Healthcare for Terminally Ill



Healthcare for Terminally Ill

Introduction

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the healthcare for terminally ill people. The nature of terminal illness is very dangerous for both the sick people and their families. The main pressure on the loved ones and the families is the pressure of getting depression of bearing the high medical cost and securing the proper health insurance of the purpose of addressing the needs of the individuals who are terminally ill. This is a very difficult situation for the family of the terminally ill people.

Discussion

Terminally ill people face different difficulties in their last days. The main problem is the cost which is borne by them and their families for the purpose of providing the proper health care to the terminally ill people. According to Byock (2012), “Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home, yet many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to "fight disease and illness at all cost.”, pp. 90. There are some cases in which the terminally ill people refuse to take any treatment and prefer dying at home. On the other hand, there are many people who prefer taking the medical treatment programs which can be helpful for the terminally ill people to extend their lives in the best possible comfortable manner. However, this is a very costly option which cannot be afforded by all the individuals. Therefore, it is a very difficult decision for the terminally ill people to take (Lee, 2012).

There are different public health insurance programs which provide relief to the terminally ill people for their treatment. These programs are even available in the presence of hospice care. According to Gutkind (2012), “The modern healthcare system has become proficient at staving off death with aggressive interventions.” pp. 12. These health insurance programs are signed under the contract of declaration between the doctor of client and the hospice director that the terminally ill patient has chances to live less than six months. As a result of this declaration, the health insurance program offers the care facility to the patient and the coverage is signed by the beneficiary. Thus, this is a very effective program to provide financial support to many people suffering from terminally illness and wants to extend their lives in a proper way. However, the room and board cost facilities are borne by the patient himself. The health care insurance program pays for the visit of physicians, nursing care and the purchase of equipments like wheelchairs and walkers. The complete treatment cost is paid by the health care insurance programs and the physical and emotional counseling is also paid by these health insurance programs.

In the cases when the traditional health insurance cannot completely cover the health-related expenses, then there are also different life insurance policies which can be helpful for providing the additional financing options (Nicol, ...