Universal Health Care Coverage; Pros and Cons
Introduction
Universal health care coverage is a healthcare policy that seeks to provide quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services to every individual regardless of their income status. Universal healthcare coverage is part of the health policies and strategies deployed to improve population health indicators and outcomes. Healthcare policies are drafted in line with the fundamental rights belonging to every individual.
The topic of universal health coverage, as well as primary health coverage, is marred by politics, business interests, and arguments in both the developed and undeveloped countries. The questions that linger is whether universal healthcare coverage guarantees quality healthcare services or outcomes as well as the expansion of medical insurance policies or not.
The study by (Moreno-Serra and Smith) recognizes the World Health Organization as the leading advisors and promoters globally championing universal health care coverage. Universal health coverage continues to be rolled out in many countries of the world. In these cross-country studies, insurance mechanisms such as the Medicaid and Medicare of the United States are significantly contributing to the improvement of health care outcomes within the inpatient and outpatient services by bringing down the healthcare bills to the Americans.
Evidence also points out to the scaling up of both the inpatient and outpatient services within the middle and low-income nations as a result of the universal healthcare coverage. Countries under this program are reporting reduced maternal mortality of about five percent, infant mortality, and for the under-five years at 2.5 to 4.2 percent. (Moreno-Serra and Smith 919)
The weight of paying for healthcare by households is much lower compared to the burden of expanding the pool of insurance for universal health coverage. The expansion of insurance is facilitating health gains, which is more visible in the in undeveloped countries. The studies recognize proper governance and implementation of the policy as key success factors for achieving universal health coverage as much as financial expansion is needed.
On the contrary, studies by (Kruk et al.) suggests an increase in mortality as a result of low-quality health care system under the universal health coverage despite its strategy of improving health for the middle-income and low-income populations. The study points out that the only way for universal health coverage to be considered a success is if it focused on high-quality health systems that must be accompanied by enhanced financial investment.
As part of the evidence, it is observable that countries of low-income are extending their healthcare coverage, but it does not go hand in hand with better outcomes. Evidence of the low quality of healthcare in facilities within India and Africa, particularly for surgical procedures, is widespread as much as universal healthcare has been promoted in those regions.
Diving into the financial argument, the mortality due to non-utilization of the health care services and poor quality healthcare, especially for the South Asian countries that stands at 1.9 million, is proving to downplay the universal health care’s return on investment (Kruk et al. 2208). This challenge is likely to convince governments, donors, and investors to shy away from increasing the financial and insurance schemes towards health.
Conclusion
Universal health coverage is a proper health policy if well planned, implemented, and financed. The health outcomes that it attempts to improve, such as reduced maternal and infant mortalities, are a key indicator of any country’s future success. In the case where universal health coverage outcomes are not achieved, I recommend a well-designed approach of implementation and resource allocation. Otherwise, I disagree with the findings that it does not improve such health outcomes if high-quality assurance is implemented, and it is financially serviced.
Works cited
Kruk, Margaret E., et al. “Mortality due to low-quality health systems in the universal health coverage era: a systematic analysis of amenable deaths in 137 countries.” The Lancet, vol. 392, no. 10160, 2018, pp. 2203-2212.
Moreno-Serra, R., and P. C. Smith. “Does progress towards universal health coverage improve population health?” The Lancet, vol. 380, no. 9845, 2012, pp. 917-923, doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(12)61039-3.