Proposed Healthcare Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposed Healthcare Reform - Essay Example In the state of California alone there are more than 2 million people afflicted with the disease, and this number is expected to jump two-fold by 2025. The worst part is that over a quarter of those afflicted do not even know that they have the disease. The focal point of this aspect of the proposal aims to institute proven strategies in identifying and screening the disease, as well as primary prevention and patient self-management. The spirit behind it is highly altruistic, but the question is, can a national model for diabetes be truly be effective My take is that while it is a noble idea, the logistics and groundwork needed to pull it off efficiently may prove to be of detriment in the long run. We must be recognizant of the fact that not all states are as hard hit as California, nor is the economic impact as great. That given, their implementation of any national program may be shaky at best. A good strategy for the Schwarzenegger administration would be to develop a state-centr ic program at first, that way the execution and process control of the campaign would be better executed. Given the overdue attention given to this issue, just how much money could be saved According to the American Diabetes Association, indirect costs due to diabetes cost $58 billion in 2007, with more than 15 million work days absent and 120 million work days with reduced performance among others. 2 Include the savings in direct medical costs, do the math, and given the large number of patients in California that amounts to billions of dollars that could be facilitated towards the further development of the state. Another pressing issue which was highlighted was the need to address the issue of medical errors and health care acquired infections. This problem unduly compromises the health of patients, lowers the general health of patients and gravely increases health cost expenditures.3 So what are the possible solutions offered Among others, the plan proposes that electronic prescribing would be required of all providers and facilities by 2010 in order to prevent adverse drug events. Now what are the pros and cons of electronic prescribing For one, it is considered the best hope towards cutting health care costs in the years to come. According to an industry study, a widespread shift towards the practice would save the government as much as $29 billion over a 10-year period4. Not only that, it would eliminate the avenue for fraud and misuse of the old manual recommendations as stricter monitoring instruments could be put in place to prevent drug abuse. On the flipside, not many physicians are jumping at the chance for electronic prescriptions ,as widespread apprehension and uncertainty over the technology delivery is present. And not all doctors are technology-savvy, specially in the more rural areas. So if ever the plan were to be implemented, a lack of uniformity in terms of compliance may be present. So would these strategies be sufficient in alleviating the aforementioned issues In my opinion, these are very noble and well-researched strategies and should be given a long hard look. We are all riding the wave of the future, and the time has come for us to take drastic, aggressive measures if we are to prevent the collapse of the entire health care system. Overall, the health plan proposal of the governor provides a decent framework to build off for future legislation.