StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Injustice of Healthcare in the US - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay identifies the distributive injustices in the healthcare industry in the United States. Criticism of health care in the United States usually focuses on the Americans who lack health insurance of any kind. But the uninsured are not the only Americans whose welfare should concern policymakers…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.1% of users find it useful
Injustice of Healthcare in the US
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Injustice of Healthcare in the US"

Running head: Injustice in Healthcare INJUSTICE IN HEALTHCARE INTRODUCTION This essay identifies the distributive injustices in the healthcare industry in the United States. Criticism of health care in the United States usually focuses on the Americans who lack health insurance of any kind. But the uninsured are not the only Americans whose welfare should concern policymakers. The welfare of lower and middle income premium payers, who are being burdened because of the U.S. healthcare system acting for the benefit of the providers and high income consumers, must also be considered. It is an issue of injustice that too much money flows or appears to flow from the less-than-affluent to the benefit of elite interests. The health care system's systematic exploitation of the many for the benefit of the privileged few has been over-looked, underestimated, or conveniently ignored by analysts and policymakers. Contrary to the assumptions of many observers, ordinary Americans are not well served by health policies and practices founded on the premise that health care should be beyond price. There are numerous identifiable ways in which political and legal systems in the United States directly or indirectly foreclose opportunities for lower- and middle-income consumers to enhance their own, as well as aggregate, welfare by purchasing low-cost, arguably lower-quality health care and health coverage. In this essay, the over regulation of the providers has been outlined and the various theological and philosophical perspectives on the injustice have been produced in the subsequent sections. OVERREGULATING PROVIDERS The most wide spread kind of regulation of the health care sector is entry control through occupational licensure. The barring from the market of individuals who do not meet minimum standards of competence in the regulated field of endeavor, can enhance consumers' welfare by minimizing both their exposure to risks of bad service and their uncertainty in purchasing complex services. However, entry controls raise costs by excluding providers who might serve some clients adequately and cheaply, thus forcing those clients (mostly lower-income individuals) to pay higher prices for arguably more reliable services. The resulting higher prices cause some consumers to forgo needed services, with adverse health consequences. The lower-income segment of the population, even if protected against costly mistakes, bears many more of the costs of exclusionary licensure than more affluent interests. In any field in which government regulates entry, entry standards will be inefficiently high, causing more hardship than is optimal. Although quality-enhancing standards limit opportunities for cost-reducing innovations, the consumers tend to value disproportionately the added security they are supplied. Occupational regulation has other costs besides those flowing from state-imposed restrictions on entry. State legislatures typically also delegate responsibility for regulating practice of a licensed occupation to its licensing board. Such boards make rules not only curtailing the supply of competitors but also suppressing advertising, corporate or commercial practice, and other practices that might intensify competition and foster consumer choice. Moreover, at the same time that they largely control the regulatory apparatus, the licensees in each field generally organize themselves privately not only to advance their political objectives, but also to set private standards for professional practice, educational programs, and institutional providers of services. Although such private entities may not directly enforce the standards they set, these standards and their accompanying certifications of compliance usually carry decisive weight in the marketplace and with state regulators. With the public generally unaware of the cost and competitive implications of such publicly sanctioned self-regulatory regimes, the interests of the regulated are commonly advanced at consumers' expense, with cost increases a natural result. Because the actions taken are always rationalized by reference to quality concerns, elite observers tend to be generally supportive and, in any event, less concerned about higher costs than lower- and middle-income consumers should be. Institutions in the health care field, particularly hospitals, also frequently enjoy substantial benefits from the regulatory regimes to which they are subject and from the activities of private standard-setting and accrediting organizations. In addition, institutional providers may enjoy the protection of certificate-of-need regulation, which operates to curb new market entry threatening to their market power. Originally put in place under the rationale that competition could never work in medical care, these laws remain on the books today largely to prevent competition from undermining the ability of hospital monopolies to cross-subsidize unspecified good works that hospitals presumably do. ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE - THE BIBLICAL STANDPOINT The Old Testament allows clearly, some state interference with the private lives of its citizens (Ex. 21:33; Deut. 22:8). For example, Deut. 22:8 declares "When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof." At least two principles are evident within this passage. First, it is the product that is regulated, i.e., the construction of a parapet. Characteristics of the person building the parapet are not stipulated in any way. Having an incompetent person build the parapet may subject the owner to charges of negligence in the event of injury but the decision of who will build is left to the owner, not the church or state. The state activity would be more prosecutorial than regulative. Second, the possible consequence of not abiding by the regulation is immediately severe, i.e., bloodshed. Someone may be severely injured or killed if he or she fell from the roof. Thus, this suggests that the potential damage in licensed activities should be: (a) observable to noninvolved parties and (b) obviously damaging to the injured party. Further, the priority is on the finished product, not the person who accomplished it. The law is task-oriented rather than credential-oriented. The negative consequences fail to be balanced by any substantial empirical body of data supporting the use of licensure. For example, licensing does tend to increase the credential status of practitioners but there is no relationship to the quality of service actually delivered. Thus, from the biblical perspective, occupational licensure can be regarded as something that actually robs the freedom of creative ideas of cost effective practices that can enter into the market, calling it a sub-standard. ANALYSIS FROM A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE The philosophical perspective of this issue of injustice in healthcare can be visualized as being guided by the principles of utilitarianism, libertarianism, social contract and the theological principles of Catholic movement and liberation theology. The way in which the guidance occurs has been explained below. Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its outcome. Thus, the occupational regulation is not morally prudent, from the utilitarian perspective of a potential competitor. Also, from the point of view of the low income group, it is a theft of their money, or to simply put it, it is a bad or undesirable outcome. But it maximizes utility of the service provider who has the license and thereby allowing rise of costs. From the point of view of the Difference principle of the theory of justice by John Rawls, "each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties for others." Licensing requirements with no clear relationship to occupational competency continue to favor the rich and violate the economic equality of opportunity principle. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) has recommended that licenses only be granted to psychologists graduating from APA-approved doctoral programs. This curbs or at least affects adversely, the freedom of people without sufficient economic strength. Libertarianism principle of Robert Nozick's Entitlement theory, particularly the principle of justice in transfer, concerns itself with the just nature of the contracts. It sets the governing laws for specifying fair contracts in licensing while ruling out fraudulence. Therefore, the occupational regulations, if the regulations be advocated, must be fair. Next, from a liberation theology perspective, again, inasmuch the same way as the catholic principles, it brings to the forefront, the consideration of the poor. The impact on the lower income and middle income group, which are directly affected by such regulatory measures like licensing, is the prime focus from this theological standpoint. The term injustice can be applied to this issue mainly based on this view. THE VIEW OF THE SOCIETY AND INDIVIDUALS ON OVER-REGULATING PROVIDERS As has been already mentioned, the society or the customers are caught into believing that a licensure always means a better standard. While the reality maybe that, there could have been fraudulence during the issue of license, the provider could have bribed or maybe during the award of license the practitioner could have performed well but that in reality, he may not be talented enough. The idea of a standard, a license or accreditation by a private entity actually convinces both the public and also the government. This is the reason why even legislations are enacted which allows the domination of those providers who pass the accreditation standards. As for the public, the fear of insecurity and other quality concerns drive them into buying the costlier so-called standards. Common people being one of the affected members of the society, particularly the low income level category are generally not even aware of the injustice imposed on them. From an individual healthcare provider's viewpoint, they might have to actually come up with procedures to comply with standards, which could merely be obligatory. Hence, potential business opportunities with low cost innovation may go unexplored, even if they are as efficient as their standard counterparts. In a nutshell, these types of unwanted regulations only rob the freedom of a competitor to compete in the market and it is nothing more than a social injustice. Conclusion This essay has attempted to briefly explain the issue of occupational regulations and licensing as an act of injustice in healthcare industry. The biblical and philosophical views on the issue have been presented to give the reader an understanding of how justice or injustice is arrived at on the issue. Also, finally the way the society and individuals look upon the issue has been produced. The cumulative inequity that results from the much discrete unfairness should be the dominant concern of health policymakers, to be addressed either before or in conjunction with the problems of the uninsured and disadvantaged. It is concluded that a justice that is fair to all must prevail. REFERENCES Richman B.D. & Havighurst C.C.(2006) Distributive Injustice(s) In American Health Care. Law and Contemporary Problems 69 (7) Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl69+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+7+(autumn+2006) Johnson Carl. (2007) Liberation Theology Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/liberati.htm Christi. F & Lamont. J (2007) Distributive Justice. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved May 3, 2008 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/#Strict Neumann J.K. (2003) Licensing of Healthcare Professionals from a Biblical perspective. Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine 2 (2) Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.bmei.org/jbem/volume2/num2/neumann_licensing_of_health_care_professionals_from_a_biblical_perspective.php Mill J. S. Utilitarianism Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm A Theory of Justice. (2008, April 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 2, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=A_Theory_of_Justice&oldid=209036468 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Injustice of Healthcare in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words, n.d.)
Injustice of Healthcare in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words. https://studentshare.org/politics/1526206-injustice-of-healthcare
(Injustice of Healthcare in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words)
Injustice of Healthcare in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words. https://studentshare.org/politics/1526206-injustice-of-healthcare.
“Injustice of Healthcare in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words”. https://studentshare.org/politics/1526206-injustice-of-healthcare.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Injustice of Healthcare in the US

