Introduction
There are many citizens of the United States of America from the state of Florida that cannot afford proper medical treatment due to the high medicine prices. This factor remains one of the most significant issues in the state’s healthcare policy. The primary purpose of the following analysis is to identify several policies to establish criteria that will be used by implementing an ideal policy, as well as to consider and compare various methods that address this issue.
The targeted level of this policy refers to the state’s healthcare system. This topic and issue are significant because their resolve will provide a plethora of American residents from Florida with valuable medical treatment. The policy analysis is intended to address the question of timeliness of the present issue, consequences that might be caused by lowering the drug prices, and the efficiency of medical services that might not be rewarded as high anymore.
Background
According to the official statistics, approximately seventy-two percent of the American population from Florida consider the medicine prices to be very high. Moreover, many professionals claim that drug prices become unaffordable for the majority of Americans. “This increase in cancer drug prices in the last 15 years has many contributing factors and is harming our patients and our health care system” (Kantarjian, Steensma, Sanjuan, Elshaug, & Light, 2014, p. 209).
These statements were made almost one decade ago. Nevertheless, the price of medicine in Florida has risen by almost six hundred percent since that time (Rosenberg & Rosenberg, 2016). There is a wide range of contexts within which the aforementioned issue exists. The most common instance is when a person has to stay in a hospital in order to undergo particular medical procedures that require certain drugs. Moreover, people might need some medicine or pills that they are obligated to take regularly in order to remain healthy. Unfortunately, there are no existing policies that would address this issue nowadays because it will not be profitable for multiple pharmaceutical companies (Alpern, Stauffer, & Kesselheim, 2014).
This issue is also disregarded by the American government and Florida’s officials as well, whereas medicine prices in such European countries as England, Germany, and Norway are under strict governmental control.
Nevertheless, the existing policy has its strengths and shortcomings. The most significant advantage is that all people who work in hospitals or other clinics receive very high salaries and are always occupied with their jobs (Alpern et al., 2014). In turn, people who face financial difficulties cannot afford any medical treatment or are obligated to take a loan from their bank to cure themselves or their relatives. If the medicine prices are reduced, people who work in this sphere will gain less profit than they do at the present moment, whereas other citizens are likely to benefit from this policy.
Analysis
There is a possibility to implement alternative policies that would achieve certain objectives and let people obtain medical treatment and required medicine, regardless of their monthly income. For instance, it would be proper for the American government to establish particular rules and laws that would not let Florida’s manufacturers and pharmacy owners raise their prices as high as they wish. This process should be regulated by competent people who are able to identify the first costs of particular medicaments and develop acceptable prices that would be affordable to average Americans from Florida and remain profitable for various medical businesses.
Another alternative policy is to give consumers a choice of buying expensive medicaments as well as cheap drugs. This will provide people with the possibility to receive first aid whenever they need it. On the other hand, they will obtain the ability to buy expensive products that might be better and more efficient than others.
In order to develop the “best” policy for the primary purposes of this issue, it would be proper to mention such factors as American citizens’ ability to pay for medical supplies, average salaries in the state of Florida, and the same situation in other wealthy Commonwealths. Therefore, the “best” policy is to establish particular laws that would regulate the prices of various medicaments. Otherwise, some manufacturers and pharmacy owners will not reduce the prices in order to gain more profit. Besides, it would be proper to provide patients with such primary medicaments as band-aids, hydrogen peroxide, aspirin, and other similar products for free.
As some American citizens from Florida cannot afford expensive medical treatment and various medicine in the territory of the state, they are likely to receive necessary services in Mexico or other Commonwealths that have a cheaper healthcare system (Bluth, 2016).
Besides, sometimes people buy all the necessary medicaments from such European countries as Germany, Israel, and Italy because it is much cheaper to purchase and ship them. Moreover, there are some businesses that import cheaper medicine and sell it to people in Florida without any documentation and legal background (Bluth, 2016). Unfortunately, this policy is not an alternative because no one takes responsibility for a variety of consequences that may be caused by uncertified medicines.
Nevertheless, there are some compromises that might be considered and implemented among the aforementioned alternatives. The first thing that can be implemented in both policies above is consultations with professional doctors that might recommend cheaper medicine with the same purposes and qualities that expensive ones have. Moreover, there is another method that helps people to cover their medical expenses. This method was originally established in Europe and lay in creating mutual funds that will pay for the medical treatment of people who need it the most.
