Executive Brief

Healthcare Executive Brief for World Health Organization

Description

The World Health Organization is a healthcare corporation that began on 7^th April 1948, the day when the US Constitution came into power. This date is currently celebrated as a World Health Day. The corporation now has more than 7,000 employees with around 150 country offices in six regional offices and headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization has a primary objective to manage and direct international health within the United Nations system. I selected WHO because it deals with health systems, which is part of my interest in healthcare. The WHO addresses issues concerning health through the life course, surveillance and response, non-communicable and communicable diseases, corporate services, and preparedness. The WHO supports other countries as they cooperate with governments and partners towards improving healthcare. They also coordinate with multilateral and bilateral foundations and civil society corporations in the private sector. I also selected the organization because they have embraced teamwork. Working together as a team leads to the attainment of health objectives by supporting national health policies and strategies.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The relatively poor outcomes associated with high costs in the United States’ health system is a concern. The clinical operations in the US were costly, which limited the operation of WHO in developing and testing new advances in healthcare delivery. The state of the health system was due to lack of universal health coverage, poverty, violence and teenage pregnancies, high rates of accidents, poor health behaviors, and lack of focus on primary care and public health. The ACA refers to the Affordable Care Act, which became law in 2010 along with its essential provisions, which were effective in 2014 (Hall & Lord, 2014). Although the timing of the Affordable Care Act and the government program it initiated was a problem, and the legislation emerged during the economic recession, the Act has contributed significantly to enhancing the operations of WHO.

The determination of the effect of ACA on the health services of the WHO requires comprehensive knowledge of the ACA. The Act advocated for the expansion of private insurance coverage (Jiwani, Himmelstein, Woolhandler, & Kahn, 2014). According to the Act, the subsidies were to be granted on a sliding scale to help uninsured people and families in purchasing private health insurance coverage through care exchanges. The subsidies are granted to families and individuals whose income is below 400% of the federal poverty level. This provision affects the WHO Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC). When more people have access to affordable care through insurance, more patients are encouraged to seek medical attention. This lowers the operations of SHOC, which monitors global public health issues. Most diseases and emergencies are discovered in health facilities, while fewer cases emerge outside the facilities.

The ACA requires Medicaid coverage to be granted to every person with an income of less than 138% of the federal poverty level. The federal government would pay all related costs for the first years and then around 90% for other years (Garfield, Majerol, Damico, & Foutz, 2016). This provision would, in the long run, increase the financial capacity of the WHO. The WHO acquires funds mainly from voluntary and assessed contributions. The Medicaid coverage provision would cut down on the expenditure of people on health services. People, organizations, and governments would thus donate more to the WHO and thus increasing their income. Also, some operations of WHO would be shifted to the hospitals. However, due to higher income, the WHO would explore the unaccomplished operations to further improve healthcare. The ACA also promotes funding for research and quality improvement, which is undertaken by WHO. The Act significantly influences the World Health Organization and the healthcare system in general.

Recommendation

Most people lacked health insurance due to its expensive nature, and the ACA has taken care of this for the residents that are not able to afford health care. The ACA has ensured that people earning high income pay a higher tax to cater for their counterparts with lower income (Bagley & Levy, 2014). I would recommend that they should ensure that their customers fully understand the benefits of the ACA. This can be made possible by ensuring that they have a website that explains these features. For example, when people are informed that those with preexisting conditions can be covered with the implementation of ACA, more people will sign up for insurance. Health insurance for most people could mean fewer deaths or illnesses due to a lack of medical cover.

The other recommendation is that they should understand the market dynamics, which means that for the Affordable Care Act to be implemented, the organization should be able to understand what the consumers need. Understanding market dynamics can be achieved through extensive market research. Most of this information can also be found on the online material provided by the Affordable Care Act, which can be attached to the organization’s website. Ensuring that they provide comparative purchasing options like information on the percentage of total premium revenue expended on nonclinical costs, cost-sharing, and premium rates are also crucial. For example, most people would need insurance that does not expire just when they need it most. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act has taken care of this. There is no time limit for medical care. People with chronic illnesses will enjoy this with no doubt. Subsidized premiums also make it easier for people to sign up for medical care insurance.

References

Bagley, N., & Levy, H. (2014). Essential health benefits and the Affordable Care Act: Law and process. Journal of health politics, policy, and law, 39(2), 441-465.

Garfield, R., Majerol, M., Damico, A., & Foutz, J. (2016). The uninsured: a primer. Key facts about health insurance and the uninsured in America. Menlo Park, CA: The Henry James Kaiser Family Foundation.

Hall, M. A., & Lord, R. (2014). Obamacare: what the Affordable Care Act means for patients and physicians. Bmj, 349, g5376.

Jiwani, A., Himmelstein, D., Woolhandler, S., & Kahn, J. G. (2014). Billing and insurance-related administrative costs in the United States’ health care: synthesis of micro-costing evidence. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1), 556.

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