Health Economics is the field of study that a strict analysis of the health care system concludes. It applies the economic theories of the consumer, manufacturer and choice; health economics aims at understanding the general trends in the industry and the behavior of everyone involved, from consumers to healthcare providers and the governments. Health care system in the United States underwent a significant change between the years 1750 and 2000. It signified home remedies and a system of health care providers with no structure. It later evolved into an advanced, complex system with innovative technologies and bureaucratically controlled that modernized. The evolution of practices in medicine was observed, the governmental institutions themselves It composed of economists, physicians, health specialists, and other interest groups. It was funded by philanthropic organizations and provided a means of voluntary insurance services. Due to the Great Depression, hospitals tried to establish prepaid hospitalization plans to cover the costs and to benefit the patients. It led to competition among hospitals. The community hospitals began to offer medical coverage to the public (Swayne, 2012). The Social Security Act established in 1935 shared the costs of the elderly. 1940s In 1939, private health insurance companies covered 6% of the population. That number doubled by 1941. Then USA entered World War II. During this time, a significant change in the health insurance happened. Price control measures imposed under the Stabilization Act of 1942 on employers to restrict wage increases. The Act allowed employers to provide health insurance to employees as a benefit. Three forces came together that helped shape the health care system. In 1948, the US Supreme Court made the decision to include health insurance part of the collective bargaining process. The 21st Century President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Its purpose was to maintain a steady health insurance policy for the masses and offer affordable, available, and better quality (Berwich & Hackbarth, 2012). “The United States spends more on health care, both per capita and as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), than any other country in the world” (Center for U.S. Health System Reform, 2011, p. 1, Para 2). Conclusion 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
In the 1800’s, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium, among others, began to establish “socialized insurance policies” and medical care, which are still in effect today, while at the same time, the United States began to furthe...
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.
In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act in order to bring reform to the current healthcare system. The law was designed to provide healthcare coverage for people that did not have access to healthcare, improve the quality of the types of healthcare provided, and contain costs (HHS, 2014). Some of the features of the law are:
There is an ongoing debate on the topic of how to fix the health care system in America. Some believe that there should be a Single Payer system that ensures all health care costs are covered by the government, and the people that want a Public Option system believe that there should be no government interference with paying for individual’s health care costs. In 1993, President Bill Clinton introduced the Health Security Act. Its goal was to provide universal health care for America. There was a lot of controversy throughout the nation whether this Act was going in the right direction, and in 1994, the Act died. Since then there have been multiple other attempts to fix the health care situation, but those attempts have not succeeded. The Affordable Care Act was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. President Obama signed it into law on March 23 (Obamacare Facts). This indeed was a step forward to end the debate about health care, and began to establish the middle ground for people in America. In order for America to stay on track to rebuild the health care system, we need to keep going in the same direction and expand our horizons by keeping and adding on to the Affordable Care Act so every citizen is content.
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 beginnings of the Affordable Care Act started in 2008 when Barack Obama was running for president. He said “On healthcare reform, the American people are too often offered two extremes - government-run healthcare with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules...I believe both of these extremes are wrong”. Obama won the Presidential election that November. In March of 2009 a “health summit” was brought together and Governor Kathleen
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...
In the United States, healthcare reform has been a highly prioritized issue by progressive politicians. As early as the 1940s, employer provided health insurance created a shift that would alter healthcare in the United States in a way that is still recognizable today. Presently, healthcare in the United States operates as a free market system that profits from both private and governmental health coverage. Because of this, the cost of healthcare far exceeds that of other industrialized countries that have any variation of universal healthcare. The most recent progressive policy change to healthcare in the U.S. is the passage of the Affordable Care Act. This act has successfully insured over 10 million Americans, and kept millions of young
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 today’s healthcare system, there are many characteristics and forces that make up the complex structure. Health care delivery is a complex system that involves many people that navigate it with hopes of a better outcome to the residents of the United States. Many factors affect the system starting from global influences, social values and culture. Further factors include economic conditions, physical environment, technology development, economic conditions, political climate and population characteristics. Furthermore the main characteristics of the Unites States healthcare system includes: no agency governs the whole system, access to healthcare is restricted based on the coverage and third party agencies exist. Unfortunately many people are in power of the healthcare system involving multiple payers. Physicians are pressured to order unnecessary tests to avoid potential legal risks. Quality of care is a major component; therefore it creates a demand for new technology. A more close investigation will review two main characteristics and two external forces that currently affect the healthcare delivery system. Furthermore, what will be the impact of one of the characteristics and one of the external forces in review with the new affordable care act 2010? The review will demonstrate the implications to the healthcare delivery system and the impact on the affordable care act 2010.
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 ...
To comprehend our current health care system, it is important to understand the history and how health care has evolved in the United States. The healthcare system we have now didn't always exist. Believe it or not, before 1920, most people would not of known what health care coverage meant! So how did the United States turn into one of the few developed countries lacking nationwide healthcare? Understanding U.S. healthcare history will help you understand the dynamics that built the system that, we struggle with today. Furthermore, I will make conclusions on the current problems we are facing.
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,
Before “Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care act.” Americans were not required to purchase and the cost of insurance went up to cover the uninsured. The closest America has come to a single payer system ie, “Universal Healthcare” is the “Patient Protection
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