Discuss the current status of the U.S. healthcare system as it pertains to the under-insured and the uninsured populations in the U.S.A. Items to address in this opinion paper focus on providing health care from an ethical and legal standpoint. Some topics to consider are illegal immigrants, persons who choose not to practice healthy lifestyles, but expect to receive assistance for health care, employers who fail to provide insurance for their employees that earn too high of a salary to be eligible for assistance and can't afford private insurance.
As a basis for the outline of your paper, include the following:
- The existing policy as it related to healthcare services to the underinsured and the uninsured populations
- Identify a federally-funded public health service that is available, such as Medicare, Medicaid, or the WIC program
- List the requirements of being eligible for assistance from that agency
- Are there certain vulnerable groups that do not meet the requirements, but would benefit from the assistance because of no other options available to them?
- What are the ethical dilemmas in denying those groups access to care?
- Suggest changes to policy that may improve the legal and ethical access to services from that agency.