For over a decade, the rising costs of healthcare systems have forced many households into poverty. The cost of even basic health care facilities continues to lead many families to bankruptcy today.
Quality Healthcare Affordable for Everyone
Often, the private hospitals that provide quality healthcare services are too expensive. On the other hand, public hospitals are affordable for a common person. However, they are often overloaded with patients and cannot provide the necessary care at the proper time.
Even if a citizen manages to avail of the services of a public healthcare facility, the quality of the service will not be up to par. The other option is to use the private sector’s healthcare services, which can drain one’s finances drastically.
It seems that the three qualities of the healthcare sector – cost, quality, and access – are greatly at odds with each other. There is also a stigma that only private hospitals can provide quality care.
It is often why even poor people are willing to pay for expensive healthcare services. According to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), health spending in low and middle-income countries grows by 6% annually.
In developed countries, it is growing by 4%. Furthermore, nearly 35% of health spending per country comes from out-of-pocket expenses. Consequently, almost 100 million people are pushed into poverty every year.
- Making MHA (Master of Health Administration) More Affordable
One of the most effective ways to ensure universally affordable and quality healthcare is to hire more doctors, health professionals, and nurses. A surefire method to do so is to increase the number of MHA scholarships or to make MHA certification affordable.
An MHA (Master of Health Administration) is a skills-oriented degree in providing patient care while focusing on health policy issues and operations improvement.
Creating more quality healthcare professionals with management-oriented roles in medical facilities will make the processes more streamlined and cost-effective. It will also serve to remove the gap between quality and affordability.
Healthcare workers should also be encouraged to take online courses where they can earn ACLS certifications and upscale their qualifications.
- Making Telemedicine Common
Telemedicine is one of the most affordable healthcare services one can avail of. It offers flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and more regular checkups by the doctor or health professional.
It is a virtual healthcare system that allows a detailed session with a doctor or healthcare professional over the phone, laptop, or tablet. Multiple healthcare facilities have adopted telemedicine as part of their regular practices.
The patient no longer has to spend money on transportation or commuting to the doctor’s destination.
Telemedicine also allows one to schedule a session without taking a day off or compromising on important routine commitments.
- Keeping a Price Check on Medicines and Drugs
Unpredictable price hikes in essential drugs and medicines are the biggest reasons for expensive healthcare facilities.
A price check on medicines and drugs can go a long way in making healthcare services affordable for everyone.
The European government has set a practice of regulating medicine prices based on their clinical benefits. The approach has allowed the European countries to provide basic quality healthcare services to everyone.
Considering its success, a system that allows negotiation of medicine prices with the manufacturers should also be adopted.
It will control the rapid price surges in medicines, but it will also allow the common people to buy essential drugs and medications easily.
- Promoting Preventive Care
One of the most important steps in making quality healthcare services more affordable is adopting a preventive care system.
The entire healthcare system needs to be reassessed, including the government, insurance companies, and consumers. The focus needs to be shifted to providing preventive care.
The strategy can help the patients save more money. By catching a disease early on, the patient will no longer have to wait on fixing a health issue, which would otherwise increase the medical bills.
Preventive healthcare includes full coverage through insurance that covers all the preventive services. An example is the presence of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) present in the USA.
- Offering Small Businesses Health Insurance
One of the practical ways to make healthcare facilities affordable for everyone is to offer health insurance to small businesses. According to eHealth, small businesses have lower group health insurance plans costs.
It leads to lower per-person costs compared to a person’s health coverage. Enrolling in a group health insurance plan will make the healthcare services affordable to the employees and their families.
It also helps the business owner and their family. Generally, the group health insurance plans come with tax benefits for the employees, which is another financial advantage.
- Making Multiple Health Insurance Plans Possible
One of the biggest reasons for the rising costs of medical bills is the limited coverage by a single health insurance company. An effective method to combat the problem is to allow people to purchase health insurance plans from any company.
It will lead to the purchase of multiple health insurances. When a single health insurance company rejects the claims, the person will not have to pay from one’s own pockets. It can be a tremendous help in saving finances.
The health insurance claim can be rejected by one and accepted by another. Furthermore, purchasing health insurance from any company will increase the competition and ensure the availability of cheaper insurance premiums in the market.
Conclusion
As healthcare costs continue to grow, taking the steps mentioned above is needed to provide affordable healthcare services.
People may also use the internet and tried healthcare applications that could help more people make better choices about their health.
Ensuring the implementation of those steps is a challenging task. However, it is worth the effort if it is accomplished as the affordable healthcare sector has far-reaching benefits.
The economy of any country will gain a massive boost. Furthermore, a country will have better financial security and opportunities for economic mobility.
