Ethical Challenges in Healthcare – Addressing Limited Resources and Uncompensated Care

Ethical Challenges in Healthcare – Addressing Limited Resources and Uncompensated Care

What are the ethical issues of limiting care? 

Limiting care for reasons such as financial barriers or the patient’s age results in the patient having no access to the best care. It conflicts with the Hippocratic oath that ethically obligates doctors and other providers to provide the best care per the patient’s needs. This conflicts with the principles of justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. Need help with your assignment ? Reach out to us. We offer excellent services.

How much-uncompensated care can hospitals absorb?

Based on an analysis of compensation for caring for the uninsured, the government only covers 80 percent of care costs (Coughlin et al., 2021). This means that 20 percent of the uncompensated care costs are passed on to the hospitals to manage. However, hospitals can only absorb uncompensated care that does not impact their capacity to provide care services and risk collapse and closure.

Where do people with no resources go for care?

People without resources can go for care in publicly funded healthcare systems and facilities such as Community health centers around their location, which are clinics funded by federal governments through grants to provide care services to the uninsured populations (Bruen & Ku, 2019).

What is the state’s responsibility, if any, to ensure health care services?

The state is responsible for ensuring health care services by planning and funding the health care system to support efficient and sufficient disease monitoring, detection, and timely response. The state is also responsible for ensuring health coverage and safeguarding health care quality (Shiffman, 2019).

What is the community’s responsibility, if any?

The community is responsible for ensuring the utilization of health care services by engaging in health care programs such as vaccination drives and contributing to other public efforts to improve health care. The community is also responsible for changing population behaviors to adopt behaviors that support better health outcomes.

What are the ethical considerations that should be taken into account?

Ethical considerations as far as community and state responsibilities in health care services are concerned include the balance between legal and ethical services, the privacy of individuals within the community, and avoidance of harm.

 References

Bruen, B. K., & Ku, L. (2019). The effects of community health center care on medical expenditures for children and adults: Propensity score analyses. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 42(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/10.1097/JAC.0000000000000263

Coughlin, T. A., Samuel-Jakubos, H., & Garfield, R. (2021, April 6). Sources of Payment for Uncompensated Care for the Uninsured. Kff.Org. https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/sources-of-payment-for-uncompensated-care-for-the-uninsured/

Shiffman, J. (2019). Political Context and Health Financing Reform. Health Systems & Reform, 5(3), 257–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2019.1633894

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Ethical Challenges in Healthcare

In this time of limited financial resources and reduced government payments for health care services, what are the ethical issues of limiting care? How much-uncompensated care can hospitals absorb? Where do people with no resources go for care? What is the state’s responsibility, if any, to ensure health care services? What is the community’s responsibility, if any? What are the ethical considerations that should be taken into account?