Future of the US Healthcare System and the Effects on the Practice of Hand Surgery.

The authors of the report stated in the paper that no commercial party will benefit from the results of the report. This gives the reader an idea that the results of the report are unbiased and are not for the benefit on one party alone. Although the entirety of the paper is straightforward with regards to the current status of the healthcare system in the country, the suggested solutions were still broad and indefinite. Current problems in the healthcare system in the United States were examined in the recent report.

Possible solutions to the identified problems were proposed as to also address the pressing need to have equal access to proper and quality healthcare. Sixteen percent (16%) of USA’s GDP is allotted for healthcare expenditures, unfortunately this is not directly related to quality and equality of access in comparison with other countries. With this regard, many proposals were made to improve the system. In addition, healthcare professionals believe that hand surgery has a lot to offer in providing answers to the identified problems.

The history of the healthcare system was also presented to give a background on the system. The system of having a universal system was initiated by President Roosevelt in the 1930s, which evolved from a primarily nonprofit system to one that recognized the great opportunity for profit. Through the years, there was an exponential increase in healthcare costs attributed to ‘defensive medicine’ and advancing diagnostic and pharmaceutical technology. With these problems, the authors of the report advise that the future of health care system in the USA may be leaning towards a more cost-effective system.

Policy makers would like to take advantage of existing programs such as Medicaid or Medicare to expand the coverage of healthcare. It is foreseen that either (a) private insurance companies will no longer be on business and the government will be the one responsible for health care distribution for all or (b) private companies will remain to be existent to give the public the choice on which health care provider they prefer. After reading the article, one is still left questioning what really is next for the health care system in the country.

The undesirable reality has already been exposed and most people already know the disadvantages of the current system. The proposed new system of abolishing the private insurance companies to make way for the government to handle health care is a little too unrealistic. The country is being ran by the capitalists and removing these big companies will cost the country jobs and millions of dollars of losses. The author also had some points that campaigning and pushing through with the slogan “healthcare for all” is impossible.

I personally think that this statement is untrue since a lot of nations have already implemented this as in the case of England and Cuba. Overall, the report is comprehensive and informative enough to be read and evaluated by proper authorities. They can review this and provide considerations for future policies to address the problems and improve on the existing healthcare system. Pushman, A. G. & K. C. Chung. “Future of the US Healthcare System and the Effects on the Practice of Hand Surgery. ” American Association for Hand Surgery 2009 4:99-107.