Healthcare Provision and Resources

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There has been plans geared towards improvement of healthcare in the U.S to enable meet its population needs by improving the health status of Americans. Top on the list of its agenda is to provide appropriate healthcare to all people within the U.S. borders which is a goal that is achievable according to PR Newswire (2007).

Healthcare Provision and Resources

In the United States almost all levels of healthcare are delivered by the private sector providers. Many hospitals and health facilities are owned and run by profit making companies. Doctors and other health workers are either independent practitioners or happen to work for private-sector healthcare institutions. Access to healthcare is acquired through employment-based private health insurance. The government is the one that finances the non-working poor and the retired citizens through the two large government social insurance programs which are Medicaid for the poor which is funded by both the state and the federal general revenue and Medicare for the retired people which is funded by a federal payroll tax and general revenue.

The three arms, that is, Medicaid, Medicare and the Private Health Insurance therefore covers about 84% of the whole population while the remaining which is composed of working poor and their families depend on their own financial resources or charity in order to take care of their medical bills which in most cases is not adequate. Mostly their medical care is often below the required standard and their health is always compromised due to lack of adequate care (Institute of Medicine, 2002). The aging population has also increased which has led increase in the incidences of chronic diseases like diabetes, and heart diseases...

... middle of paper ... support or manpower. Individuals from the community may decide to offer voluntary services to their fellow community members who are not self-sufficient or who do not have adequate support from caregivers or family. Trained medical personnel who hail from the same community may also come in and give their services for free or they may train a few volunteers who will then assist the people in the community to access the services with the same care but at a reduced cost. Generally it possible to reduce the gap through shared responsibility between the community and the resource providers and the state.

Reference List

Institute of Medicine, (2002). Care Without Coverage; Too Little, Too Late.

Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

PR Newswire, (2007). PR Newswire Association LLC. Retrieved

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