Healthcare Policy Presentation by Governments and Order Instructions: How has it been presented by governments and by NGOs?
What policy responses and services have been provided to deal with this problem? Are there other ways of responding to the problem?
Healthcare Policy Presentation by Governments and Sample Answer
How Healthcare Policy has been presented by Governments and NGOs
Health care policy is a term that is used to describe the plans, decisions and the actions that are undertaken in achieving specific healthcare objectives within a community. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that the development of an explicit health care policy facilitates the achievement of several things like defining a vision, outlining the priorities and the anticipate functions being played by diverse teams of individuals and informing people and building of consensus (Paolucci, 2010, pg. 33-46). Various categories of the policies in the healthcare sector exist including the individual health system, the pharmaceutical health system, and the other public health policies like breastfeeding promotion, control of tobacco, and the vaccination policy (Gani, 2008, pg. 72-81). These plans may cover the topics of delivery of healthcare, health equity, financing and access to care. There are many disciplines in politics and evidence influencing the decision making by the government or the NGOs in adopting a particular healthcare policy.
According to Klančar and Švab (2014, pg. 166-172), the modern concept of the healthcare system comprises of the access to the health professionals from different categories and the health technology in use as the equipment of surgery. Also, it includes access to the current evidence and information obtained from research such as healthcare services and medical research. In most of the government and NGOs, it is left to a person to get an access of the healthcare products through paying them from their own source of income and to the NGOs operators in the pharmaceutical and medical companies in developing the research. The production and making plans of the human resources concerning health get dispersed among the players of the market.
Many governments and the non-governmental organizations are integrating the philosophy of human rights in directing healthcare policies. The WHO has the report that for every nation in the world conform to at least one of the agreements of the human rights that play the role of addressing the rights which are related to health such as the right to health, and those reasons that relate to situations requiring better health. The NGO of the UNUDHR reports that all people have a right to health care (Siciliani, Moran & Borowitz, 2014, pg. 292-303).
Some of the faith-based NGOs, the perceived obligation which is shaped by the beliefs of a religion in catering for those unfavorable circumstances like the sick influences the health care policies. Other governments and the NGOs depend on the humanist principles in clarifying the policies of health, stating the enshrined right to health and the perceived obligation. The Amnesty International in the recent years has channeled its focus on health as a human right, finding solutions to the inadequate access to the HIV and AIDS drugs the rights of the women’s sexual and reproduction comprising of the differences in the maternal mortality within and across nations (Smullen & Hong, 2015, pg. 347-355).
There is a considerable controversy that remains regarding the policies on who would take the role of paying the health care costs for all individuals. For instance, the expenditure of the governments on healthcare is in particular cases applied as a global indicator of the commitment of the government towards the health of its citizens. Contrary, the United States rejects the notion financing the healthcare using the taxpayer’s money as being incompatible with the right of the professional judgment of the physician and other concerns that are related to the government involvement to oversee its citizen’s health (Groenewegen, P. et al., 2015, pg. 1576-1582). As a result, it could further lead to erosion of the privacy right between the patients and doctors. The statement urges that the healthcare insurance denies the patients’ right in disposing of their earnings according to their wish.
The other problem that arises in the healthcare policy debate on the problem the human right is the use of the legislation by the different governments in controlling competition among the national insurance systems and the private providers of the medical insurance such as the health insurance program for Canada. The Laissez-faire proponents have the argument this would erode the effectiveness of the cost of the health system since those having the capacity in paying for the private healthcare services draw the resources from the public. The problem here is whether the companies that are investor-owned or the other institutions of health maintenance have the capability in acting in the best interest of the consumers as compared to the oversight and regulation of the government. The other assertion by the US government is that the over-regulation insurance and healthcare industries by the government are perceived as the most appropriate end to the home visits by the doctors among those who are old and the have-nots.
Policy responses and services that have been provided in dealing with the Healthcare Policy
Changing of the administration can consequently lead to a change in the issues of policy. The presence of proper research in the healthcare does not bring about the policymaking that is evidence-based. For instance, in South Africa, whose population sets the record of the HIV cases, the policy of the former regime which was limiting the provision of funds for treatment of AIDS was met with arguments due to its denial in accepting the scientifically approved evidence on the method of the transmission of the disease. The change in the policy, therefore, brought out new policies being implemented for the widespread in accessing the services of HIV.
Most of the governments and NGOs are present including a health dimension in their foreign policies with the aim of achieving global health objectives. The promotion of health in the low income earning nations has been observed as being instrumental in achieving the other objectives on the comprehensive agenda. One of the agendas is the promotion of global security. The global security involves linking to the fears of the global pandemics, the potential increase in the conflicts of humanity, emergencies, the intentional spread of the pathogens and natural calamities. Secondly, promotion of the economic development which involves addressing of the economic effect of the poor health in the areas of development, gain from the ever-growing world market in the field of the health goods and services and the extreme outbreaks in the world market place. Finally, promotion of the social justice, the governments, and the non-governmental institutions are reinforcing health as a human right and a social value including the provision of support to the goals of the United Nation’s Millennium Development (Siciliani, Moran & Borowitz, 2014, pg. 289-296).
