The Current US Health Care Reform - Research Paper Example

Application of the Four Models of BGS in the Current U.S. Health Care Reform The Current U.S. Health Care Reform Being the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama recently announced his health care plans to improve the health and wellness of the American families. The main focus of his newly implemented health care plan includes the act of extending the government financial support to ensure that each individual in the United States would be more stable and secure by implementing the new health care insurance reform (The White House). Women in general have extra ordinary health care needs such as mammography tests among others. In line with this, strengthening the U.S. health insurance system would be more beneficial on the part of the children as well as the older and senior women who do not have the financial means to support their medical health expenses. In the absence of access to health care insurance, millions of Americans will be worried about not have the benefit of receiving high-quality and affordable health care plans for themselves and their family members in case one of them suddenly becomes ill (Sebelius). Likewise, it would be difficult on the part of the U.S. government to control hundreds of billions of dollars that can be wasted because of the ineffenciency in the federal health care programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid including some of the health insurance companies that do not exert effort in increasing the services they provide to the people (Hitchcock). Application of the Four Models of BGS in the Current U.S. Health Care Reform The four models of BGS includes: the market capitalism model, the dominance model, the countervailing forces model, and the stakeholder model. The Market Capitalism Model Specifically the market capitalism model illustrates businesses that are operating within the market environment in response to economic forces (Steiner and Steiner, pp. 9 – 12). In this model, the market serves as a shock absorber between the non-market forces and the business sector. (See Figure I – The Market Capitalism Model below) Figure I – The Market Capitalism Model This model clearly represents the relationship between the American people and the health care insurance companies that was present way before the current U.S. health care reform. Upon informing the Americans about the health care insurance products, consumers are given the opportunity to make a decision on whether to purchase health care insurance plan or not. (See Figure II – Buying of Health Care Insurance Process below) Figure II – Buying of Health Care Insurance Process The problem with the use of the market capitalism model is that health care insurance companies could easily take advantage of the people by charging them with higher premiums for the costs of health care services. For this reason, the health care practices in the United States needs to be changed by implementing the current health care reform. The Dominance Model Under the dominance model, it is the business and the government that dominates the people for the benefit of the few (Steiner and Steiner, pp. 12 - 14). Since the main purpose of implementing the current U.S. health care reform is to ensure that each American individual will have the access over the local health care services, dominance model does not apply to the current U.S. health care reform. (See Figure III – The Dominance Model on page 4) Figure III – The Dominance Model The Countervailing Forces Model Under the countervailing forces model, the businesses is very much integrated into an open society before it will respond to different forces related to either economic or non-economic issues (Steiner and Steiner, pp. 15 – 16). In other words, the presence of environmental catalysts, the general public, the local and foreign businesses, and the government are all interconnected prior to the manufacturing and delivery of products and services in the market. (See Figure – IV – The Countervailing Forces Model on page 5) The current U.S. health care reform is a good example of countervailing forces model such that the presence of environmental catalysts (current U.S. economic condition, health care insurance market, geopolitics, and culture), the public (the values and opinion of the people regarding the availability of affordable health care insurance and demands for health care insurance), the Corporations (lobbying between the existing health care insurance providers and leadership), and the Government (statutes, regulation, political leadership, and partisan behaviour) is being considered prior to implementing a new health care reform. Figure IV – The Countervailing Forces Model The Stakeholder Model Unlike the countervailing forces model, the stakeholder model is more complicated in the sense that this type of model includes the interests of not only the primary holders (composed of the government, the stockholders, customers, employees, and the communities) and the secondary holders (which includes the media, competitors, suppliers, trade associates, political interest groups, creditors, unions, political parties, religious groups, earth’s biosphere, the future generation, the poor, and the educational institutions) (Steiner and Steiner, pp. 16 – 17). (See Figure V – The Stakeholder Model below) Figure V – The Stakeholder Model Although there are some stakeholders that was mentioned in the stakeholder model the can be related with the current U.S. health care reform, this particular model is too complicated up to the point that it includes some stakeholders that are not directly related with the current U.S. health care reform. For example: Suppliers, trade associations, the Earth’s biosphere, and the unions do not have anything to do with the newly proposed health care reform. Even though some of the primary stakeholders including the government and communities are directly involved with the new health care reform, this issue is not really all about the employees, stockholders, or even the customers. For this reason, the stakeholder model does not clearly apply to the current U.S. health care reform. Conclusion The current health care reform involves a strong U.S. government control and regulation. In line with this, it is obvious that the market capitalism model does not apply to the current U.S. health care reform since the government control and regulation in this particular model is limited aside from the fact that it is the market that disciplines the private economic activity of health care insurance as a way of promoting the health benefits of the people. Similar to the market capitalism model, the dominance model obviously does not apply to the current U.S. health care reform for the reason that the government and related businesses enter into collusion in order to dominate or take advantage of the people’s weaknesses. Likewise, the stakeholder model is also not a very good choice because this model is too broad in the sense that the model includes individuals and/or group of people that has nothing to do with the said reform. Each of the four models of BGS has its unique purpose in analyzing ways on how the government, the local businesses, and the entire society interact with one another. However, not all four models can be used in analyzing the current U.S. health care reform. Among the four models of BGS, the countervailing forces model is the best choice because is more focused on discussing issues that can be considered when making important decision regarding the newly proposed U.S. health care reform. With the use of this particular model, it is easier to analyze and explain the main factors that may affect the future development in the currently proposed U.S. health care reform. *** End *** References Hitchcock, Lori. "Health Reform." 15 August 2009. What People Are Saying. Why We Need Health Care Reform. 26 September 2009 . Sebelius, Kathleen. "Health Reform." 4 August 2009. Lifting A Burden Of Worry. 26 September 2009 . Steiner, John F. and George A. Steiner. Business, Government, and Society. A Managerial Perspective. 11th Edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005. "The White House." 2009. President Obamas Fiscal 2010 Budget. Transforming and Modernizing Americas Health Care System. 26 September 2009 . Read More