-
Essay / A Case Study of the Ethical Dilemma Surrounding Hospital Reimbursement After Treating Illegal Immigrants
Ethics refers to the standard of wrong or right. Medical ethics constitutes one of the essential branches of medicine, as it constitutes the guiding principle of a competent physician. It is a moral philosophy that involves conflicts in duties and their possible consequences. Often, doctors face dilemmas when fulfilling their duties, forcing them to make the best choice that will bring more benefit and less harm. However, making such a decision has never been easy and therefore one must think about the results and consequences of the decision. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This case study is a classic ethical dilemma of reimbursing hospitals after treating illegal immigrants who require dialysis treatment. Federal regulations state that when a patient presents to the emergency room for emergency medical care, they must be treated and cared for. Doctors cannot question the patient's ability to pay, nor their status as a citizen. However, contrary to the above, it is often clear to doctors that limited treatment can be provided to undocumented immigrants, due to the difficulty in obtaining reimbursement for costs. cost of medicines. This creates a state of conflict over whether or not doctors should treat these undocumented foreigners (Nordtug, 2015). The decision has results as well as consequences; professional health care providers are therefore faced with the problem of choosing what is right or wrong. The stakeholders in this study are doctors and the federal government. The government has made arrangements for the treatment of patients requiring emergency care. Conversely, doctors are limited to caring for undocumented immigrants. Theories relevant to this study include deontology and unitarianism (Francis, 2017). Deontological theory is concerned with duties and rights, regardless of the consequences, which implies that a doctor has a mandate to care for a patient without considering the implications of his or her action. Furthermore, every patient has the right to be treated and cared for. On the other hand, Unitarianism dictates that a doctor should do what is moral and benefits as many people as possible. It is therefore morally correct for a doctor not to provide health care to illegal immigrants, but to use these drugs for the entire population, who has medical insurance, which means that the hospital will refunded. This dilemma has been created by the rules and regulations of the government and the medical sector. First, the federal government states that patients brought to emergency rooms must be treated and must not be turned away. Relevant medical sector rules and regulations have limited the provision of health care to undocumented foreigners. Therefore, these rules and regulations are contradictory and pose a dilemma for professional healthcare providers. There are possible outcomes and alternatives in this dilemma case. The deaths of immigrants who are denied treatment because of their illegal status could result in lawsuits against doctors who violate federal rules and regulations. An alternative is joint negotiation between the federal government and the public health sector to harmonize the rules and regulations governing the provision of health care to immigrants. Another alternative could be to treat patients.