The government offers support to the legislation that has a focus speeding up the establishment of new and better treatments through encouraging the creation of drugs which treat conditions having less or no medical options (Paolucci, 2010, pg. 33-46). The term dormant therapy is used in referring to a new drug or a biological product determined to have inadequate patent protection and fulfills the unmet medical conditions, reduces risks as compared to the already existing treatment and improves the medical outcomes. Weak or no patent protection hinders the ability of the manufacturer in recouping the investment towards establishing the product and therefore, it is a disincentive for drug development. The current policies and regulations by the various governments and NGOs give encouragement to companies in pursuing the products having strongest patents, not necessarily products addressing the unmet medical requirements (Paolucci, 2010, pg. 33-46).
In dealing with the challenge of patient engagement, the governments of different countries are seeking the identification and implementation of the best actions for integrating the voice of the patient into the conduct of research and decision making of the healthcare. Most of the governments have undertaken initiatives of addressing the barriers to patient engagement by the multi-stakeholder framework through coming up with a consensus-based conceptual approach for patient engagement and agreement on the best actions in the development and research in the establishment of the drug. The governments and the NGOs have also established an information collection tool which performs the role of helping patient advocacy and organizations and organizing the concerns of the patient and gives a comment on the benefits and limitations of the treatment options. The tool is also designed in ensuring that the FDA captures reliable information that it needs from the patients, the patient advocates, and the family caregivers.
Working with the member organizations, most of the governments have been getting active on the major areas of policy during the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The major areas that both the government and NGOs give priority are in ensuring that the health insurance policy plans meet the required standards that are the needs of individuals having chronic conditions and making reforms to the health care delivery system towards improving access to quality in the healthcare system. The governments and the NGOs are focused on the five top issues of making sure that the plans of insurance meet the required needs of patients including non-discrimination, continuity of care, transparency, enforcement of the patient protections and uniformity of the program materials (Siciliani, Moran & Borowitz, 2014, pg. 290-295). The implementation of the ACA would depend on as the regulators of the market of the insurance health. The support by the states is critical towards the guaranteeing of the ACA’s objectives of the affordable and quality care for the individuals. By the end of 2015, NHC in most of the states had established specific progress reports in assessing the patient-centeredness of the health insurance worldwide markets. The body also conducted national studies of the patient experience to enroll in the exchanges and relaunching a website designed to assist individuals to pick the right insurance plan that meets the budget and health needs including an out of pocket cost calculator.
In the provision of the real value in the healthcare system, there should be a confluence of the healthcare research and personal circumstances including the genetics of the patient, socio-economic status at the point of care, religion, and ethnicity. The combination of the healthcare research with the real-world application has facilitated improved health outcomes and would assist in curbing the costs in a responsible manner (Siciliani, Moran & Borowitz, 2014, pg. 298-303).
Anon (2011) asserts that the process of shopping for a given item like healthcare insurance, making choices can either be right or bad. But in case, one does not have all the necessary information concerning the issue, to perform an accurate side by side comparison of them, or the available information is not presented in a transparent manner to aid in an easy comparison, then the process of making the decision may become quite frustrating. If a consumer, therefore, picks a health insurance coverage that does not meet his or her budget and unique needs, the costs of the healthcare can go up (Anon, 2011, pg. 236-245).
The National Health Council of various countries has launched a system in form website composed of an interactive set of tools so as to assist the consumers in learning about the options for the health insurance. The site might be comprised of the resources on healthcare insurance, the marketplaces, and the place for numerous visitors for sharing their experiences on the health care and a health care cost estimator (Anon, 2011, pg. 231-235).
Other ways of responding to the problem include the development of the explicit policy in supporting and ensuring access to all the members of the state, funding the medical research and planning adequate distribution and the quality of the health workers in meeting the objectives of the healthcare (Lorenz, 2012, pg. 1-13). Many governments and NGOs around the world have developed a health system that is universal which is taking the burden of the expenses off of the individuals and businesses by pooling the financial risk. There are arguments arising for and against the health care and the related policies concerning the situation. Healthcare is, therefore, a vital section of the healthcare systems and as a result, it always has a contribution towards the greatest areas of expenditure both by the NGOs and government worldwide.
Healthcare Policy Presentation by Governments List of References
Anon, 2011. Public Long-term Care Financing Arrangements in OECD Countries. Help Wanted? OECD Health Policy Studies, pp.231–245.
Groenewegen, P. et al., 2015. Primary care practice composition in 34 countries. Health Policy, 119(12), pp.1576–1583.
Gani, A., 2008. Health care financing and health outcomes in Pacific Island countries. Health Policy and Planning, 24(1), pp.72–81.
Klančar, D. & Švab, I., 2014. Primary care principles and community health centers in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Health Policy, 118(2), pp.166–172.
Lorenz, C., 2012. Triangulating Health Expenditure Estimates from Different Data Sources in Developing Countries. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 10(1), pp.1–13.
Nolte, E. et al., 2008. Learning from other countries: an on-call facility for health care policy. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 13(suppl 2), pp.58–64.
Olsen, J.A., 2009. What makes the market for health care different? Principles in Health Economics and Policy, pp.47–60.
Paolucci, F., 2010. The Design of Health Care Financing Schemes in Different Countries. Developments in Health Economics and Public Policy Health Care Financing and Insurance, pp.33–46.
Siciliani, L., Moran, V. & Borowitz, M., 2014. Measuring and comparing health care waiting
times in OECD countries. Health Policy, 118(3), pp.292–303.
Smullen, A. & Hong, P.K., 2015. Comparing the Health Care Systems of High-Performing Asian Countries. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, 2(2), pp.347–355.
