Access to Healthcare Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Access to Healthcare - Research Proposal Example When mention is made of access to healthcare, the norm has been to generalise the term to mean the reception of health services (Hendriks, 2007). The researcher sees this as a major problem that gives rise to the existing problem whereby none of the existing healthcare reforms seem to be solving the problem of access to health care for citizens. This is because there has not been any conscious effort aimed at finding the different variables that make up the components of access to healthcare to the ordinary American. In the opinion of Susser (2013), a refusal to distinguish between variables such as quality, affordability, coverage, and comprehensiveness remains a major limitation in the healthcare system. This position is shared by the researcher because healthcare reforms that have been used over the years only seem to tackle one of these variables at a time, thereby never solving the issue of access to healthcare in a holistic manner. Using the Patient Protection an Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed in 2011 as an example, it would be noted that this reform focuses on coverage options (Access to Healthcare, 2014). Because of this, emphasise has been placed on increasing the number of insured American and reducing the number of insured Americans. But as this approach to access is taken from the perspective of coverage and affordability, the issues of quality and availability continues to exist. For example, under the PPACA, the problem of access to affordable care will be exacerbated by limited community based resources that provide preventive services, primary care access and ongoing care for patients with chronic conditions. As the number of insured citizens also increase, no one really seem to be thinking about how to make health facilities that are equipped with the right infrastructure and personnel to them. In the long run, access to healthcare services in the U.S. becomes regarded as unreliable and prohibit s people from