Unfortunately, sometimes people that suffer from serious diseases do not have any choice and are obliged to buy expensive medicaments in order to survive. “In such situations, the doctrine of “just price,” or fair price, would be the more humane and moral doctrine: provision of a reasonable profit to the supplier, but the item still available and affordable to the person in need and to our society. We believe this should apply to cancer drugs” (Kantarjian et al., 2014, p 210). The most expensive medicaments are usually required by doctors who work with such vital diseases as cancer, AIDS, different brain traumas, and so on.
Recommendations
According to the analysis above, it is evident that the “best” alternative that addresses the issue of expensive medicaments is to combine all the methods that were mentioned above. The discussed above policies are aimed at making the quality of life in the state of Florida higher. If such policies as lowering the prices, establishing mutual funds, and regulating prices on the governmental level were implemented, the state’s healthcare system would be at a higher level (Kesselheim, Avorn, & Sarpatwari, 2016). Besides, people who work in the medical sphere would receive higher salaries due to the higher number of potential consumers that use such services. Therefore, both regular citizens and medical personnel are likely to benefit from these policies.
In order to adopt some of the aforementioned policies, it would be proper to develop particular strategies that would help to reach these goals. Unfortunately, there is not much that regular nurses and doctors can do. Only the government has enough power to influence the given situation. Nevertheless, some consumers can buy only cheap products and use services of professional hospitals that do not charge as much for medical treatment (Kesselheim et al., 2016). In this instance, expensive services and products will not be in demand anymore.
Discussion
The level of policy, which is intended to be addressed by the aforementioned issue, refers to the healthcare system in the state of Florida and social healthcare in general. The analysis given above was made in accordance with some credible facts and statements by professional doctors and scholars in the medical sphere. Nevertheless, this analysis has some limitations and does not cover many problems that correspond to the given issue due to the lack of information and official statistics that would help to identify what practices or actions would the most beneficial for its resolve.
This policy might have its implications for practice, education, research, and policy-making because the topic of expensive drugs is currently discussed and considered by various scholars in their research activities (Drummond & Towse, 2014). Its implication for practice also might be crucial because young doctors and nurses need to obtain more experience in order to become professional medical workers. Instead, they do not experience many cases due to the citizens’ inability to pay for it.
Therefore, it has a bad impact on the educational system of the state in this sphere as well. Moreover, the analysis shows that other policies that would cover or help people with receiving medical treatment are crucial to be implemented in the nearest future. It is estimated that approximately thirty percent of the American population from Florida are able to afford medical services and medicaments without using their financial savings.
Conclusion
The price of medicine is estimated to be very high and sometimes unaffordable by some residents of the United States of America from Florida. There are multiple methods for the state’s government to establish particular laws to regulate these prices, but this industry has its own market, which influences the majority of American citizens from the state of Florida. People who do not have enough financial savings or support use various medical services by popular doctors from other countries.
This factor has a significant impact on the local economic system. Professional doctors say that such a situation has to be regulated because it is an inhuman quality to make people spend more money in order to heal from vital diseases. Moreover, there are various strategies that can be implemented in order to reduce the population’s medical services expenses.
Appendices
Factors influenced by expensive medicaments.
References
Alpern, J. D., Stauffer, W. M., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2014). High-cost generic drugs — Implications for patients and policymakers. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(20), 1859-1862. Web.
Bluth, R. (2016). Faced with unaffordable drug prices, millions buy medicine outside the US. Web.
Drummond, M., & Towse, A. (2014). Orphan drugs policies: A suitable case for treatment. The European Journal of Health Economics, 15(4), 335-340. Web.
Kantarjian, H., Steensma, D., Sanjuan, J. R., Elshaug, A., & Light, D. (2014). High cancer drug prices in the United States: Reasons and proposed solutions. Journal of Oncology Practice, 10(4), 208-211. Web.
Kesselheim, A. S., Avorn, J., & Sarpatwari, A. (2016). The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States. Jama, 316(8), 858-871. Web.
Rosenberg, M. E., & Rosenberg, S. P. (2016). Changes in retail prices of prescription dermatologic drugs from 2009 to 2015. JAMA Dermatology, 152(2), 158-163. Web.