Organizational_Responsibility_and_Current_Health_Care_Issues

Organizational Responsibility and Current Health Care Issues In the news today there are many health care issues and situations that need our attention. One such issue is all the indigent people without health care insurance, this is a large group of people and it stretches over many different groups of people; from the elderly to the young, from the Caucasian to the Hispanic and from the homeless and jobless to the working people. Since this is such a large topic the following will be about uninsured children in Minnesota, this is an important group since children cannot get their own insurance they need an adults help. The following will give an overview of the situation and how it affects health care organizations, how these organizations can influence what happens, resources that can prevent the situation and how change and what change can prevent the situation in the future. Health Care News Situation Because children cannot help it if they do not have coverage it is up to the parents to make sure that their children have the health care they need. Children who are uninsured are more than three times as less likely to have seen a doctor in the last year, and have a higher incidence of preventable disease than insured children (Johnson, 2007). There are many people in the United States that do not have insurance or very little if they have any at all. This is no different in Minnesota, where children make up a large population of uninsured. There are roughly 1.4 million children in MN; and about nine percent have no insurance coverage. According to the U.S. Department of Health on average in 2005, 21 percent of children in the U.S. were uninsured. Because children depend on their parents or guardians to provide them with health care and insurance, it is difficult for children to know and understand the importance of having health care coverage. There are programs available for children without insurance to receive coverage it is up to the parents to find it for them; programs such as Medicaid and CHIP. There are few different demographics of children that do not have insurance they are: children with no working parents, children with working parents but the parents do not have jobs that offer insurance and make too much to qualify for government assistance and children with parents who have jobs that offer insurance but it is too expensive to afford. According to www.dhs.mn.us.com a family of four to qualify for Minnesota’s Medicaid can only have a monthly income of $2,758, so qualifying for help maybe difficult. Almost 6.6 million children in the U.S. are using CHIP at some point (Johnson, 2007). About three-fourths of the uninsured children are eligible for public health insurance programs (Benson, 2006). Children who do not have health insurance affect all health care organizations because when children do not have insurance or are underinsured tend to go without routine preventative care and only seek help in dire emergency situations. Children with no coverage will sometimes go without medical help for ear infection, or sore throats otherwise they visit the emergency room. Waiting until these illness get bad enough to visit the emergency room, can cause more problems, the cost is more, the wait time is longer and only symptoms are treated. Another issue when children do not have insurance is the danger to themselves and other children in their classes and day care centers when the children do not get current immunizations. Not having current immunizations can start a break out of illness that could have been prevented with the proper preventative care (SHADAC, 2005). By using the emergency room for routine health care this causes the cost of health care to rise for everyone, including the general public. Organizational Structure and Governance There are many health care organizational reasons that have lead to the rise in children in Minnesota not having proper health care coverage. One of the reasons is that there is just not enough help available for everyone. The number of Americans living in poverty climbed by 3.7 million in 2009, from 39.8 million people in 2008 to 43.6 million the rise is due largely to steep job losses (Sherman, Trisi, Greenstein & Broaddus, 2010). Since Americans health insurance is dependent on their jobs not having a job pretty much means no health care. Another reason that insurance is hard to come by when impoverished is the length of time it takes to be approved for Medicaid, according to dhs.mn.us.com in Minnesota it takes about two months for a family to be approved for coverage. With laws out there such as the federal emergency medical treatment and labor act (EMTALA) otherwise known as COBRA and the patient anti-dumping law, health care organizations are losing money by treating patients who cant and don’t pay. EMTALA prevents any refusal of care for patients who are unable to pay (Kahntroff & Watson, 2009). Recommended Resources There are many resources in Minnesota that are available to families to help cover health care costs, it is mainly finding the resources and being patient enough for the help to come. The need to realize that this issue is community based and everyone is affected by children not having insurance. With the number of Americans without health insurance is on the rise, 15.3% of the population as of 2007 and children are at 11.7% (Johnson, 2007) communities need to help people find coverage. Not helping children is an ethical dilemma for all, everyone feels for the children and most cannot stand to see a child suffer. The biggest change that is coming and has already started is the Affordable Care Act On March 23, 2010; President Obama signed this law in to action. The law puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years, with most changes taking place by 2014 (healthcare.gov). This law will help these children in a few ways; first by allowing states to cover more people on Medicaid, also by allowing free preventative care, and by allowing young people to stay on parents insurance longer. Recommended Change To combat this growing number of children without insurance Minnesota government needs to set up programs that can help parents find low cost coverage. With three-fourths of the children who could qualify for help and don’t have it there has to be a reason why. Some of the reasons why are: families in an income bracket that does not qualify, a job that has insurance but the premiums are too high to afford (Barclay, 2010). And just not having a job and having too much pride to ask for help. But when families qualify for government help the help is not always so easy to get. Qualifying for help takes a long time, sometimes months, forms are hard to fill out, rules are not easy for understand and some people just do not know where to look for the help. To help these people the Minnesota government could set up easy access information on how to apply for help and finding a way to quicken the process more people could have insurance. Along with this there should also be information on free clinics and sliding scales clinics for people who are in between coverage. Some of these clinics are sliding scale such as Open Cities Health Center; this is where people are given a fee based on how much money they make up to $20(ochealthcenters.com). These clinics are out there but they are hard to find unless people know where to look. The information should come in a multitude of ways: internet, pamphlets, local information stations (a place where people can go and ask questions face to face with a live person) and phone numbers. This information should be shared with everyone including: doctors, nurses, schools, pharmacies and the public There are many ethical dilemmas that come with children not having insurance the biggest dilemma would be when parents’ jobs do not offer insurance or they offer it but the premiums are so high that parents cannot afford to take the children to the doctors. Change for this ethical dilemma is on the way but it will take time, with the new Affordable Care Act, small business are getting tax cuts for offering insurance plans. This will go a long way to providing many people without insurance coverage some kind of coverage. In the future more help will also come in the form for tax credits to the people for having insurance coverage (healthcare.gov). Conclusion With the cost of health care rising and the number of unemployed also rising it stands that many children in Minnesota do not have health insurance and are going without health care. This is an ethical problem for all communities, because when children go without the proper preventative care they do not get the proper immunizations and then go to school and spread illness. Health care organizations play a large role in helping these children get the proper care with or without insurance. There are many different ways children can get insurance but it is difficult and takes times. It is up to the communities to find ways to help the children be healthy and happy. References Barclay, L. (11/22/10). Lower-Income Families with High- Deductible Health Plans May Delay or Forgo Care. Pulled From: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733002' Benson, L. (4/19/2006). Number of uninsured kids grows in Minnesota. Pulled From: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/04/18/kidsinsured/ GOING WITHOUT: AMERICA’S UNINSURED CHILDREN. August 2005 pulled from: http://www.rwjf.org/files/newsroom/ckfresearchreportfinal.pdf Johnson, T. (2007). Census Bureau: Number of U.S. Uninsured Rises to 47 Million Americans Are Uninsured: Almost a 5 Percent Increase since 2005. American Public Health Association. Pulled From: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/567737' Khantroff, J. & Watson, R. (2009). Refusal of Emergency Care and Patient Dumping. Virtual Mentor. Retrieved from http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2009/01/hlaw1-0901.html Sherman, A, Trisi, D, Greenstein, R & Broaddus, M. (2010). Census Data Show Large Jump in Poverty and the Ranks of the Uninsured in 2009. Pulled from: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm'fa=view&id=3294 http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html http://www.ochealthcenter.com/