Introduction Toward the end of the 1990s, health care cost inflation began to decrease slowly after a steep increase in the early part of the decade. The patient population at that time hoped that various policies and programs implemented by government, employers, and insurers in the '90s that were put in place to control costs would continue to moderate the overall increases for the year to come. This was not the case and at this point in time rising health care costs have again become a major issue for patients seeking medical care. During the 2000’s the average annual health insurance premium in the private sector had a dramatic increase to $2,655 for single coverage and $6,772 for family coverage, an increase of 33.3 percent and 36.7 percent, respectively, since 1996, according to new data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2000). 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. At this point in time there is great disappointment with the medical system that is in place. This is according to a recent Harris Poll survey, which found that 56 percent of the public, 46 percent of physicians, 48 percent ... ... middle of paper ... ...y strategies to reduce the overall costs in the health care system in recent years. A great example of this form of cost reduction is cost sharing. At this point in time we have to make individuals pay for some of the medical care costs. Have more people pay for their own a larger portion of their medical care costs will contribute to controlling health care costs by making patient more knowledgeable about the price of their health care. There are also other options such as hospital mergers and flexible spending accounts, but these are not always successful. In some cases, cost sharing and shifting economic conditions may have been responsible for the success or failure of different strategies. For now though cost sharing can been seen as a viable option to decreasing the cost of health care in the United States, while still providing quality care to the patient.
The facts bear out the conclusion that the way healthcare in this country is distributed is flawed. It causes us to lose money, productivity, and unjustly leaves too many people struggling for what Thomas Jefferson realized was fundamental. Among industrialized countries, America holds the unique position of not having any form of universal health care. This should lead Americans to ask why the health of its citizens is “less equal” than the health of a European.
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.
Minimizing or completely ridding the United States healthcare system of the administrative waste is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to waste in healthcare spending. The good news is that this is a problem that more and more people are becoming aware of, so forward-thinking practitioners and health advocates are already proposing solutions. Once the changes begin to gain some traction and savings start to show, we will likely see greater patient satisfaction and lower insurance premiums, which will create a trickle-down effect benefiting anyone who does business in the healthcare industry, from the patient to the insurance companies.
However, our system is based on money. The more money you have to spend, the better medical services you will receive. ?According to the Bureau of Labor education at the university of main (2003), America spends more money oh health care than any other nation, "$4,178 per capita on health care in 1998?, compared to the average of $1,783. (BLE., 2003, p.23). Still an estimated "42.5 million Americans are living without health insurance", which prevents them from receiving medical treatment. (Climan, Scharff, 2003, p.33). The numbers of un-insured Americans continue to rise. Tim Middleton (2002) states, ?insurance premiums grow at a rate greater than wages,? when you have a low-income job. (¶ 9). With our current economy recession, taxes are rising and small business employers are unable to purchase health plans for their employees. Employees are realizing that they are unable to gain insurance from their jobs and beginning to speak out about the high price of health care.
The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.
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 ...
Health insurance is currently an important issue in the United States. Everyday more and more Americans become uninsured due to job loss and an increase in premiums. These Americans add to the ever growing population of 45.7 million people who are currently uninsured (Bialik). Moreover only 27% of those uninsured are under the age of 65 (NCHC). This is staggering considering most of those who are uninsured have, or soon will, suffer from some sort of illness or injury. As a result they will not be able to afford proper treatment. Insurance premiums can range in cost from fifty dollars per month, to fifteen hundred dollars per month (Kreidler). An individual’s premium is determined by factors they choose as well as other factors looked at by their provider. The cost of health insurance in America varies depending on the controllable factors, like particular insurance policies, and uncontrollable factors, like age.
American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs). Premiums have risen five times faster than workers wages, on average. If medical spending continues to rise by just two percent more than personal income, by 2040 Medicare and Medicaid would hit 18.5 percent of the gross domestic product, leading the federal deficit to be 20.7 of the gross domestic product. (Melcer, R., 2004, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Rising Costs of healthcare pose huge challenges).
In order to effectively implement the managed care delivery system in the country, Medicaid managed care organization should plan new strategies that minimize barriers, embrace new technologies, and create incentives for providers to deliver cost-effective, patient centered care. Some of the innovative strategies are (1) New ways of working with and paying providers to
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.
Reforming the health care delivery system to progress the quality and value of care is indispensable to addressing the ever-increasing costs, poor quality, and increasing numbers of Americans without health insurance coverage. What is more, reforms should improve access to the right care at the right time in the right setting. They should keep people healthy and prevent common, preventable impediments of illnesses to the greatest extent possible. Thoughtfully assembled reforms would support greater access to health-improving care, in contrast to the current system, which encourages more tests, procedures, and treatments that are either
The U.S. health care system has experienced many transitions over the years. It has gone from being a simple method of becoming difficult to understand. Since the start of the 19th century to the Affordable Care Act, various efforts have been made to lower the cost or increase the assistance of health care. Nevertheless, health care has seen a tremendously inclined in expenditures and still rising. The U.S. will continue to use health economics as a tool to identify the best options for approaching objectives for decision
...ajority of total spending (Henderson).” Physicians have been accused of creating a greater demand, which push up costs. Physicians are able to increase the demand by referring patient to other specialist. Rising incomes affect the demand in an increasing manor on the macro level. This is the characteristic of a luxury good. Is medical care a luxury? The elasticity of the demand function becomes more inelastic when your income rises creating a moral hazard. I believe that higher premiums should be charged to the wealthy to cover these increased expenses. “As medical care spending continues to escalate, the search for alternatives to slow its growth has focused on the supply side of the market. Modifying provider behavior is seen as the only way to control run-away spending. By ignoring the demand side of the market, we may be foregoing one of the most powerful forces available for cost-control, individual self-interest (Henderson p.149).” The most important aspect we need to get control of is the patient factors, which include health status, demographics and economic status. Educating the general public has proven to be an effective way of battling the rising costs of medical care!
US healthcare costs are constantly rising. There are several factors that contribute to the rise. One is the uninsured. Individuals that don’t have insurance cost the hospitals more money, therefore the government assists the hospital with those costs. Another factor is that a great deal of the population is diagnosed with preventable diseases.
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).