A Prescription for America’s Health Care System, Case Study Example

In this case study, Dr. Wilson provides many recommendations for key stakeholders in the U.S. health care reform. He states that all groups, including the private sector, business, and government play an important role in this system and independent involvement could contribute to the success or the failure of the program. He reminds businesses to keep their practices transparent so that their actions are fair to all. This must be the case especially when they develop practices and policy. Furthermore, the government plays an important role as well because the nature of politics has the ability to cloud what is needed for the public. Often, politicians are concerned about being reelected and less on the needs of their constituents. As a consequence, Dr. Wilson reminds them to remember the purpose they are meant to serve; protecting the interests of the nation. While he does not focus on the private sector specifically, he does tie in the requirements he states for businesses with his requirements for the private sector. These individuals must remember that they are first and foremost people and that it is their duty to defend the interests of others because they are the ones with power.

Overall, I agree with Dr. Wilson because all parties must collaborate in order to ensure that the health care system will work. Many businesses and government officials have become frustrated over the nation’s health care system under the Affordable Health Care Act, but dissent is not contributing to the success of the program. Instead, it is preventing people from accessing the care that this legislation was created to help people access. Businesses have decided that they are able to restrict the types of care they offer to their employees, which is their right to a certain extent. However, it is their right to select which insurance programs to subscribe to rather than the particulars of the care that they are allowed to have. On the other hand, many government officials are fighting against the proper implementation of the Affordable Care Act because they believe that the success of an act passed by the opposing party would be detrimental for their own party’s standing. Dr. Wilson asks these individuals to forget about this political dissent and instead to focus on the value that this legislation could bring to many families. The benefits of health care are independent of party lines.

Dr. Wilson calls upon medical students and physicians to become involved in this conversation and become involved in the avocation for patient care. Overall, the responsibility of these individuals is to ensure that people have access to care and to administer this care to the population equally. Therefore, Dr. Wilson is asking these individuals to remain aware of issues that could be preventing access to care and to fight to ensure that justice is heard. Furthermore, he is asking that patients listen to the expertise of their doctors and to work together with them to access care. Medical professionals represent the rights of the patients and it is therefore important for these individuals to play this role.

I agree with this prescription because medical professionals are in a place of power and it is important for them to use this power to protect their patients. Overall, it is the responsibility of all individuals in power to help those with less influence. In order to ensure that our health care system is able to work, we must all work together to advocate for the well-being of every individual in society.

References

Wilson, C.B. (2010). A Prescription for America’s Health Care System. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/speeches/wilson-inaugural-speech.page