The proper access to healthcare services is one of the most critical ethical issues associated with financing. In the US, a lack of insurance is seen as the essential factor that allows a person to maintain his or her health, and the situations when an ill person cannot afford the necessary surgery seem to be challenging (Dunham-Taylor & Pinczuk, 2015). On the one hand, this person is diagnosed by a doctor, but he or she lacks sufficient money, which limits the opportunity to be treated. This contradicts the ethical principles of non-malfeasance and beneficence, which stimulates the care providers to seek for more options (“Code of medical ethics: Financing and delivery of health care”, 2019).
For example, such patients can be offered different payment options, or assistance can be requested from the funds and organizations. Another example of the ethical challenge refers to the improper selection of services and recommendations to patients, when a physician or nurse fails to balance patients’ needs and possibilities, which leads to poor access to healthcare. Such failure limits the patients’ autonomy and undermines the interaction between them and care providers.
These examples show that it is important to pay attention to financial issues that may cause ethical problems. They make an adverse not only on patients but also the entire healthcare due to the inappropriately used scarce resources and ineffectiveness of the system. The role of Ethic Boards and Committees lies in monitoring and supporting the programs aimed to implement ethical values in healthcare organizations. In case a hospital fails to address an issue, it is possible to refer to these boards and work on the problem in cooperation (Cherry & Jacob, 2017). In addition, autonomy and justice principles are expected to guide the decisions of boards and individual professionals to provide safe and affordable health care services.
References
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2017). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (7th ed.). St Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Code of medical ethics: Financing and delivery of health care. (2019).
Dunham-Taylor, J., & Pinczuk, J. Z. (2015). Financial management for nurse managers (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.