UNCC100 Self And Community: Exploring The Anatomy Of Modern Society

Question: Write an Op-Ed (opinion-editorial) that allows you to demonstrate an understanding of how issues relating to the dignity of the human person and the realization of the common good may be addressed by you in your professional practice now and in the future. Answer: Unaffordable Healthcare According to appraisal the status of affordability in healthcare is disheartening. Almost 77% of the population residing in Australia are faced with major difficulties owing to the affordability and emerging costs of healthcare. In accordance to a research conducted by the New South Wales Bureau of Health Information, over 50% of the Australian population, battling with mental health disorders have avoided adequate medical or therapeutic treatment, with respect to the extravagant increase in costs of healthcare (Callander, Corscadden, & Levesque 2017). With passing time, the critical issues of unaffordable costs in healthcare, are taking a hefty toll on the Australian population. Aged individuals deriving healthcare insurances from private medical centers have been found to save money by skipping their meals, acknowledges to the huge financial healthcare costs they are facing, until completion of the insurance period. Australians increasingly are encountering thrice the expenditures, which are derived from private and medicare health insurance, despite the huge disparity between the insurance charges, and the actual nature of the treatment facilities offered (Spooner, 2018). The life of a fellow human is not only sacred, but also demands dignity, for a society to maintain principles of morality and humanity, according to human dignity. Hence, the present Australian healthcare scenario, is negatively affecting the dignity and common good of people by threatening basic conditions and rights of a person to live with respect and peace (Calo, 2015). It is well known that a lack of required healthcare and treatment procedures are major causative factors leading to deteriorating conditions of a concerned population’s physiological and psychological health (Chih & Liang, 2017). However, it is also worthwhile to mention that the rising costs of the necessary healthcare facilities and insurances required by a fellow consumer, lead to negative effects on the already deterioration mental condition of the concerned patient as well as his or her family (Guan, 2018). An absence of governmental management of this harmful social issue, further leads to fatal effects in health condition, with Australians increasingly choosing to avoid undertaking necessary and available healthcare options. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority noted a considerable reduction in the coverage of hospital services over the Australia population since December 2017 (Callander, Corscadden & Levesque 2017). Thus, the present healthcare institutions in Australia, are negatively affecting an individual’s fundamental right to live a decent life – a key principle in catholic social thought. Therefore, the need of the hour is the protection of the basic human dignity, by healthcare policies and the government, in order to maintain humanity and morality in the society (Nicholas, 2015). Estimating a further increase in health insurance costs in the near future, the Government of Australia is attempting to undertake several changes in order to reduce this serious problem (Laba et al., 2015). An important would be the availability of discounts in healthcare to individuals under the ages of 30, along with instructing private organizations to ensure adequate coverage of expenditures incurred during travelling and living, especially for patients living in the remoter sections of the country or belonging to rural or indigenous populations. Further, the legislative processes outlined by the federal government of Australia, instruct private companies responsible for the provision of health care insurances to reduce premiums and enhance customer excesses – an absolutely novel reform since the commencement of the last decade. The increment in the aforementioned excesses would be at an amount of $1500 for families or couples, and $750 for single individuals (Spooner, 2018). Hence, through these changes, the government can successfully follow the catholic social thought of human dignity, firstly, by considering the needs of the vulnerable and poor populations, as evident in the availability of discounts (Calo, 2015). The above-mentioned reforms conducted by the government will take considerable time to amend the crisis. Hence more effective policies should be developed. (Bentley et al., 2016). There is an immediate need for the formulation of effective medical and healthcare policies to be conducted in the presence of cooperative collaborations between the various healthcare stakeholders, doctors, medical researchers, private insurance providers and most importantly, the concerned patients, resulting in community participation for the achievement of human dignity, according to catholic social thought (Knaus, 2018). There should be enough research performed for the identification of potential shortcomings in healthcare along with evaluation justifying the existing costs of the required treatments (Spooner, 2018). Fellow Australians have the right to live which is dignified and peaceful. Hence, the government must follow social catholic thought by protecting the citizen’s lives through improvement of living conditions and provision of basic human rights (Nicholas, 2015). References Bentley, R. J., Pevalin, D., Baker, E., Mason, K., Reeves, A., & Beer, A. (2015). Housing affordability, tenure and mental health in Australia and the United Kingdom: A comparative panel analysis. Housing studies, 31(2), 208-222 doi: 10.1080/02673037.2015.1070796 Callander, E. J., Corscadden, L., & Levesque, J. F. (2017). Out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure and chronic disease–do Australians forgo care because of the cost? Australian Journal of Primary Health, 23(1), 15 doi: 10.1071/PY16005 Calo, Z. R. (2015). Catholic Social Thought and Human Rights. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 74(1), 93-112. doi: 10.1111/ajes.12088 Chih, H. J., & Liang, W. (2017). Effect of unaffordable medical need on distress level of family member: analyses of 1997–2013 United States National Health Interview Surveys. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 323 doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1483-z Guan, M. (2018). Epidemiology of Hypertensive State among Chinese Migrants: Effects of Unaffordable Medical Care. International Journal of Hypertension, 2018, 1-8 doi: 10.1155/2018/5231048 Laba, T. L., Usherwood, T., Leeder, S., Yusuf, F., Gillespie, J., Perkovic, V., Jan, S., & Essue, B. (2015). Co-payments for health care: What is their real cost?. Australian Health Review, 39(1), 33 doi: 10.1071/ah14087 Nicholas, J. L. (2015). The Common Good, Rights, and Catholic Social Thought: Prolegomena to Any Future Account of Common Goods. Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics, 5(1), 4. Retrieved from https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/solidarity/vol5/iss1/4 Spooner, R. (2018). Medical costs forcing Australians to skip healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/medical-costs-forcing-australians-to-skip-healthcare-20160804-gql7pd.html

UNCC100 Self And Community: Exploring The Anatomy Of Modern Society

Calculate the price
of
your order:

Basic features

On-demand options

Paper format

Guaranteed originality

Affordable prices

Best experts

Calculate the price of your order

Expert paper writers are just a few clicks away

UNCC100 Self And Community: Exploring The Anatomy Of Modern Society

Calculate the price of your order:

Basic features

On-demand options

Paper format

Guaranteed originality

Affordable prices

Best experts

Calculate the price of your order

Expert paper writers are just a few clicks away

Calculate the price
of
your order: