More handpicked essays just for you.
Why are health care prices on the rise
Why are health care prices on the rise
Why are health care prices on the rise
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Why are health care prices on the rise
In recent years developed countries are facing rising costs in health care. Health policy makers implement health reform policies to control costs and to develop health outcomes (Hadad et al. 2013). Despite cost containment is a major objective of health reforms, encouragement of innovation and ensuring supportive environment for technological improvement are behind factors of future strategies of health reform policies. Because innovation and technology are drivers of rising health expenditures (Sorenson et al.
The U.S. spending on health care is an outlier compared to other industrialized countries. On an individual basis heath care in the U.S is approximately double what other industrialized countries spend. On a total spend basis, the $3 trillion currently consumed in this sector represents the world’s fifth-largest economy. This high spending on healthcare is unsustainable in the long term. Businesses, individual consumers, and the government are consequently not insulated from the shrinking economic growth due to the ramifications of the high healthcare costs. In a global competitive market the U.S. business will lag behind other industrialized countries unless these high healthcare costs are curtailed. In addition, individuals, even those with insurance face the grim prospect of bankruptcy due to the high cost of care.
Since 1985, the rapid rise of healthcare costs has had a ripple effect on the healthcare industry. Most of the cost increases are associated with medicines rapid advancement. Like most technological advancements, the newest treatments and most advanced diagnostic machinery have a higher cost. Understandably, patients expect the most advanced and effective treatments to be utilized for their care. The effects of rising healthcare costs are illustrated in the diagram below (Intermountain Healthcare [IHC], n.d.).
Healthcare is one of the most dynamic industries in our great nation. To truly understand just how dynamic the industry is, one needs to understand that healthcare in and of itself is a living, breathing industry that is ever changing and conforming to meet the ideals set forth from a broad group of stakeholders. When one looks at the evolution that healthcare has undergone in the past 165 years, the picture of the true dynamics of this industry is painted. One must take this evolutional history into account when looking at the next ten years in our industry. When looking at these evolutional processes, one can see that the systems have changed as our country and its people have required it to (Williams & Torrens, 2008). When looking at how this industry will change or evolve over the next decade, one can ascertain that it will be by the demands of those involved that change will come.
The next driver of importance for world health is technology. The implementation of innovative medicine is a primary interest for the U.S., Japan, and Germany (Reid, 2008). Unlike these other countries, the United States has a greater commitment to technology than it does to health care expenditures (Barton, 2010). This regard has led to changes in clinical practices and the level of knowledge of consumers (Drivers of change). Patients gather information pertaining to disease or illnesses from reliable m...
Rettig, R. A. Medical innovation duels cost containment. Health Affairs 13 (3): 7-27. 1994. Web 7 Feb 2012.
"It Is Possible for the United States to Achieve Universal Health Care While Protecting Scientific Innovation." Universal Health Care. Ed. Susan C. Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
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.
Roughly 2.8 trillion dollars is spent currently on health care in the United States (Kliff, 2014). In 2013, the United States spent almost 50 percent more than the next highest health care spender, France (The Commonwealth Fund, 2016). Many experts agree health care costs consumes a significant portion of economic output as well as increased premium costs. Several factors are contributing to cost escalation such as defensive medicine, increase in the elderly population, and growth of technology (Shi & Singh, 2016). The United States is considered to have mostly a private health care system, however it spends more money on the public health care system than countries with a completely public health care system. Government funded programs, such as Medicare, play a considerable roll in health care expenditures. It is projected that Medicare expenditures will rise to 9 percent of the GDP by the year 2050 (Shi & Singh, 2016). Further concern arises with drug costs in the United
Spurgeon, P., Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). The innovation imperative in health care
Health care professionals must have provide the best quality of care while dealing with patients. Quality of healthcare is “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. Managed care is a system of care delivery involving complex organizational arrangements between institutions and clinicians, explicit financial incentives, defined access to service, controls on the use of services, 3 coordination and integration of services. (McConnell, C, 2010) Cost balance is health professionals trying to balance the cost while improving the quality of care. Although these health professionals are for improving the quality and cost balance in healthcare, it is taking a strain on them with the rising cost of healthcare,
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.
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.
In society today many of the policymakers are looking to find ways to decrease the current levels of growth without reducing access to the necessary medical care services, while at the same time not creating burden on the patient population. In many cases though, organizations are looking at past strategies in order to decrease cost. Many health care organizations are exploring new approaches that seem to hold promise to decrease the cost of medical treatment. The future of health care in the United States will need to be focused on implementing cost reduction systems to improve overall cost to patients.
The United States health care system is one of the most expensive systems in the world yet it is known as being unorganized and chaotic in comparison to other countries (Barton, 2010). This factor is attributed to numerous characteristics that define what the U.S. system is comprised of. Two of the major indications are imperfect market conditions and the demand for new technology (Barton, 2010). The health care system has been described as a free market in
The cost of US health care has been steadily increasing for many years causing many Americans to face difficult choices between health care and other priorities in their lives. Health economists are bringing to light the tradeoffs which must be considered in every healthcare decision (Getzen, 2013, p. 427). Therefore, efforts must be made to incite change which constrains the cost of health care without creating adverse health consequences. As the medical field becomes more business oriented, there will be more of a shift in focus toward the costs and benefits, which will make medicine more like the rest of the economy (Getzen, 2013, p. 439).