It is hard to disagree with the need and use of the Wellness plan. As Nicola demonstrated, TWP in Detroit appeared from community needs to provide access to healthcare and improve medical care standards for people who cannot pay. It was shown in the discussion post that lack of this care had led to higher disease and mortality rates among marginalized groups of people. The center’s mission is to spread quality medical care is undoubtedly essential. However, several points require further discussion concerning program results and financial issues.
While the issues are visible, can we estimate if the program’s outcomes corrected these issues? For instance, health economist Shooshan Danagoulian evaluated the effects of different wellness programs and noted constant growth in medical expenditure minor improvements in chronic diseases (0,8 present decline in diabetes for wellness members) (Danagoulian, 2018). In addition, on their website page, The Wellness Plan Medical Centers admit to having constantly arising financial issues. Overall, it seems to be important to see how, for example, mentioned in the post situation with Black maternal mortality changed under the influence of TWP. The above does not negate the need for health care programs for the poor, but more information is needed to analyze how effectively they are achieving their goals.
The board post lists a range of wellness programs, such as chronic disease prevention, Maternal Health Equity Program, nutritional, and physical activity programs. Their absolute necessity is well motivated and is a fact. However, no information about the effectiveness or quality control of these programs is carried out. In this case, it is not clear what else can be changed in wellness programs to improve the quality of the services provided. In addition, some financial analysis could track the costs of ineffective programs that can be reduced to redirect funds.
Reference
Danagoulian, S. (2018) Policy of prevention: Medical utilization under a wellness plan. Health Economics, 27(11), p. 1843–1858.