Introduction
Many aspects have to be considered while promoting health care for American patients. Decamp et al. (2018) underline the importance of following ethical principles of non-maleficence, respect, and justice to design efficient population health programs and enhance medical professional growth. However, the case of Cape Fear Endocrinology and Metabolic Associates shows that not all American healthcare facilities correctly interpret ethics and fail to make appropriate decision-making. In this paper, the ethics of the policy not to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients will be evaluated in terms of virtue ethics and utilitarianism and employees’ intention to oppose the approach.
Ethical Theories and the Policy
People expect to access professional health care as a part of their rights and freedoms in American society. At this moment, two federal health insurance programs are offered to the population, namely Medicare and Medicaid, to control costs and promote well-being. The policy of Cape Fear rejects services for insured patients and explains this step as the necessity to control cost measures. Tong (2007) discusses several critical ethical theories; virtue ethics and utilitarianism may prove the organization’s unethical behavior. The mortal virtues of a professional doctor include fair judgments and kindness to ensure the highest good for patients (Kotzee et al., 2017). As soon as a doctor or a whole facility denies services to patients with officially approved insurance, it has to be defined as a contradiction to professional codes with no fairness and kindness.
Another theory that can be applied to this case is utilitarianism. Its main idea lies in the preferred actions and their outcomes or, in other words, the choice of procedures that could bring the greatest good to many people (Tong, 2007). The principle of utility cannot be ignored in health care, and Cape Fear does not demonstrate its desire to follow it if it does not bring financial benefits. Not only one person but the majority of the population in the county are not able to access treatment and manage their chronic diseases. People have to leave their homes and visit other regions where Medicare and Medicaid patients with diabetes, hyperthyroidism, or gout can get help. There is no common good in Cape Fear’s policy, which contradicts the theory of utilitarianism and virtue ethics and makes it unethical.
Opposition to the Policy
Many employees have to work under the offered policy and observe the outcomes of their actions. It could happen that a person does not have enough time or resources to reach the hospital where Medicare or Medicaid is acceptable. Therefore, it is expected that the staff opposes the policy with the need to keep a job and reason with the administration. If employees continue keeping silent when it is necessary to deal with predicaments, no improvements or changes are observed, and similar situations happen again (Tong, 2007). Therefore, it is high time to remember conscience and commitment and underline the worth of moral values in health care. The protest is a good opportunity to identify the roots of the policy and analyze the benefits and shortage of cooperation with Medicare and Medicaid patients. However, the protesters should identify their targets and not blame one person or a group of people but a system. Such a decision not to accuse but to reason with the authority helps keep the job and establish a fair partnership with the community.
Conclusion
Despite the intentions to establish fair and unbiased care for the American people, some organizations cannot avoid making unethical decisions and implementing doubtful strategies. Cape Fear should re-evaluate its policy and support Medicare and Medicaid patients who need professional treatment of their chronic diseases. At this moment, their actions and attitudes toward patients are unethical as per the theories of utilitarianism and virtue ethics. Employees have a chance to change something in case they start protesting and try to reason with administrators at the community level.
References
DeCamp, M., Pomeranz, D., Cotts, K., Dzeng, E., Farber, N., Lehmann, L., Reynolds, P. P., Sulmasy, L. S., & Tilburt, J. (2018). Ethical issues in the design and implementation of population health programs. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(3), 370-375.
Kotzee, B., Ignatowicz, A., & Thomas, H. (2017). Virtue in medical practice: An exploratory study. Hec Forum, 29(1), 1-19. Web.
Tong, R. (2007). New perspectives in healthcare ethics: An interdisciplinary and crosscultural approach. Pearson Prentice Hall