Question

Based on your independent knowledge of various issues related to health insurance coverage in the U.S. (news articles, etc) as well as the chapter readings, what do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the current U.S. healthcare delivery system?

Answer 1

According to institute of medicine IOM (2001)Nearly 40 million Americans have no health insurance, private or public, and the number has grown steadily over the past 25 years. Differences in population characteristics, industrial economic base, eligibility for public insurance, and the relative purchasing power of family incomes shape geographic disparities in insurance coverage rates.In the United States, health insurance is a voluntary matter, yet many people do not choose to be without health insurance. Competing demands on family budgets limit the options for coverage. There is no guarantee for most people under the age of 65 years that they will be eligible for or able to afford to purchase or retain health insurance.(IOM,2001).

Age, unemployment , education, race ,poverty are main reasons for a person being uninsured.The biggest challenge of the US healthcare delivery system is about uninsured population , quality and cost .Nowadays there are lack of transparency in the care given.The quality of the care is declining as the expenses are increasing.Due to the costs the population of uninsured also increases.

Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001b: 6): “All health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States.”Being uninsured remains a health barrier in U.S.

Health insurance coverage is one of the determinants of health.“Health insurance coverage is associated with better health outcomes for adults. It is also associated with having a regular source of care and with greater and more appropriate use of health services. (IOM, 2002a).

Improved health and social outcomes would be possible with better coordination and collaboration between public health and primary care.(Rowan et al 2007).

1.Institute of Medicine. 2001. Coverage Matters: Insurance and Health Care. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10188.

2.IOM. 2002. a. Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

3.,2007 Margo Stevenson Rowan, BSC, MA, PHD, Assistant Professor, William Hogg, HONSBSC, MSC, MCLS, MD, Professor and Director of Research, Director, Scientist, and Patricia Huston, MD, MPH, Associate Medical Officer of Health Surveillance