Ethics and Healthcare Reform

Ethics and Healthcare Reform

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Ethics and Healthcare Reform

Since the affordable health care, popularly known as ObamaCare, was executed, there has been a lot of conflict which has arisen concerning the healthcare reform and the ethical implications. This has paved way for a national debate regarding this particular reform which is actually among the most controversial and divisive issues to have come about in recent times. Unfortunately, this reform has taken a political twist as people often offer political solutions without having understood the issue at hand (Paul, 2014). It is therefore important to analyze the ethical issues at hand considering the sensitivity of the health sector.

One of the main issues is the fact that modern healthcare tends to be very costly (Dennis, 2012). According to statistics, the United States spends the highest amount of revenue on healthcare compared to other developed countries but still, the citizens cannot be said to be the healthiest. Up to date, access to quality healthcare is still a problem in the country. As such, the issue of unequal access to healthcare is a major ethical issue. Additionally, the reform does not specify a direct strategy to decrease costs. Competition and technical innovation continues to increase expenses of treatments and medical tests at the expense of affordable healthcare.

Moreover, the new law does not make any reference on issues of medical malpractice claims. Under ObamaCare, physicians will be faced with higher incentives for under-treatment instead of overtreatment (Paul, 2014). A good example is the pilot programs which will abolish the current fee applied for service model and instead, bundled payments will be introduced. In this case, doctors and hospitals will receive a certain amount, which will be fixed when they treat a certain condition such as stroke or pneumonia without considering how much it will cost the institution. This will compromise the quality of healthcare as providers will operate at the minimum cost possible at the expense of the quality of healthcare.

References

Dennis Sullivan. (Nov 28, 2012). The Ethics of ObamaCare: A post-election Perspective. Retrieved from https://www.cedarville.edu/News/2012/The-Ethics-of-ObamaCare-A post-election-Perspective.aspx

Paul Hsieh. (Jan 28, 2014). How Obamacare Creates Ethical Conflicts and How Patients Can Protect Themselves. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com