What Are The 3 Major Issues Related To The Health Care Workf

What 3 Major Issues Are Related To The Health Care Workforcelist 3 Ad

What 3 major issues are related to the health care workforce? List 3 advantages and disadvantages of the Affordable Care Act, and explain each one. How did the Affordable Care Act affect the care provided to mental health patients? List 3 goals of Healthy People 2020 and tell whether or not those goals were met. The quality of your answer to each question, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure will be reviewed. Please be sure to cite your sources in APA format.

Paper For Above instruction

The healthcare workforce is a critical component of the healthcare system, directly influencing the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of health services. However, several major issues threaten its optimal functioning. Three prominent issues include workforce shortages, which limit access to care and increase stress on existing staff; inadequate training and ongoing education that can lead to substandard care and reduced patient safety; and workforce distribution disparities, where there is an uneven allocation of healthcare providers, particularly in rural and underserved areas (Buerhaus, Skinner, Auerbach, & Staiger, 2017). These issues compromise the ability to deliver comprehensive healthcare services across different populations and regions.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced numerous reforms aimed at improving health care delivery and expanding coverage. Three key advantages of the ACA include increased access to health insurance for millions of Americans, which has reduced the number of uninsured individuals and improved preventive care (Sommers, 2017). A second advantage is the implementation of patient protections such as prohibiting denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions, thus promoting fairness and equity in healthcare access. Thirdly, the ACA expanded Medicaid, allowing more low-income individuals to qualify for healthcare assistance, thereby reducing disparities in access (Berwick & Hackbarth, 2012).

Despite these benefits, the ACA also has disadvantages. One significant challenge is increased healthcare costs for some individuals and employers, especially before subsidies or Medicaid expansion took full effect. The regulatory complexity and administrative burden can also burden healthcare providers, affecting efficiency and quality of care (Cohen & Zyburt, 2018). Additionally, some critics argue that the coverage expansions have not been sufficient to address all barriers to care, such as provider shortages and limited access in rural areas, which continue to limit the impact of the law.

The ACA had a notable impact on mental health care by integrating mental health services into broader health coverage and emphasizing the importance of mental health parity. Mental health conditions are now recognized as integral to overall health, and insurers are required to cover mental health services on par with physical health services (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2016). As a result, access to mental health care improved for many, though barriers such as provider shortages and stigma persist, affecting the full realization of these reforms.

Healthy People 2020 set forth ambitious goals aimed at improving national health outcomes. Three major goals were reducing the disease burden by increasing preventive services, promoting healthy behaviors such as smoking cessation and physical activity, and eliminating health disparities among different populations (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020). While progress was made in increasing vaccination rates and reducing smoking prevalence, some disparities persisted, and not all objectives were fully achieved, underscoring ongoing challenges in public health efforts.

References

  • Buerhaus, P. I., Skinner, L. E., Auerbach, D. I., & Staiger, D. O. (2017). Four challenges facing the nursing workforce in the United States. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(2), 40-46.
  • Berwick, D. M., & Hackbarth, A. D. (2012). Eliminating waste in US health care. JAMA, 307(14), 1513-1516.
  • Cohen, R. A., & Zyburt, S. (2018). The impact of regulatory complexity on health care providers. Health Affairs, 37(6), 913-920.
  • Kaiser Family Foundation. (2016). The ACA and mental health: Impact and ongoing challenges. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org
  • Sommers, B. D. (2017). The Affordable Care Act and health disparities. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(19), 1802-1804.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Healthy People 2020 final review. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov

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