Health Care System Reforms Paper

Health Care System Name Institutional Affiliation Health Care System Introduction Health care reforms are usually guided by the government. Reform is a process that involves policies and arrangements in the health sector and associated institutions. The major areas of reforms would be the main functions of the system. The main reason for reforms would be to improve the general health status of people. This is so because the reforms are meant to improve performance and functioning in the sector of health, where major concerns include sustainability of health care, quality, equity, financing, and identifying priorities (Abrams et. al., 2015). This paper focuses on the major elements of the health care system that most need reforms: financing, health care provision, resource generation, governance, and Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, the paper will highlight the institutions within which the policies will be implemented Financing Reforms In all of the possible reforms in health care, financing is the most important one. There hasn’t been a change in terms of securing sustainable health care finance. A close analysis of this sector reveals that there has been low health investment over the past few years. According to the World Health Organization, the data on health accounts reveal that health expenditures in most countries don’t go beyond 3% of the entire Gross Domestic Product. However, allocation of funds depend on the rate of growth private health sector. Along these lines, the national government give provisions that range between 20-50%, as the total expenditure on health. Still on financing, health care sectors of developing countries receive most of their finances from external sources as compared to the developed country. To be more specific, countries such as Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh obtain at least 20% of their health care finances from external sources (Obama, 2016). Health Care Provision Reforms Health care provision reforms cut across many areas within the health sector. With guidance and support by the World Health Organization, many countries have performed field tests in facilities and areas such as making pregnancy safer, mother-baby package, Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI), health-promoting hospitals, EPI-plus, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), and baby-friendly hospitals. The mentioned areas and facilities are central when it comes to improve the state of health care provision. Health workers tend to improve in terms of efficiency due to improvement on the above health packages. This is so because the packages focus on a wider scope rather than on one disease. Over the past few decades, reforms in health care provision has seen rapid expansion on health care interventions in the region. However, the expansion is usually focussed on selective essential health care areas. For instance, among the selective areas are disease eradication and elimination that make up the primary health care efforts. Disease elimination was rather a success give the good relationships that the sector developed with development partners as well as other countries (Mossialos et. al., 2016). Despite the fact that reforms in health care provision may be a success, particular areas of public health are still underdeveloped. Areas that require serious intervention include provisions on pregnancy and delivery care, availing essential drugs to improve medical care, and ensuring sanitation and supply of safe water. Resource Generation The major sections in health care reform revolve around the balance of human resources in terms of quality and quantity. Shortages have been identified in the health care systems of countries like Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Maldives. There have been attempts of enlarge production capacities of health facilities by expanding training institutions. It should be noted health workers also play an important role in the health care sector. This is a call for reforms since; countries like Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar have doctors in excess and just a few health workers (Abrams et. al., 2015). An indication of need for reform is the hi...