Question

MEDICAL CARE: 1. As discussed earlier, our government is attempting to make medical care “free” to all Americans –free at the point of sale, with the costs paid for by taxation and government borrowing—at least when it comes to the TESTING for the COVID-19 virus. a) is this a good idea? Or a bad idea? Why? b) should the same policy—make it free to all – apply for ALL FOLLOW-UP CARE for patients who test positive for the virus? Why or why not? c) If the answer to b is yes, then why not make ALL medical care services free to ALL people in our country for ALL services---preventive and emergency? I mean, what is the difference between treating victims of the virus and treating all other medical conditions and issues? IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE? If so, what is it??? d) Is it relevant that most other “advanced” economies try to do it this way---make medical care free at the point of sale? e) What are the lessons learned in the case of “free” medical care in Britain? What ‘went wrong’ in that case? f) What is the goal, in this case? What is the government of Britain trying to achieve? g) What COULD the government of Britain do in order to achieve this goal? Please give two or three options. h) What SHOULD it do, in your opinion? Why? i) HOW IS MEDICAL CARE DELIVERED TO THE PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY? What are some of the various programs, and which groups of people are covered by each program? J) The Trump administration just took steps to block some Americans for signing up for health coverage through Obamacare. Is this a good idea? Or a bad idea? Why? 18-18

Answer 1

Answering first four parts of the question :-

a :-

Free testing for covid-19 virus can be considered as a good idea because if a person who visits and Hospital for any other ailment might have a risk of already being infected from covid-19 infection. If he is not tested before getting the treatment, the doctors and the medical staff that is involved for his treatment have a chance of getting infected from the same virus and might have to go on a two weeks quarantine. If this process continues the medical staff percentage would reduce increasingly and the persons who are admitted for the covid-19 infection treatment will face shortage of medical staff for their treatment .If the Corona virus testing is done for free, it will encourage more and more people to get themselves tested which will lead to their proper treatment on the right time and they will not become virus Carriers for other people. This idea of free testing can lead to Containment and stoppage of further spreading of the opposite virus.

b :-

All services whether preventive for emergency cannot be provided free of cost because the the government has to to pay for these services which are being provided to the the persons free of cost .As the government revenue is limited, it wwill have two options. Either it can choose to raise funds from increasing the tax revenue which will indirectly create a burden on the society itself especially on the younger generation or it might choose to borrow funds from the public in order to make up these expenses .The interest repayment on these funds will again create huge burden on the government and the government wil indirectly shift this burden on the citizens in the form of higher taxes . Thus it is not practically possible to make medical care free of cost for everyone.

c :-

Treating victims of coronavirus and treating other patients have a substantial difference because if the coronavirus patients are not treated in time they will act as coronavirus Carriers that could cost many lives and further increase medical expenses which will create burdens on both the government as well as the citizens of the country. The medical staff in a country is limited and if the number of patients of coronavirus increase at a very Rapid rate , after a point of time there will be scarcity of medical staff to treat these patients . However patients of other diseases and ailments that do not become Carriers of the disease neither every disease directly leads to death of the patient .Thus we can conclude that Covid 19 patients are prioritised in terms of getting treatment as there treatment includes their private as well as social well being.

d :-

It is not practically possible for all the advanced countries to provide medical care services free of cost .As providing the services for free will create huge tax burden on the citizens of the society who are tax payers. It must also be noted that lot of countries have huge population while their resources are limited and a distributed accordingly .The countries however should try to provide some free services for the patient who you require medical treatment as it will help to reduce their burden. This can be done by planning their annual budget accordingly and making necessary appropriations out of the tax revenue .