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Government's Role in Healthcare Reform

The government plays a crucial role in regulating healthcare to ensure a free market operates effectively, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The document argues that the private health insurance industry is detrimental to both providers and recipients, advocating for its abolition to establish healthcare as a right. It suggests two potential paths forward: complete public healthcare or privatization with market-driven pricing, emphasizing the need for accessible healthcare for all.

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prestonburkhart92
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14 views1 page

Government's Role in Healthcare Reform

The government plays a crucial role in regulating healthcare to ensure a free market operates effectively, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The document argues that the private health insurance industry is detrimental to both providers and recipients, advocating for its abolition to establish healthcare as a right. It suggests two potential paths forward: complete public healthcare or privatization with market-driven pricing, emphasizing the need for accessible healthcare for all.

Uploaded by

prestonburkhart92
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The primary role that government plays in healthcare the same role it plays in all other

aspects of life. That is to regulate, enforce, and determine the rules and laws by which one should
freely practice. It should be noted that government should overstep the bounds of a free market
but rather establish a perimeter by which the free market can excel. It is said very eloquently in
the preamble of the Constitution of the United States: “We the People of the United States, in
Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for
the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity” (National Archives Records and Association). The government
serves to protect and provide the framework by which a healthcare organization can work.
Health insurance is a detriment to everyone involved in the healthcare industry both on
the provider side and the recipient side. Since health insurance is a for-profit organization, the
people paying are usually not getting their money’s worth. Said perfectly in a 1990 research
paper: “In five major areas, the private health insurance industry has serious flaws: it has
contributed to health care inflation; it wastes billions in administrative and marketing costs; it is
unfair to many groups in society; it has undermined the positive features of health maintenance
organization reform; and it has far too much political and economic power. In order to establish
health care as a right as the guiding principle of U.S. health care financing, the private health
insurance industry and the insurance principle should be abolished” (Bodenheimer, 1990).
The first step is to eliminate private healthcare in a systematic and controlled fashion.
From there the two political views are the only views that can are sustainable. On one hand,
completely publicizing healthcare under the government would ensure equal access to healthcare
regardless of ability to pay. On the other side privatizing healthcare and letting the free market
dictate prices would inevitably lead to a price decrease. Both have their pros and cons.
Regardless, I personally believe that healthcare should be accessible to everyone, but I believe
the road to get there requires a concentrated effort to eliminate private health insurance and
bolster the free market.

References

Bodenheimer T. Should we abolish the private health insurance industry? Int J Health Serv.
1990;20(2):199-220. doi: 10.2190/DAKX-ULL1-R1EF-X5NR. PMID: 2332260.

National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). Declaration of independence: A


transcription. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved September 20,
2022, from [Link]

National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). The constitution of the United States: A
transcription. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved September 20,
2022, from [Link]

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