The Effectiveness of State-Level Healthcare Reforms

Zanesville-Muskingum County

Zanesville-Muskingum County is located in the United States, Ohio State. Its population amounts to a total of 86,074, based on the census carried out in 2010 (“Visit Zanesville - Muskingum County, Ohio,” n.d.). Zanesville-Muskingum, like all the other ones, has its own health department, which is aimed at catering for the community’s well-being, working together and doing the right thing. Additionally, the county’s health department also seeks for continually improving its efficiency and effectiveness. More so, the establishment practices kindness and accepts diversity.

Healthcare Reform in My State

To achieve its core value, the medical department has developed various healthcare reforms. Most of those implemented are aimed at ensuring that affordable medical assistance is distributed to every citizen. The only way to achieve this is by bringing the skyrocketing costs of healthcare down and make the Medicare more efficient. Additionally, the reforms guarantee that all the citizens have basic consumer protections which help them hold any insurance company accountable.

The Affordable Care Act introduced in 2010 is an instance of a rectification that brought about several transitional health programs and other services (Sheskin & Dashefsky, 2015). The developed initiatives sought to improve the services and reduce costs incurred. The examples of the enacted through the act intervention programs include Medicare shared saving and payment bundling experiments, and the community-based care transition scheme.

Another reform was the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act introduced on March 30, 2010. This was a legislature which included critical insurance reforms (Sheskin & Dashefsky, 2015). Additionally, it offers provisions for workforce investments. More so, there is the Americans and the Affordable Care Act.

Effectiveness of State-level Healthcare

One of the central principles of the health sector in Zanesville-Muskingum County is to ensure that they always improve their efficiency and effectiveness. The core value has been a major help and can be noted from some achievements. The county came up with plans on how to initiate some of its projects and ensure that they are all cost-effective. The effectiveness has been attained due to the county leaders encouraging the adoption of various successful interventions through several programs (Burke, 2015).

Impact on Community Health

Before 2010, there were so many health-related issues compared to when the mentioned state level reforms were enacted. There were several healthcare disparities mainly attributed to geographical cultures and history of the residents in the county. Most people from this county face unique cultural and family challenges which influence the way the health sector is to address the medical needs of the residents. The successfully implemented health reforms as from 2010 had a big impact on the well-being of the citizens (”Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department – Promote, Protect, and Improve Public Health in Muskingum County,” n.d.).

A report compiled in 2016 on the overall health status in Zanesville-Muskingum County positioned the community at number 71 out of the 88 counties in Ohio (Sheskin & Dashefsky, 2015). The position was a decline from the previous year, taking 76 place. The conducted analysis of quality life indicated that only 36.3% of the respondents had a feeling that their lives were not comfortable. Other impacts associated with the new reforms implemented include reduced risks of heart diseases, equal access to healthcare for most people, and active pursuits of the primary interventions by the community members. The improvements have come as a result of the efficient distribution of health services and resources.

Economics in Healthcare

The field above is concerned with issues related to efficiency, behavior, value, and effectiveness in production and also the distribution of healthcare and health. Through federal funds, the government of the Zanesville-Muskingum County has managed to come up with various care projects, which are mainly meant to benefit the citizens. To ensure affordability, the administration is to guarantee that all people have access to medical insurance.

References

Burke, A.J. (2015). An investigation of intimate partner violence perceptions in nine Appalachian Ohio counties: A health belief model approach. Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Sheskin, I.M., & Dashefsky, A. (2015). Jewish Population in the United States. In A. Dashefsky and I.M. Sheskin. (Eds.), The American Jewish Year Book (pp. 163-260). Dordrecht: Springer.

Visit Zanesville - Muskingum County, Ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://visitzanesville.info/

Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department – Promote, Protect, and Improve Public Health in Muskingum County. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.zmchd.org/