What Health Insurance Might Replace for Every New Yorker

New York is one of the more progressive states in the United States of America, having embraced the health-care transition years before the rest of the country. The Economical Care Act enabled many consumers to obtain the most affordable medical coverage available on the insurance market. Obamacare is the current medical care system that provides medical coverage to many New York City residents. It sought to make significant improvements in terms of delivering medical care to many families from various backgrounds. In most states in the United States of America, the individual health coverage was medically underwritten prior to the year 2014, a situation that made the individuals with the pre-existing conditions not to purchase private medical coverage (Dye et al. 219). Medical coverage has proved to be a critical policy in many different states across the United States of America. It is a process that requires the progressive formulation of policies that can improve the lives of the ever growing population especially in the New York. In the year 1992, the then governor of New York introduced a law that required policies revolving around the medical coverage to be a guaranteed concern, in spite of medical history (Dye et al. 201). The governor and the medical experts switched to a community rating system where the premiums were charged for every individual regardless of gender and age. Although the current Affordable Care Act has attempted to enact the major stabilization components which include the open enrollment periods and the individual mandate, it still has some limitations that need to be addressed.

It is not guaranteed that the Affordable Care Act can cover every single individual across the New York. It only provides for the cheaper medical cover without reaching for every single individual at the lowest social economic level. It is, therefore, necessary for the New York government to look for an alternative medical cover that can serve every citizen regardless of their social economic status. The paper addresses the three alternative medical cover that can replace the current health care process, the Affordable Care Act.

Background

New York has been having a progressive health care reform since 1992. Shopping for the individual health care can sometimes be confusing among the New Yorkers due to a large number of the private health care insurance companies. New Yorkers have a wide selection of insurance plans to opt for and as a result, finding the right match for the personal needs is very difficult. There are companies set aside to help the citizens make the right choices for their medical plans. The eHealthInsurance is one of the companies that enable the people to compare different plans side by side. It also enables different people to apply and acquire the correct licensing on the right platforms.

The health care policies in New York involve the creation and implementation of rules, laws, and regulations for supervising the State’s health care system. The health care systems involve services provided by the medical experts to treat, diagnose, and prevent physical and mental injuries and illnesses. The system also includes insurance, health information technology, and insurance. The fifty state legislators usually formulate thousands of health care decisions every year and this is an exception of the decisions made by the state governments or the local governments which usually oversee the private medical companies, hospitals, and insurers. The decisions made by the local governments may include budget appropriation, insurance policies that suit the common citizens, management of the personal health information and the best health care covers and policies that can be adopted by different states.

Landscape/Stakeholders

The current medical insurance policies involve different stakeholders who either benefit from the system or provide elaborate procedures on how to provide coverage to the entire population. The Obamacare, for instance, had several stakeholders which included politicians, the president, research institutes, media, consumers and the Individual Americans. Several politicians across the state have influenced the perception of the Affordable care Act and other medical insurers that usually benefit the public or the common citizens. In most cases, the Congress usually debate on the proper mechanisms on how to implement the insurance policies in order to safeguard the public from insurance policies that are irrelevant.

The president is another stakeholder that usually establishes measures on how the public can benefit from the medical insurance companies. In most cases, it is usually the role of the president to ensure that every single individual is covered because it is a constitutional requirement. The population also forms the part of the stakeholder because they benefit directly from the insurance coverage; they usually have the powers to disapprove the medical covers that seem to be too expensive. The insurance companies, under their management, also form part of the stakeholders; through their business plans, they can help the government to formulate policies that ensure that every member of the public or citizen is able to access the affordable medical cover. The media such as the Washington post, New York Times, Computerworld and InfoWorld are greatly involved in the medical care systems. The stakeholders are the essential part of the medical care systems since they are involved in the formulation of policies and provision of resources that can be used to enhance the medical coverage. Additionally, the hospitals are also the major stakeholders in the provision of medical coverage since they are directly involved in the provision of medical services.

Alternative Medical Coverage Options

A Single-Payer System

The single-Payer Health Coverage system could replace the current medical coverage in the New York, this health care coverage would create a peaceful mind because it can enable the residents to access quality medical coverage including inpatient and outpatient medical services, preventive and primary care, laboratory tests and prescription of drugs. The Affordable Care medical system which is currently in being used has some limitations which reduce the quality of medical services. Although it is cheaper and readily available for the middle and low classes, the quality is not embraced. The Single-Payer system is also becoming increasingly popular in New York, almost 44% of the New Yorkers are now supporting this health care system, it is also seen as the most elaborate systems that citizens can use to acquire medical cover from both the state and the federal government (Cheng and Tsung-Mei 511).

Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) System

In the event that New Yorkers are not comfortable with the current Affordable Care medical system, the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) can become the best alternative. The HHC is the largest municipal health coverage systems in the entire United States of America that serve the over 1.4 million patients. It also serves over four hundred and eighty thousand uninsured residents of the municipal dwellers (Venkatram et al. 177). This medical coverage has also been in existence since 1969, meaning that it has served numerous people since its inception in the medical system (Venkatram et al. 169). The medical coverage also involved several hospitals, nursing homes as well as treatment and diagnostic centers. It can, therefore, become the best alternative for the current medical system.

The Universal Health Care System

The Universal Health Care system covers all the citizens of the United States, it is properly guided by the federal government and its aim is to provide quality and affordable medical care system to the entire population (Dye et al. 219). It is usually directed towards providing specific packages of benefits to all the members of the society. It improves access to health care services, improves health outcome, and provides financial risk protection. The universal health care system has three critical components including the services that are offered, the individuals covered, and the cost. The above three pillars make it one of the most appropriate medical coverage system that can be adopted by the New Yorkers.

Recommendations

Although the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and the Single-Payer Systems can be viewed as the better alternatives to the current medical system for New Yorkers, the Universal Health Care system is the best alternative since it involves the entire population and it is also coordinated promptly by the federal government. It offers both the quality and the affordable medical coverage. This means that it can be applied not only in New York but also in different states where the current medical systems are not prompt. It also improves the accessibility of medical services, financial risk protection, and improves the general health outcomes.

Works Cited

Cheng, Tsung-Mei. “Reflections on the 20th anniversary of Taiwan’s single-payer National Health Insurance System.” Health Affairs 34.3 (2015): 502-510.

Dye, Christopher, John C. Reeder, and Robert F. Terry. “Research for universal health coverage.” (2013): 199ed13-199ed13.

Venkatram, Sindhaghatta, Sonal Rachmale, and Balavenkatesh Kanna. “Study of device use adjusted rates in health care-associated infections after implementation of ”bundles“ in a closed-model medical intensive care unit.” Journal of critical care 25.1 (2013): 174-e11.