“Insurance tends to increase demand and make patients less price sensitive, which increases prices overall.”
Insurance
The basic concept of insurance is the transfer of risk from one entity to another through certain conditions. Health insurance is no different, only the entities mentioned are consumer or the patient and the insurance company. In the health insurance concept, a premium is paid by the individual to the company for a year and the insurance company has to pay for the cost of healthcare for that individual. Hence the risk for the consumer is transferred to the insurance company.
A consumer point of view - Why people opt for insurance
Healthcare is expensive, even for the wealthy. Having insurance protects you from being poorer. Most incidences are not meant to happen but most times, people cant help it. Consumers think of health insurance that way. The unpredictability, the large impact and the infrequency encourages consumers to purchase health insurance. Moreover, medical bills is the prime cause of bankruptcies.
Risk Pooling
Health insurance use the concept of risk pooling where a group of people from different health backgrounds are put in a single pool. While there is less predictability in who is more likely to get the disease, the basic concept is that the group of people in the pool, whether or not they have health episodes, pay for the people who do. The major problem arises when there is a large disparity in the health conditions of people of different ages. While older people are more prone to diseases, this forces the younger generation to opt out of insurance. This spurs an increase in the premiums, since everyone in the pool would be likely to be affected by health problems.
The risk s...
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...fe insurance, where the patient should decide how much of the money should be left for the beneficiaries. Since price variance is high fee for service would be the most ideal reimbursement model.
Chronic Care
No existing solution may solve the problems regarding the reimbursement of chronic conditions and events related to that. Though population health and accountable care organizations aim to solve these issues, there is less incentive for the consumer to take part in the process. So a mixed model where there is a costumer reimbursement tied with a physician and insurance company cost sharing method would be ideal. Since lifestyle changes are the primary cause of chronic diseases, life insurance scheme could also be tied to this, but in the long run, it can backfire with people choosing not to get medical attention or decreasing the value of health insurance.
The short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain is a short story about a man named Simon Wheeler who tells Twain stories about a man named Jim Smiley. Jim Smiley is most likely a fictional man who is in love with gambling and placing bets on things. Whether the bet is smart or not, Smiley confidently bets on whatever he can and wins quite often. In the main passage of the story, Wheeler tells Twain about the time Jim Smiley bet on a frog that could apparently jump higher than any other frog. This passage contains a lot of implausible actions and characterizations that Wheeler confidently tells of.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
To begin with, a number of researchers have in the past connected the high risk of deaths with lack of proper insurance. The same issue is critically argued by Wilper et al. some researchers have even gone to an extent of suggesting private health insurance, although costly, is more effective than public health insurance (Goodman). Note that, this is not the issue with Wilper et al study. In fact, Wilper et al compares health insurance and mortality rate, with their argument being that the lack of health insurance is the cause of 45,000 adult deaths that take place in America every year.
Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection.
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.
does not spend adequate money on preventative healthcare, especially considering that millions of Americans are diagnosed with diseases that can be cheap to prevent, but expensive to treat. Approximately half of adult Americans suffer from chronic diseases that require long-term treatment; some of the most common include heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Certainly, these ailments are not always completely preventable, but in most cases, taking care of one’s health can prevent the acquiring of heart disease and obesity. With the U.S. now using both public and private based health insurance, this does not hinder private companies from implementing supply and demand. Another driving force of the high healthcare costs in the U.S. is the prescription drug market. The United States is one of only two countries in the world that allows millions of dollars each year to contribute to the advertising of prescription drugs. Of course, the cost of advertising causes the price of certain drugs to rise, Americans could benefit from laws prohibiting this type of health-related spending, and they could also benefit from government regulated healthcare
From the hospital perspective mandating the health insurance will reduce the problem of Free riders into the Hospital and if a person who is insured visits the hospital for the treatment the cost of his medical treatment will not be totally absorbed by the hospital if the person is unable to pay for the treatment and the amount will be shared between the hospital and the insurance company.
...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!
The story of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain takes place in Angels Camp, California. Angel’s camp is a gold mining community in the mid-19th century that the narrator claims to have visited to inquire about a Leonidas W. Smiley. Instead the narrator has to endure a tall tale about a gambling addicted Jim Smiley. Throughout the story Twain uses the setting to contrast between the East and West, and its people; ultimately, using the location and area to his advantage. Although the eastern and western United States aren’t specifically contrasted in this short comedy, one can see a definitive contrast between the educated refined narrator from the East and the uneducated but slick characters who populate Angels
In previous years, the healthcare cost was affordable for everyone which gave many individuals chances to have medical insurance providers which can help them with their health. On the Other Hand, the cost has triple over the decade and makes mad it difficult
It is the individual responsibility to cover their healthcare expensed, as a result, people use their own funds or savings to pay their healthcare cost.
Many people cannot afford to pay the monthly payments; therefore, they stop their insurance and become uninsured for months or even years. There are many ways people can pay for health care. Community Rating and Experience Rating is a very interesting way to pay for medical bills. With Community Rating, all the people who are members pay the same monthly payments. It doesn’t matter which group they are in. With Experience Rating, all the people who are members pay different premiums. The members who become ill will benefit from the members who stay healthy. It is very unique how the members benefit from each other, but it can still be a little confusing. It is important for the United States to make a payment plan everyone can afford and have health insurance
This concept was a hard one to grasp. For my interview summary papers, I decided to interview my preceptor over the health care and different insurance policies. One thing that was brought up was the requirements on the insurance policies constantly changing. It could be one way the first day but then they add more information that will eliminate several people from getting that insurance. There are medical insurance companies that provide help for people who are do not make enough money but they often will deny people service due to making too much money.
With the United Nations listing health care as natural born right and the escalating cost of health care America has reached a debatable crisis. Even if you do have insurance it's a finical strain on most families.
Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.