Introduction
The student believes that a lack of insurance coverage is one of the most significant current policy problems in the American healthcare system context. As practice shows, uninsured persons are more likely to risk exposing themselves to the worst difficulties and dangers due to the program’s high cost, refusal of preventive treatment, and regular medical examinations (“8 major problems”, n.d.). In this case, expanding insurance coverage seems to be the preferable policy solution to eradicate the concern. Thus, this initiative is the key to realizing access, affordability, and equity in healthcare plans in the short and long term (Shrank et al., 2021). It is assumed that most individuals will be able to qualify for good medical care, and the indicators of a healthy population will increase.
Two Competing Solutions
Each Level of Government
One should note that mandatory health insurance and financial subsidies for poor people are two competing solutions to the problem. For instance, federal government representatives look at mandatory health insurance decisions ambiguously, and their execution depends on the strategies of a particular leader. Thus, Barack Obama signed the law on compulsory health insurance in 2010. Until 2010, there was no compulsory health insurance in the United States, but after its introduction, the problems of Americans did not decrease, and by and large — even became more. Therefore, Obamacare is no longer applied at the federal level since 2019 (Porretta, 2022). Despite this fact, administrations in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, California, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) oblige an uninsured person to pay a fine (Porretta, 2022). Equally, some leaders oblige employers to insure their employees at the local level.
The federal government actively implements several plans to subsidize low-income families, among which today the Affordable Care Act, SNAP, CHIP, SSI, ACP, and much more can be singled out. In addition, support for this initiative is most clearly expressed by states governments in Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Montana, and Kentucky at the expense of fair tax practices, allowing many residents to participate in insurance programs (“The best and worst states,” n.d.). Consequently, efforts of local governments are mainly aimed at economic development by creating jobs and increasing family income. Providing financial subsidies is especially common in the United States. Still, the federal government has more rights to enforce such methods, while measures of states and locals are more associated with minimizing poverty in regions.
Three Branches of the Federal Government
Moreover, it should be added that the executive branch and judicial branch do not have the right to develop a policy in the field of health insurance, but rather, they interpret the laws and monitor the implementation of health care programs. The executive branch, unlike the judicial branch, has great privileges to make adjustments to the healthcare system, but without determining who can count on financial assistance. In contrast, the legislative branch has the opportunity to help low-income families through financial support. It helps to determine which care programs the government will pay for and for which groups of the population. However, all three branches are directly related to medicine in the country, but much depends on the areas and forms of assistance to patients and medical service providers under consideration.
Advantage of the Chosen Solution
According to the student, expanding insurance coverage is the best solution. For example, accessibility to medical care, good health outcomes, financial security, economic mobility, and reduced uncompensated care are a few benefits of this resolution (“The far-reaching benefits,” 2020). In general, some critics claim that extending Medicaid is a “luxury” for some states, and this decision will not represent value to its beneficiaries (Mazurenko et al., 2018). Nonetheless, these critics are wrong about this statement since more than 31 states have recently implemented the policy, and this figure continues to increase steadily (“The far-reaching benefits,” 2020). In addition, recent studies have demonstrated positive results of the expansion of Medicaid as part of the growth in the number of participants in the program and reduction of inequality by income, age, marital status, and other indicators (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2020). Despite such an apparent polarity of opinions, most critics still have a positive attitude to expanding insurance coverage initiatives.
Conclusion
Summarizing the above-mentioned information, it should be stated that expanding insurance coverage is one of the best tactics for solving the problem in the field of lack of insurance coverage. Nevertheless, today there are such solutions as mandatory health insurance and financial subsidies for poor people. Each of the leaders at the micro, meso and macro levels determines its effectiveness independently. For example, in certain states and regions of the United States, there is still compulsory insurance, but financial support is provided at both the federal, state and local levels. Nevertheless, expanding insurance coverage seems to be the most acceptable option compared to these solutions since it does not “impose” insurance but only offers more favorable conditions for citizens. With the help of this initiative, most Americans will be able to receive high-quality medical care with minimal costs.
References
8 major problems with the U.S. healthcare system today. (n.d.). MediFind. Web.
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2020). The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: Studies from January 2014 to January 2020. Web.
Mazurenko, O., Balio, C. P., Agarwal, R., Carroll, A. E., & Menachemi, N. (2018). The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: A systematic review. Health Affairs, 37(6), 944-950.
Shrank, W. H., DeParle, N. A., Gottlieb, S., Jain, S. H., Orszag, P., Powers, B. W., & Wilensky, G. R. (2021). Health costs and financing: Challenges and strategies for a new administration: Commentary recommends health cost, financing, and other priorities for a new US administration. Health Affairs, 40(2), 235-242.
The far-reaching benefits of the affordable care act’s Medicaid expansion. (2020). Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Web.
Porretta, A. (2022). Does your state require you to have health insurance?. eHealth. Web.
The best and worst states for low-income individuals and families. (n.d.). RewardExpert. Web.