Group+3-+Universal+Healthcare

__Outline__
 Group 3 Health Informatics Universal Healthcare Outline  How Universal Healthcare will impact the United States In order to discover how the healthcare plan will affect our nation we need to know exactly what Universal Healthcare is. -  “Universal health care is health care coverage for all eligible residents of a political region and often covers medical, dental and mental health care” (// [|en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Healthcare] )//. There are forms of universal healthcare around the world that vary depending on the amount of government involvement and methods in which they are funded. We will break down the different versions worldwide and compare them to our own. **a) **** Goals ** We will discuss the primary goals of Universal Healthcare and if they’re realistically achievable. - Provide the greatest range of health coverage for Americans. Will everyone be covered?   - Reduce the national deficit. Is this fact or fiction?   **b) ****Benefits **  <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The selling points of the recent healthcare plan were the various benefits it was presumed to offer. Below are some of the benefits we will elaborate on. - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Cover an additional 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Implement a much simpler system than the current broken one - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Improved quality of care due to a tighter nit, closely monitored system - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Faster system which is attributed to the elimination of duplicate paperwork done for those without healthcare - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">National database to simplify treatments and diagnoses for physicians - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">People with pre-existing conditions cannot be refused coverage <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">c) **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Drawbacks **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There is no perfect system so drawbacks are inevitable. Some of the cons of a universal system that we will discuss are:  - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Expensive. Adding more than 30 million people will cost nearly 100 billion, inevitably resulting in tax increases   - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Healthy people will have the burden of paying for those who live unhealthy: obsessive eating (obesity), smoking, drug usage, etc.   - <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Patient confidentiality is likely to be compromised since centralized health information will likely be maintained by the government **<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2. Financial Implications ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perhaps the most controversial aspects of the universal healthcare system, and part of the reason it has taken so long to pass, is the financial burden that accompanies it. We will analyze this significant part of the plan and its sub-categories. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">a) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Short term implications: will taxes increase immediately?  <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">b) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Long term implications: as alluded to earlier, the bill is presumed to eventually reduce the national deficit. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> **<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">3. Coverage and Access **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">a) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Who is covered; who is not covered?  <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Many countries provide universal insurance but deny critical procedures to patients who need them. We will discuss different situations and procedures that may not be covered by the pending universal healthcare reforms and how this can affects U.S citizens. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">b) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When will the universal healthcare plan take affect? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A common misconception was that as soon as the bill passed, everyone will have free healthcare. Many individuals flocked to hospitals, clinics, and insurance agencies asking about their “free healthcare.” We plan to clarify exactly when the bill will take effect. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">c) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Quality of Care <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We will explore the different possibilities that universal healthcare reforms will have on the quality of care for patients. These reforms will bring many changes to quality of care of healthcare for U.S citizens. We will explain the benefits of healthcare reforms and the downfalls of quality of care for healthcare. New technological advantages are a major topic related to the benefits of quality of care that we will discuss. Downfalls in quality of care of healthcare such as patient wait times for treatment is a rising issue in healthcare reforms. Patients may be subjected to extremely long waits for treatment because of the new reforms and many of these individuals suffer chronic pain, and judging by the numbers, some will probably die awaiting treatment. That is and many other circumstances will be discussed. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
 * <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1. Defining Healthcare: Goals, Benefits, and Drawbacks **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">

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1. “How Physicians Can Change the Future of Health Care.” http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/10/1103

Porter, M. E., Teisberg, E. O. (2007). How physicians can change the future of health care. //Journal of the American Medical Association//, 297, 1103-1111.

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3. “A Road Map for Universal Coverage: Finding a Pass through the Financial Mountains.” [] Sessions, S. Y. &., Lee, P. R. (2008). A Road Map for Universal Coverage: Finding a Pass through the Financial Mountains. //Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law,// 33,155-197.

4. “Analysis of 23 million US hospitalizations: uninsured children have higher all-cause in-hospital mortality.” [] Fizan, A., Zhang, Y., Lardaro, T., Black, M., Columbani, P. M., Chrouser, K., Pronovost, P. J., & Chang, D. C. (2009). Analysis of 23 million US hospitalizations: uninsured children have higher all-cause in-hospital mortality. //Journal of Public Health//, 32, 236-244.

5. “The Triple Aim: Care, Health, And Cost.” http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/3/759 Berwick, D. M., Nolan, T. W. & Whittington, J. (2008). The Triple Aim: Care, Health, And Cost. //Health Affairs//, 27, 759-769. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.3.759