COVID-19 and US Health Financing: Perils and Possibilities.

COVID-19 and US Health Financing: Perils and Possibilities. Int J Health Serv. 2020 Jun 09;:20731420931431 Authors: Gaffney A, Himmelstein DU, Woolhandler S Abstract While the COVID-19 pandemic presents every nation with challenges, the United States' underfunded public health infrastructure, fragmented medical care system, and inadequate social protections impose particular impediments to mitigating and managing the outbreak. Years of inadequate funding of the nation's federal, state, and local public health agencies, together with mismanagement by the Trump administration, hampered the early response to the epidemic. Meanwhile, barriers to care faced by uninsured and underinsured individuals in the United States could deter COVID-19 care and hamper containment efforts, and lead to adverse medical and financial outcomes for infected individuals and their families, particularly those from disadvantaged groups. While the United States has a relatively generous supply of Intensive Care Unit beds and most other health care infrastructure, such medical resources are often unevenly distributed or deployed, leaving some areas ill-prepared for a severe respiratory epidemic. These deficiencies and shortfalls have stimulated a debate about policy solutions. Recent legislation, for instance, expanded coverage for testing for COVID-19 for the uninsured and underinsured, and additional reforms have been proposed. However comprehensive health car...
Source: International Journal of Health Services - Category: Health Management Tags: Int J Health Serv Source Type: research