Assessing Entitlement Program and Healthcare Policy Reform
The Harvard Global Health Institute is committed to conducting global health research, education, and providing service to the community, with the aim of enabling policymakers to make better evidence-based recommendations and pass more just healthcare legislation. It is an organization that is committed to diversity and equality, and acknowledges the Native American tribal claims to the land on which it is located on its official website.
Education and Professional Background
The faculty director of the Institute, Dr. Louise C. Ivers, has a career committed to improving health access and equity for the urban and rural poor. She has worked in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa,...
The report analyzed patterns of individuals enrolled in these programs, and found that most patients enrolled as dual-eligible beneficiaries had high medical costs over all 3 years of the study, and most of the costs were due to long-term care versus preventable hospitalizations (Figueroa et al., 2018). Patients who were persistently high cost to these programs were younger and had a higher rate of comorbidities and
disabilities than...
…the reports issued by the Institute seem extremely balanced. For example, regarding Medicare, a frequent justification when extending entitlement programs is that they will reduce costs via improved preventative care. In the report showcased by the Institute, the researchers acknowledge that this is not always necessarily the case. The majority of individuals with disabilities or comorbidities, particularly those who depend upon both Medicaid and Medicare and are high-use healthcare consumers, primarily needed support that could not be classified as preventative hospital stays. Preventative care would not have reduced their
healthcare costs. Even so, from a perspective of social justice, it is vital that these individuals receive the care they need from a humanitarian perspective. Profit alone cannot determine…
