Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Cost control case study question
“Healthcare and Medical care” (How Do We Control Cost?)
It is said that, “the most powerful force for controlling medical spending is the cost conscious consumer”; however, there are other factors (determinants of health) other than medical care spending that can affect the health of an individual and ultimately the health of a population. Some of these other factors (determinants of health) include lifestyle choices, environmental factors, family history (genetics), where one work and live, one’s income and developments in technology.
Based on the reading from the text books and any other sources that you may have researched kindly present a 500-600 word response/argument to support or oppose the notion that these other factors (determinants of health) mentioned above affects the health of an individual and eventually the health of the population.
As a guide, one can approach the matter from a disparity perspective or from a benefit cost analysis. In other words, express in your own words how you perceive the following factors affecting/impacting one’s health and in the end the health of a nation.
1. Income and education
2. Environmental and Lifestyle Factors
3. Genetic Factors
4. Access, Affordability and Quality of health care available to an individual
“Healthcare and Medical care in Demand”
…show more content…
Still, there is the access, quality, and affordability of health services provided to each individual. “How do we as a society approach these enormous determinant of health?” Finally, Quality is a major concern of receiving good health, and if there is always bad service then why is insurance such a factor. Insurance is a major focal point of how an individual it treated for any health related issue. Though, insurance is the reason for receiving good adequate treatment, other concerns await; such as the cost of these high premiums for
Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...
There are several basic approaches that can be utilized when conducting economic evaluations for any new health care intervention; which can include medications that are designed for the treatment and prevention of disease and how to relate the effectiveness with the overall monetary value of the new treatment. The economic tools that can be employed to perform such an analysis can be broken down into four basic parts that consist of cost-minimization analysis (CMA), cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA). These four categories will contain the major financial analytical techniques employed when evaluating medical treatments and interventions along with other types termed cost-consequence
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.
6. The special characteristics of the U.S. health care market are Ethical and equity considerations, asymmetric information, spillover benefits, and third-party payments: insurance. Each one of these characteristics affects health care in some way. For example, ethical and equity considerations affect health care in the way that society does not consider unjust for people to be denied to health care access. Society believes that it is the same thing as not owning a car or a computer. Asymmetric information also gives health care a boost in prices. People who buy health care have no information on what procedures and diagnostics are involved, but on the other hand sellers do. This creates an unusual situation in which the doctor (seller) tells the patient(buyer) what services he or she should consume. It seems like the patient has to buy what the doctor tells him. The topic of spillover benefits also cause a rise in prices. This meaning that immunizations for diseases benefit not only the person who buys it but the whole community as well. It reduces the risk of the whole population getting infected. And the last characteristic is third-party insurance. Which involves all the insurance money people have to pay. This causes a distortion which results in excess consumption of health care services.
Social Determinants of health is the “conditions in which people are born, live, work and age that affect their health” Healthypeople.gov. (2017). Social Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health [Accessed 22 Sep. 2017]. The determinants of health are important because it helps create policies to make changes, as well as improving public health conditions by addressing the different health outcomes an individual can face and improving the need for healthier conditions. Healthy People 2020 organizes the determinants of health in both a social and physical determinant which has an impact on health.
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.
The WHO definition of non-medical determinants of health is: “… the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.”
Over the years, the social determinants of health (SDOH) have been receiving more attention due to its importance in determining peoples’ health access, health quality and health outcome. The social determinants of health have been described by various scholars as the situation or environmental condition in which people are born, or where they grow, live and work; unfortunately these conditions have continued to affect and determine people’s ability to access proper care.1-5 In other words, the SDOH continues to consciously and unconsciously influence people’s access to most opportunities in life including access to healthcare services both in developed and developing countries.2 This issues have continue to deteriorate in most developing countries increasing people’s susceptibility to multi-morbidity among different age groups, with a slight increase among the elderly.6
Also the essay will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach as this can be an indicator if this approach is applied, whether it can address inequality and improve the health and well being of that individual or society. The essay will use the Dahlgren and Whitehead social determinants of health of need to exemplify the determinants of health showing how these determinants can influence the way health is viewed as holistic or merely an absence of disease. Lastly, the essay will analyse the evaluation with these approaches plus the importance of evaluation to present programs and future programs or activity.
Approximately 1 in 5 Americans do not have medical insurance and are more likely to lack a usual source of medical care, and more likely to skip routine medical care because of the very high costs, increasing their risk for serious health conditions. For the program, increasing the access to routine medical care and medical insurance are very important steps to achieve their goal of improving America’s health. The access to health services leading health indicators are those with medical insurance and a usual primary care provider. The access to health services in a regular basis can prevent disease and disability, detect and treat health conditions, increase quality of life, decrease the probability of premature death, and increase life
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.
The health of an individual and their communities is affected by several elements which combine together. Whether an individual is healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment.1 To a greater extent, factors such as where an individual lives, their relationships with family and friends, the state of their environment, income, genetics and level of education all have significant impacts on health, however the more frequently considered factors such as access and use of health care facilities regularly have less of an impact.6 Determinants of health is a term which was introduced in the 1970s as part of a broader analysis of research and policy on public health. Researchers argued that there was a lot of attention and too much expenditure on health being dedicated to individuals and their illnesses, and little or no investment in populations and their health. It was decided that public health should be more concerned with social policies and social determinants than with health facilities and the outcomes of diseases.7 The determinants of health include social and economic environment, physical environment and an individual’s behaviour and characteristics. The environment of an individual determines their health, holding responsible an individual for having poor health or acknowledging them for good health is inappropriate. Individuals are not likely to be able to control several of the determinants of health. These determinants that make individuals healthy or not include the factors above, and numerous others.6
Introduction Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes/effects of two or more scenarios. The CEA is typically expressed as a ratio, where the denominator is a gain in health using a natural unit of measurement (years of life, cases of flu prevented, etc.). and the numerator is the cost associated with that health gain. Most clinical studies express gains in health in terms of disease-specific measures, such as number of heart attacks avoided or cases of influenza prevented. Although this is useful for particular treatments related to those health conditions, those measures do not allow for comparison across diseases.
“Americans are not healthier than some of the other developed nations, regardless of these extensive costs” (WHO, 2007). “Almost 40 million Americans are uninsured and about 18% of Americans under the age of 65 receive half of the recommended healthcare services” (Goldman, and McGlynn, 2005). “Though, quality of care was