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Escalating costs of healthcare
Health care costs in the united states essay
Escalating costs of healthcare
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Health care cost, the cost which are related to health care, and which are not paid for by insurance. The health care costs have continued to consume national budget and even individuals. The increasing healthcare cost are interfering with the rapid economic growth because money intended for development is used on healthcare. The cost of healthcare is determined by the approach adopted by certain government or country. The basic values upheld by a society create a perception that determines cost consideration in formulating procedures, polices and outcome in healthcare. The National Health Insurance (NHI) costs have been steadily rising in the recent past causing a major concern on the impact on individuals, service providers and the government.
For decades, one of the many externalities that the government is trying to solve is the rising costs of healthcare. "Rising healthcare costs have hurt American competitiveness, forced too many families into bankruptcy to get their families the care they need, and driven up our nation's long-term deficit" ("Deficit-Reducing Healthcare Reform," 2014). The United States national government plays a major role in organizing, overseeing, financing, and more so than ever delivering health care (Jaffe, 2009). Though the government does not provide healthcare directly, it serves as a financing agent for publicly funded healthcare programs through the taxation of citizens. The total share of the national publicly funded health spending by various governments amounts to 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, GDP (Jaffe, 2009). By 2019, government spending on Medicare and Medicaid is expected to rise to 6 percent and 12 percent by 2050 (Jaffe, 2009). The percentages, documented from the Health Policy Brief (2009) by Jaffe, are from Medicare and Medicaid alone. The rapid rates are not due to increase of enrollment but growth in per capita costs for providing healthcare, especially via Medicare.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
Medicare is a social policy many of our seniors look to for their stability when they reach 65
In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.
There is no denying the fact that the cost of health care in the United States has been on a constant rise than the wage of the employees that pay to have access to better healthcare. There is the general fear among these employees that if the rising cost of the health care is not brought under control, there will come a time, and some analyst think, the time is already here, when those employees will not be able to afford health care for themselves and their families. This fear of the unknown is particularly evident among those closer to retirement. Employers of labor have for quite sometimes now, been shifting the burden of the high cost of affordable health care to their employees, and that has significantly reduced employee standard of living the past couple of years. Similarly, rising health care costs could also drive up inflation and make U.S.-made goods and services less competitive in international markets in the long run because increasing health care costs might eventually be reflected in higher product prices.
2. The twin problems of the health care industry as viewed by society are cost and access. First of all, the cost of getting health care is very high and it is getting higher each day. This has been mostly caused by the combination of high cost and an increase in quantity of services provided to the communities. The other problem involves access to health care. American enjoy limited or no access to health care. Many efforts have been done to reform this, but still but still many people are left without access to the care. These two problems are related due to the fact that if the health care industry gets to high off course people no longer will be able to have any access to it. The higher prices are, the lower access people have to it.
Today in the United States of America, the race and culture that a person is raised in determines the quality of health care he or she will receive for a lifetime. Minority patients tend to receive a lower quality of health care as opposed to patients who are the same race as their doctor. Minorities reported to be less satisfied with visits to the doctor (Schnittker and Liang 811). This action puts minority patients’ health at risk and can cause them many consequences in the long run. Doctors should work on improving their relationship with minority patients by learning how to communicate verbally and nonverbally with them, educating themselves on how different cultures show symptoms to diseases, and entitling minorities to health insurance.
In order to provide affordable health care, government should have huge amount of money to be invested in the hospitals, for arranging doctors and for financing.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
The American Health Care system has prided itself on providing high quality services to the citizens who normally cannot afford them. This system has been in place for years and until now it did a fairly decent job. The problem today is money; the cost of hospital services and doctor fees are rising faster than ever before. The government has been trying to come up with a new plan these past few years even though there has been strong opposition against a new Health Care system. There are many reasons why it should be changed and there are many reasons why it shouldn’t be changed. The main thing that both sides heads towards is money. Both sides want to save money just in different ways.
The United States spends roughly three trillion dollars on healthcare each year. This is close to double the amount of other developed countries. Still, however with double the amount of funds being spent on health care in the U.S. health system is ranked thirty-seventh by the World Health Organization. It was also ranked last among the 11 industrialized countries by the Commonwealth Fund in overall healthcare. With the United States paying the most for healthcare why is it not ranked top among healthcare system?
The cost of health care is on the rise due to the cost of new technology. The newer the technology the higher the price for care. Technology is constantly improving forcing medical facilities to purchase new and improved technological equipment. Malpractice insurance is increasing (from the year 2000-2002 there was a 15% increase) and ultimately affecting the prices that physicians charge for their services (ABC News). The rise of the level of obesity in our country is affecting the overall health of the individuals and is increasing the cost of health care for that individual.
The world of medicine is constantly changing. The same can be said for the ever-changing costs of health insurance and the effects it has had on the American people. Citizens are paying big money these days for less coverage. Some individuals now have access to better health care due to the Affordable Care Act. On the other hand, some have lost their benefits simply because they are no longer able to afford the premiums. This topic has been an issue of debate since the inception of the Affordable Care Act with parties seemingly unable to find middle ground. Politicians are arguing while citizens are looking for answers. So, what really is the cost of the ever-rising costs of health insurance?
Health insurance is becoming the focus in our lives as many individuals are struggling to balance health and cost. The high cost of insurance benefit those who can afford and for other, it is a difficult task to accomplish. I am grateful to have a job where I can have insurance for my family and self, I know some families who cannot afford health issuance and have to go through the worries to afford one. The high cost of health insurance benefits those who have money or can afford to buy the expensive drugs. It is sad to think that one can compensate money for the cost of health because the chances to survive an illness are low. My Question is what makes a drug expensive? the source of material or the time put into
Health care is described as the maintenance or restoration of health by the treatment and prevention of disease, especially by trained and licensed professionals. Health care generates significant costs for the industry itself and for patients. There are many economic factors that can, and do affect health care costs. Actual costs affect the patients as well as various areas of health care, some of which include insurance companies, and government health care programs. Therefore, economic factors such as Hospital Acquired Conditions and Medicaid Managed Care have a great impact on the potential for profit and loss of many hospitals, insurance companies and managed care organizations.