their citizens with any type of health insurance.
All health insurances offer a different amount of coverage per the plan that you are on.
Some private insurances and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) offer hospice care benefits. Depending on the type of private insurance or HMO plan you are on, determines the amount of coverage for hospice care benefits. Not all insurances or HMOs offer hospice care benefits, but majority of them do. Hospice care can be defined as a type of care to ensure that the final months of a patient’s life are considered to follow the quality of life of said patient. Hospice is not a sign of giving up like most people make it out to be. It is all about giving the patient and family comfort, control, dignity, and quality of life in their last months. A type of hospice care is palliative care which is care that relieves or soothes a patient’s symptoms of disease or disorder. Palliative care is not hospice, but all hospice is palliative
care.
Medicare is a government insurance program who covers people 65 years of age or older and some younger than 65 who suffer from chronic conditions and anyone of any age who suffers from kidney failure.
The website palliativedoctors.org states that “Medicare A covers all services, medications, and equipment provided through a hospice program.” To be one of these recipients, two doctors have to determine a life expectancy of the patient to have 6 months or less to live assuming that the disease follows its natural course. Medicare Part B, which is only optional if the individual chooses to pay for the extra benefits, may offer palliative depending on the type of treatment that the patient is receiving. Medicaid is another government funded program that covers individuals who have very limited, if any, income and resources. The coverage of Medicaid varies from state to state since it is a state funded program. Medicaid offers hospice benefits to 45 out of the 50 states, including Washington, DC. With the information provided, Hospice is a part of most health maintenance organizations. It all just depends on the level of coverage each plan
offers
When it comes to the ethical implications on the consequences of offering or not offering Hospice as a covered benefit, I believe that everyone will have their own opinions based on the type of position they agree with or identify with the most. Since I support the egalitarian position, I believe that Hospice should be offered to all individuals. Not offering hospice or palliative care to those whose treatments are no longer working or are worsening the patient’s progression is implying that comfort, quality of life, and dignity are not important. Ethically, hospice should be offered to all just like insurance should be offered to all. In order to make someone’s last few months as comfortable as possible, ethically hospice and palliative care should be offered to all as a covered benefit.
If I were in the position to distribute Hospice as a medical resource, I would try to offer to it to as many people as possible. All programs differ from state to state so there are certain regulations in each state that I would still have to follow. I would bring into light the situations as to why Hospice should be a covered benefit and educate the participants of the programs that do provide Hospice as part of health maintenance. By educating the participants and others who may not be aware of such programs, I can bring into focus the importance of Hospice care for those in the last few moments of their lives.