Healthy People 2020

Healthy People 2020

What is Healthy People 2020?

Healthy People 2020 is a science based initiative that is funded by the Federal Government to improve the overall health of the citizens of the United States through education, data and health care improvements. This is a collaborative and ongoing effort.

What are the overarching goals of Healthy People 2020?

The initiative was developed to prevent diseases, improve health quality of all people, create healthy environments and promote quality of life throughout all stages of life. The program also collects national data and tracks outcomes.

Who is responsible for creating Healthy People 2020?

Healthy People 2020 was launched in December 2010 by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Who is currently working to reach the goals of Healthy People 2020?

The Department of Health and Human Services still oversees the project, however, there are many federal agencies involved in the project as well as a consortium and the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020. This is truly a collaborative effort.

What are Leading Health Indicators?

The leading health indicators are:

• Access to Health Services
• Clinical Preventive Services
• Environmental Quality
• Injury and Violence
• Maternal, Infant, and Child Health
• Mental Health
• Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
• Oral Health
• Reproductive and Sexual Health
• Social Determinants
• Substance Abuse
• Tobacco

How do you see yourself promoting the goals and objectives of Healthy People 2020?

I can assist in my community by participating in local community health fairs that promote access to preventative health services for under privileged families. Many of these families do not realize these services are available to them and they go to school with our children. By spreading the word at sporting events or school events, I can help them become aware of these services. This can help their families to stay healthy or access services they otherwise would have missed.

Paying for Health Services Terms

Briefly define each term:

Private insurance

Is coverage by a health plan provided through an employer or purchased by an individual from a private health insurance company.

Third-party payment

A Third-party payment is a firm hired by an employer to handle claims and to pay providers, and manage other functions related to the operation of health insurance. They are not the policyholder or the insurer and are totally separate from the business.

Medicare

Medicare is the federal government program provided to older adults and some younger people with certain medical diseases to cover their health issues.

Medicaid

Medicaid is the state level program provided to citizens based on their income level and at times their health related issues.

Group insurance

Group insurance is an arrangement where two or more small employers purchase health insurance collectively, often through a common intermediary who acts on their collective behalf.

Individual insurance

Individual health insurance is a health plan a person buys on their own, not through an employer. It is a plan they purchase through an insurance agent.

Health Savings Account

Health savings accounts are offered and overseen by employers that provide a way for employees to deduct out of their paycheck, pretax dollars to pay for the employee’s share of insurance premiums or medical expenses not covered by the employer’s health plan.

Managed care

Managed care is systems of health care were patients agree to visit only certain doctors and hospitals, and in turn the cost of treatment is monitored by a managing company. The cost of the care is then supposed to be less for the patient.

Fee-for-service

Reimbursement made to the provider after the care is rendered for services.

Capitation

In managed care, a payment plan for physicians where they receive a fixed rate of pay for seeing patients. The payment plan can be on monthly basis regardless of the number of patients seen in a month.

References

Healthy People – Healthy People 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2020.htm

Healthy People 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/

Patient Advocate Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.patientadvocate.org/index.php?p=384

Stanfield, P., Cross, N., & Hui, Y. H. (2012). Introduction to the health professions. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.