There are many standards that should be used to estimate the effectiveness of healthcare reforms, but most of them can generally be analyzed in terms of their impact on different elements of public healthcare. Over the last decades, there were reforms that passed, but did not prove to be effective and failed eventually (Barnes et al., 2019). This essay discusses the criteria that healthcare reforms should comply with to be successful and the entities that are responsible for the number of the uninsured.
The first criterion that seems the most important is the degree to which a new reform is able to introduce a single payer system into public healthcare. It is a proven fact that countries with this system are much better in providing medical services than those that have insurance based systems (Barnes et al., 2019). If this basic criterion is used and followed properly, all of the other elements, such as health system, patient outcomes, and financing success or failure will also improve. The latter one, however, can also be measured by the costs: with a good reform, they should not exceed the original costs, and preferably be lower.
Obviously, although universal health coverage is an ideal solution, it would be hard to achieve. Therefore, insurance still plays an important role in the realm of public medicine. The question of who should be responsible for the proportion of the uninsured population is another topic widely discussed. It is argued whether the government, the private sector, or the individuals should be in charge of the insurance problem (Ehrlich & Yin, 2017). It could be stated that all three entities mentioned are responsible. First, it is the government’s obligation to provide affordable insurance. Second, the private sector is responsible for covering as many healthcare services as it can (Barnes et al., 2019). Finally, individuals are highly responsible for their health, and, as a result, for insurance plans they choose.
In conclusion, it should be noted that all the problems of the healthcare system can only be solved by taking a wide range of measures. From providing insurance to the people who cannot afford it to working on the criteria that would guarantee a successful reform processes, it is important to keep in mind the main goal. Every step of the way, citizens’ health should be a top priority.
References
Barnes, A. J., Unruh, L. Y., Rosenau, P., & Rice, T. (2019). Health system in the USA. Health Services Evaluation, 40(7), 891-925.
Ehrlich, I., & Yin, Y. (2017). The problem of the uninsured. SSRN Electronic Journal.