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Escalating costs of healthcare
Health care costs in the united states essayu
Escalating costs of healthcare
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Medical bills are a very problematic situation that is causing arguments all across the United States. Countless Americans have been affected by the extremities of medical debts in the U.S. due to being underinsured or not insured at all. Many people across the nation have necessary surgeries they need to get in order to survive, but some of those people aren’t able to get those needed surgeries because they are unable to afford them. Research shows that many citizens of America feel that the prices of medical procedures need to be lowered so they are able to get the correct care they need for themselves or their loved ones. Health care costs are raising at about 7% a year, causing more debt in citizens and out country, according to The Hastings Center President, Daniel Callahan. While these …show more content…
Many people who are insured are quickly becoming underinsured because as the days go by, medical bills seem to be piling up on top of each other and their insurance won’t cover all, or enough, of their bills. Callahan said, “Almost everyone knows that this country [United States] has a scandalously large number of people who lack health insurance, now up to 46 million and growing,” and this was just in 2008! There are numerous factors as to why these costs are rising; one of those factors is the very fast increase in medical technology. “New or increased use of medical technology contributes 40-50% to annual cost increases, and controlling this technology is the most important factor to reduce them.” In order to create more cures and preventions for certain things in the health field, there is going to have to be new inventions and innovations to make this successful. Some people say that they need to slow down the increase in technology to reduce medical costs, but others feel that they should keep up with the advances so we can have an even healthier
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.
For the last five years of my life I have worked in the healthcare industry. One of the biggest issues plaguing our nation today has been the ever rising cost of health care. If we don't get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to lower the cost of health care in this nation.
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.
There are several issues concerning the uninsured and underinsured patient population in America. There are many areas of concern the congressional efforts to increase the availability of health insurance, the public image of the insurance industry illustrated by the movie "John Q", the lack of good management tools, and creating health insurance coverage for all low income Americans. Since the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 43 million from 37 million in the flourishing 1990s and could shoot up even more severely if the economy continues to decrease and health care premiums keep increasing (Insurance No Simple Fix, 2001).
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
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.
Company Background and Overview On March 10, 1937, Joseph Lewis and Jack Green founded Progressive Mutual Insurance Company. Progressive’s mission was to bring security and comfort to auto owners. Since Progressive’s start, the firm has taken innovation approaches to auto insurance. Becoming the first company to insure high-risk drivers, the first insurer to go online, and the first to sell online are only some of Progressive’s innovate accomplishments.
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
As healthcare in America gets more expensive and is actually starting to cover less, I recognize what a blessing it was to have access to free healthcare for so many years. I watched as my friends went into debt for procedures that I got for free. For example, I had two very agonizing root canals done when I was 21. What would cost my friends thousands of dollars, and most likely would have forced them to take out more credit cards, cost me nothing but time. A friend of mine was forced to save up the procedure money, all the while the dull, throbbing tooth never leaving his mind. Mealtime had lost its thrill and luster, since all he could think about was the about temperature of the food, and where in his aching mouth he would chew. The excruciatingly raw and exposed nerve was something I knew I could not, and thankfully did not have wait to take care of. Not having to worry about the effects that this type of debt would have on my life, had allowed me to concentrate on more pertinent issues, and thus eased the leap from young adolescence to
Healthcare access in the United States has been limited to many due to the rising costs and geographical maldistribution of services. Healthcare costs have been steadily rising over the last decade and are the highest in the world. The rising cost in the United States can be due many factors including the demand of the elderly for health care, the increases in hospital expenses and fees for health care professionals, and higher prices for health insurances and prescription drugs (Cockerham 2017: 361). The rising costs of health care can affect families in various ways, especially their finances. The family’s share of the health insurance premium, out of pocket expenses like co-pays and deductibles, an employer’s share of the health insurance premium, and the portion of federal and state taxes devoted to government health programs (such as Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ health care, and public health) (Auerbach and Kellermann 2011).
...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made.
Hospitals are the default setting to receive healthcare, but they are expensive to build and operate. In an effort to lower the cost of healthcare, more treatment is occurring outside of the hospital. A knee surgery at an outpatient surgery center costs $20,573 less than a hospital-based surgery (Richter). Rather than go to the expensive Emergency Department, patients are directed to lower cost Urgent Care Centers for less acute symptoms. These evolutions have helped to curb cost, but affordability of healthcare continues to be a societal issue leading to disruptive technological innovations (Meskó).
Walker K. (1977) argues that the future of health care needs to address the amount of health care needed, ways these services will be delivered to the consumers, and how will they pay for these services and still today these fundamental concerns are circling the health care system. Health care is fluctuating greatly in today’s economy and future stabilization is needed to provide a balanced service to consumers. While the cost of health care raises, more and more private sectors, the employers will attempt to continue to reduce costs of coverage with an outcome of increased burden on employees. The crucial outcome of this will make workers less able to afford health insurance and in return develop future increase in the uninsured (Garson & Levin, 2001). In addition Garson and Levin (2001) argue that as technology of health care becomes more efficient patients will continue to see increases in health care
Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems.
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).