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us healthcare system overview
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Introduction The US health system has both considerable strengths and notable weaknesses. With a large and well-trained health workforce, access to a wide range of high-quality medical specialists as well as secondary and tertiary institutions, patient outcomes are among the best in the world. But the US also suffers from incomplete coverage of its population, and health expenditure levels per person far exceed all other countries. Poor measures on many objective and subjective indicators of quality and outcomes plague the US health care system. In addition, an unequal distribution of resources across the country and among different population groups results in poor access to care for many citizens. Efforts to provide comprehensive, national health insurance in the United States go back to the Great Depression, and nearly every president since Harry S. Truman has proposed some form of national health insurance. Review of the Literature The Affordable Care Act of 2010. In March 2010, under the Obama administration, the United States enacted major health-care reform. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expands coverage to the majority of uninsured Americans, through: (a) subsidies aimed at lower-income individuals and families to purchase coverage, (b) a mandate that most Americans obtain insurance or face a penalty, (c) a requirement that firms with over 50 employees offer coverage or pay a penalty, (d) a major expansion of Medicaid, and (d) regulating health insurers by requiring that they provide and maintain coverage to all applicants and not charge more for those with a history of illness, as well as requiring community rating, guaranteed issue, non-discrimination for pre-existing conditions, and conforming to a spec... ... middle of paper ... ... on $50,000 of income. A similar situation would occur if one spouse earned a wage limit over the threshold and the other spouse did not. Since a company's payroll system only keeps track of information about its own employees, the spouse with lower earnings would not have the tax withheld but would still be subject to it at tax time. Title X. Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The Act reauthorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (ICHIA) which provides health care services to American Indians and Alaskan Natives. It focuses on modernization of the Indian health care system and improvement of health care for 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Prior to passage of the ICHIA in 1976, there was a 24-year gap between life expectancy for Native Americans and the general population. Today, that gap has narrowed to 2 ½ years.
Due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law on March 23rd, 2010; health care in the US is presently in a state of much needed transition. As of 2008, 46 Million residents (15% of the population) were uninsured and 60% of residents had coverage from private insurers. 55% of those covered by private insurers received it through their employer and 5% paid for it directly. Federal programs covered 24% of Americans; 13% under Medicare and10% under Medicaid. (Squires, 2010)
On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.
The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” was designed to assure that all Americans regardless of health status have access to affordable health insurance. The Affordable Car Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. The primary goal of this act was to decrease barriers for obtaining health care coverage and allow Americans to access needed health care services (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). After the legislation is fully implemented in 2014, all Americans will be required to have health insurance through their employer, a public program such as Medicaid and/or Medicare or by purchasing insurance through the health insurance marketplace exchange (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). I will identify three parts of The Affordable Care Act that I believe are important. First, I will talk about the requirement that insurance companies are no longer able to deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Secondly, I will explain why physician payments are being shifted to value over volume. Lastly, I will discuss Medicaid expansion and why some states are not expanding at all.
Then came the question, should the employer be the one responsible for providing health insurance. While everyone on the panel could agree that our health care system in 2008 was broken, most seemed opposed to the alternative solution of universal healthcare. There is an incentive to the company to offer health insurance to a human being that may receive the opportunity to receive health insurance from another company. However, taking health insurance responsibility away from the employer and making it the government’s responsibility would increase availability and possibly eliminate freedom of
The U.S. healthcare system is very complex in structure hence it can be appraised with diverse perspectives. From one viewpoint it is described as the most unparalleled health care system in the world, what with the cutting-edge medical technology, the high quality human resources, and the constantly-modernized facilities that are symbolic of the system. This is in addition to the proliferation of innovations aimed at increasing life expectancy and enhancing the quality of life as well as diagnostic and treatment options. At the other extreme are the fair criticisms of the system as being fragmented, inefficient and costly. What are the problems with the U.S. healthcare system? These are the questions this opinion paper tries to propound.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a federal that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 to systematically improve, reform, and structure the healthcare system. The ACA’s ultimate goal is to promote the health outcomes of an individual by reducing costs. Previously known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the ACA was established in order to increase the superiority, accessibility, and affordability of health insurance. President Obama has indicated the ACA is fully paid for and by staying under the original $900 billion dollar budget; it will be able to provide around 94% of Americans with coverage. In addition, the ACA has implemented that implemented that insurance companies can no longer deny c...
When it comes to health matters, everyone becomes attentive. People believe that with good health, one can virtually accomplish anything that they desire. This is the reason to as why health is given all the attention. It is important to have a clear understanding of the meaning of the term health, healthcare and systems that are put in place to facilitate healthcare.
spends about 15% of its gross domestic product on healthcare, thereby making it the largest sector of the economy” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Americans are not healthier than some of the other developed nations, regardless of these extensive costs” (WHO, 2010). “Almost 40 million Americans are uninsured and about 18% of Americans under the age of 65 receive half of the recommended healthcare services” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Though, quality of care was noted not to vary much in cities with respect to lack of insurance, poverty, penetration of managed care and availability of physicians and hospital beds” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005).
While most countries around the world have some form of universal national health care system, the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, does not. There are much more benefits to the U.S. adopting a dorm of national health care system than to keep its current system, which has proved to be unnecessarily expensive, complicated, and overall inefficient.
however,the salaries would be less due to an increase in taxestaken out used to help pay for
Obamacare is a healthcare program developed in the United States and introduced to Congress in September of 2009 with a goal of creating affordable health insurance for all or most Americans. One of the main points was to reduce health care spending within the United States and expand the availability of private and public health insurance. Although it does not control individuals’ health care, it offers numerous protections for American citizens, some of which include; permitting adults to stay covered on their health insurance plans until the age of twenty-six, prevent insurance agencies from misconduct and releasing clients who are ill, as well as doing away with limits which include annual and lifetime options (Obamacare Facts). In addition to requiring insurance companies to cover people with preexisting illnesses it also provides essential health benefits such as the right to emergency care, hospitalization, counseling and screenings for potential illnesses (Obamacare Facts).
There is no doubt a dire need of healthcare reform in America. However, the proposed healthcare has some positive and negative aspects that impact on businesses. This paper has discussed these aspects in detail to set a framework that can receive certain considerations by the policy makers by reviewing those aspects that have dire negative impact on businesses. This would create an environment where both large and small business will be at an advantage to offer a health insurance covers to their employees, and everybody will benefit from the healthcare reforms.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is Obama’s plan for affordable healthcare insurance coverage and improved access to care. (Davis) This will be a long process due to the political and practical obstacles, but will have an effect on everyone. The ACA will start to provide coverage at different times in each state, which will depend on where they live and which party controls their statehouse. At the moment, Massachusetts provides coverage to nearly all residents. Court’s decision to make the ACA’s Medicaid expansion voluntary and Republican states opposition, means coverage expansion will be slower.
“For the wealthiest country in the world… to not have figured out access to basic healthcare as a fundamental right for individuals, I think is a little bit of a national embarrassment.” (John Jay Shannon, MD, CEO of Cook County Health & Hospitals System (Chicago). Although the United States spends the most money on healthcare, as of 2016 they ranked 37th according to the World Health Organization which puts us behind 36th other countries. This proves that the United States healthcare system compared to other countries in not a very good system.
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...