Customer Inserts Grade Course

Because of the gender disparity in the us society it is difficult to come to the conclusion that it is possible to find justice in the United States (Kim 212).... Because of the gender disparity in the us society it is difficult to come to the conclusion that it is possible to find justice in the United States (Kim 212).... For instance, minorities such as Native Indians and Hispanics exist in sectors such as healthcare, education and the economy persist....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Philosophical Conceptions of Justice

However, Hobbes described how this natural socialism could lead to relinquishment of certain rights by high status individuals, hence, leading to oppression and injustice.... Philosophical Conceptions of Justice People of diverse cultures and ethnicities make up the world.... This means that different people perceive justice in different ways depending on the people around them and their ways of life and intellectual capabilities....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Meaningful Use Concept in Healthcare

Meaningful Use concept Instructor Date healthcare reform is no doubt becoming a reality very soon considering that it is the biggest priority of not only the current government but also diverse players in the healthcare sector.... The introduction of automated patient record is one of the major components and priority agenda of the foresighted healthcare reforms considering its varied benefits to healthcare delivery and players in the industry (Flanders, 2010)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Distributive Justice ( healthcare ethics)

To begin with, let us take the issue of propriety.... Who, then, is guilty for the lapse There is also the uneasy question doing its round in the mind - what were all the healthcare organizations doing while the Krampitz were busy sending out ads with their request On going through the guiding principles declared by some healthcare organizations one is led to except better vigilance from them.... du)2Now, keeping in mind the Todd Krampitz incidence, and the well-meaning claims put up by different healthcare organizations, it is very difficult to be judgmental either way because it involves ethics on the one hand, and the precious life of a patient, on the other....
4 Pages (1000 words) Case Study

Comparative Analysis of John Rawls Justice as Fairness and Irving Kristols A Capitalist Conception of Justice

Secondly, authoritarianism is not a decadent concept as the author would have us believe.... The purpose of this essay analyzes two articles of writers John Rawls and Irving Kristol and to measure their strengths and weaknesses.... Both John Rawls and Irving Kristol employ reason and common sense in arriving solution for the problem of social injustices....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

What is social justice

It involves finding out what these subjects are as well as their importance (Gao, 12).... This type of philosophy tries to discover what makes a government legitimate, the rights and freedoms it… It refers to a general view, political belief or attitude that does not belong to the technical discipline of philosophy (Gao, 13). The philosophy of body and mind explains the relationship between our mental states, events and process with the physical states, These states, events and processes include our actions, beliefs and thinking (Gao, 96)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Affordable Health Care Coverage for All Americans

The current debate in the us over the proposed health care reforms is largely based on the question of whether one has a right to health care and if yes then under what conditions and circumstances.... The achievement of comprehensive health reforms in the us is considered one of the top priorities of the current US government and the providence of affordable health care for all Americans is one of the leading slogans of the time.... hellip; This paper is an attempt to pursue lawmakers to allow the healthcare reforms bill to pass it will allow the society to become more just and equal while at the same time show its care and trust for those who otherwise cannot afford to live with full freedom and equality in a society which boasts itself as champion of human rights....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Going Through the Impacts of a Social Evil

This essay discusses racism and society.... During the early years of human existence, people were living together in groups, but as the years have gone on and civilizations traveled the road to modernization, socialization has emerged, and humanity has expanded in more complex communities.... hellip; Because people have differing beliefs, cultures, and attitudes, the idea of togetherness in a complex social structure paves the way for a social evil known today as the concept of racism....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us