Discuss the economics effects of raising the minimum wage on a specific sector

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Pros and cons of reforming healthcare in the United States
The debate on healthcare reforms in the United States exposed the various possibilities of introducing radical changes to the national health sector. Both critics and proponents were equally concerned about the changes that would likely emerge due to the said reforms. Opponents of the transformation thought that it would seriously gut Medicare. On the other hand, proponents believed that it would take root and strengthen with time. Interestingly, a poll conducted by media houses on the day of the reform indicated that over fifty percent of citizens were confused on the extent of the benefits against the expected challenges. One would then pose the question, do the merits of this reform beat the demerits? This paper has sought to explore the pros and cons of introducing a national health reform in the United States. Further, this paper has examined the factual evidence for and against the implementation of the reforms.
Efficiency is the key benefit of establishing a national reform in the health sector. Already, the reform is providing an environment that is conducive for streamlining hospital systems such as costing. A perfect example of this is highlighted by the program in the Shelton family of hospitals. The new program that provides for a nurse call center significantly reduced emergency trips by an incredible twelve percent. New models of healthcare have been realized with the introduction of healthcare reforms.

Importantly, hospitals are now rapidly shifting from the traditional fee-for-service system that has been implicated in excessive healthcare spending. Instead, hospitals are now continually adopting an objective and value-based models in delivering of health care to clients. Currently, hospitals are evaluated on cost versus patient outcomes. Those with better scores are awarded bumps in federal funding. This is likely to ensure that citizens have better access to more comprehensive benefits regarding healthcare delivery (Huntington et al).
However, the healthcare reform has its fair share of challenges. Increased administrative costs is one of the serious impacts of health reform. The influx of more patients means that the paperwork has to be predictably increased, not to mention disease management that has to follow a particular protocol.
A cut in payments is likely to characterize the recent health reforms adopted for the United States. Coming decades are likely to experience reduced reimbursements in Medicare that amounts to billions of dollars.
Further coverage in healthcare will be stained. A bid to provide coverage to more citizens will introduce a new set of challenges. The system will prove obsolete if patients have poor access. Today, patients covered under Medicare indicate that it is difficult to consult a physician. This predicts the likely challenge of finding healthcare providers to treat the new set of patients covered under the reforms.
In conclusion, reforming the health care system is a contentious topic due to the numerous advantages as well as disadvantages that emerge with the changes. However, it is worth noting that the merits by far outnumber the demerits of such a system. Besides improving efficiency, reforming the system will introduce better models for providing health care. The various merits should not, however, blind us from the downsides. Sufficient coverage is not likely to be guaranteed under the new health system. Further, there is likely to be a cut in funding to hospitals that initially dependent on reimbursements. This will translate to reduced hospital standards and subsequently the quality of healthcare.
Works cited
Huntington, W. V., et al. “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: reforming the
health care reform for the new decade.” Pain Physician 14.1 (2011): E35-E67.