I must admit that Oregon Medicaid expansion, known as the Oregon Health Plan, is undoubtedly a necessary push. As we all know, United States takes an up-front position in medical investigations across the globe, provides numerous researches on medication per year and possesses advanced technologies; not to mention it offers high-quality education in the field. Nonetheless, the number of the uninsured population is incredibly high, which causes the inability of the population major part to access the medical services. Nevertheless, the given initiative is controversial: while it benefits previously uninsured people, it deprives the necessary medical assistance to other people in need, violating the fourth medical ethics value – justice.
While some people might find it beneficial for the majority of uninsured people, others might claim the expansion as a robbery of their rights for medical assistance. According to Bodenheimer (2016), private insurance is in high demand among older adults, since they are the ones in need of long-term care services. However, Bodenheimer (2016) also states, “Since 2010, premiums have jumped by 25 to 90%, putting private long-term care insurance out of the reach of most elderly families” (149). As older adults are not able to cover the medical service payment, they are forced to receive medical care in the nursing houses.
The ethical values are of great importance while applying health care. One of the four ethical values in health care is justice. Bodenheimer (2016) says, “justice refers to universal rights: to receive enough to eat, to be afforded shelter, to have access to basic medical care…” (154). Justice can be defined as treating each patient in a fairy manner. The Medicaid expansion scarcely allows this to happen, since those with private insurance lack necessary medical assistance due to the expansion.
Hence, the given initiative is indeed controversial: it does not benefit all groups of the population. It provides some with health insurance but deprives others privately insured of their treatment. Given all mentioned above, I demand to reconsider the Medicaid expansion in the state.
Reference
Bodenheimer, S. T., Grumbach, K. (2016). Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach, Seventh Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.