The right for healthcare services is claimed to be one of the basic rights of all people. However, it cannot be denied that the representatives of the general public do not have equal access to them. With the course of time, medical treatment becomes more and more expensive so that a lot of individuals today cannot afford it. Fortunately, health insurance programs were implemented to enhance the situation. Many people received an opportunity to spend less and remain fit and healthy. However, a part of the population still requires assistance, as it is not able to buy insurance and cannot apply for one of the programs that can reduce such costs. Still, the government of the US is on its way to improvement. It supports healthcare and plays a vital role in its development and growth even though this process is long lasting and is not ended yet.
The government of the US works to give the general public an opportunity to purchase healthcare and receive required services. It tends to make access to healthcare services approachable to all populations. It implements programs and acts that are aimed to ensure access to healthcare for vulnerable populations. Moreover, it ensures high quality of this care. For example, the Affordable Care Act passed several years ago. It allows people to get insurance regardless of their health condition. Professionals monitor the cases and make sure that no one is discriminated against by pricing the coverage (Tyler, 2015). Except for that, the government reviewed federal subsidies for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Before this has happened, many states in the US refused to expand Medicaid coverage for populations with low income, which violated the right to equal access to healthcare services. Almost 10 million individuals received insurance due to these changes (Gostin, 2015).Thus, the government improves health insurance markets with the help of this act, which is critical for the whole healthcare system and rather advantageous for the patients.
The US faced a healthcare reform many years ago that is why the government considered that it should be updated, as the times when there was a little demand on medical cures passed away. In this way, a great improvement was made in the 1900s when “Franklin Roosevelt’s Social Security Act of 1935, Lyndon Johnson’s Amendments to the Social Security Act of 1965 that created Medicare and Medicaid, and Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010” were implemented (Shi & Sigh, 2015, p. 2). Of course, these are just some steps on the way to universal health insurance, but they do much for the population. The government started to support the acquisition of new knowledge, encouraging professionals and the general public to be aware of the current health situation in the country (Fuchs & Emanuel, 2005). Healthcare specialists receive funds that give them an opportunity to develop and evaluate new health technologies and practices that are likely to save lots of lives. Except for that, the grants are given to train and recruit healthcare personnel so that more professionals can provide people with needed services (Tang, Eisenberg, & Meyer, 2004).
Taking everything mentioned into consideration, it can be concluded that the government plays a vital role in the US healthcare. It ensures the development of the healthcare system and its improvement, makes the services affordable for the diverse population and ensures their high quality. The government is even likely to implement universal health insurance with the course of time, which would save many lives.
References
Fuchs, V., & Emanuel, E. (2005). Health care reform: Why? What? When? Health Affairs, 24(6), 1399-414.
Gostin, L. (2015). Access to health care for millions in the balance as US Supreme Court reviews federal subsidies for insurance. JAMA, 313(5), 454.
Shi, L., & Sigh, D. (2015). An update on health care reform in the United States. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Tang, N., Eisenberg, J., & Meyer, G. (2004). The roles of government in improving health care quality and safety. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 30(1), 47-55.
Tyler, R. (2015). Supreme Court upholds subsidies on federal exchanges. Web.