Roles of the Governemtn

Government Roles in Health Care

Lacy Ellington

8/24/2014

Phase 1 Individual Project

Government Roles in Health Care

What are some government roles in health care? That is a complex question simply because there are varying degrees and combinations all around the globe. Some roles would be minimal role, safety regulator, purchaser and partial provider of health care services, marketplace regulator, and primary or sole provider of health care systems. So in other words the government has many roles in health care.

In the minimal role the government regulates and provides healthcare. So pretty much they decide what kind of health care or how much health care a person should be provided with. This is generally based on income or economical class the person is in. The safety regulator role is where the government at the regional or national level often licenses health care providers and regulates medicines and medical devices. The purchaser and partial provider of health care services is where the government including U.S federal governments often provide health insurance benefits as employers governments may also directly provide or pay for medical services to certain groups of people, such as the elderly, active military personnel, or veterans. The marketplace regulator is where in some nations the government tightly regulates the business practices of health care and even requires residents to purchase health insurance. The primary or sole provider of health care is where government elsewhere operates national health care systems often funded directly by taxation. Also known as single payer systems, the government in these systems is the sole provider of health insurance coverage and may also manage many aspects of health care delivery. Health care providers may be government employees, and hospitals are government ran. The many roles of the government in health care systems can be very confusing because they are in so many ways alike however after the...