Health policy and craniofacial care: issues in resource allocation.
The distribution of health care services, including craniofacial services in the United States, is examined. The U.S. has a unique health care financing and organizational system in which persons are most commonly covered by health insurance as a benefit of their employment. Current estimates are that nearly 40 million Americans have no health insurance (Himmelstein et al., 1992). Approximately half of the uninsured persons are in low-wage employment that does not provide health insurance benefits nor allow them to qualify for Medicaid (Pepper Commission, 1990). Personal health care costs now exceed 11% of the U.S. gross domestic product, a significantly higher percentage than that found in other industrialized nations (Consumer Reports, 1990b). Within the current system, is health care distributed in a fair or moral manner? What are the effects of the allocation scheme? Possible changes in health care financing and delivery are examined and basic ethical and social issues associated with a changing U.S. health care delivery system are explored.
Strauss
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RP
Department of Dental Ecology, University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000002:abnormalities; D005194:Family Practice; D017048:Health Care Costs; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006285:Health Planning; D006291:Health Policy; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D011203:Poverty; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012886:Skull / Q000002:abnormalities; D013515:Surgery, Oral / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States