Controlling Health Care Costs

It is no secret that the cost of American healthcare is becoming increasingly more expensive. However, the issue of the rising cost of healthcare and its severity needs to be recognized as a major problem. Health prices are steadily increasing in the United States, and there is no sign of it stopping. Since 1970, spending on American health care has grown 9.8%, which is a rate that is growing faster than the economy (“New Technology”.) Furthermore, health insurance premiums are also increasing at a rate five times faster than American salaries, which makes it difficult for families to afford health care coverage (Zuckerman 28). Therefore, it has become an obligation to address why the cost of American health care is soaring and to seek out a solution to lower the cost. Many would jump to the conclusion that the United States simply charges too much for their medical services, but there are deeper influences that need to be analyzed. The causes of the rising cost of health care are people not using preventive health care, the development of modern technology, and the treatments being overprescribed. A possible solution is to have preventive health care services available in clinics of low-income areas.

One of the major functions of a nurse manager is managing a budget and allocating resources necessary to manage the unit or facility effectively. “Major steps in the budgeting process include gathering information and planning, developing unit budgets, developing cash budgets, negotiating and revising, and using feedback to control budget results and improve future plans”(Yoder-Wise, 2012, p. 244). The nurse manager must be able to accommodate variances and acclimate the budget in both the projections and up-to-date expenditures. Proficiency in managing a unit level budget is essential for both a favorable variance and optimal patient outcomes. Budgeting entails reviewing revenues and expenses, staffing costs, supplies, and capital equipment costs (Contino, 2001). This case study examines personnel, overtime (OT), supplies, travel, equipment, and staff education and the manner in which management can address these factors.

What I currently view as an Economic issue would be the rising costs of Health Care, everyone needs Healthcare, but because of how expensive it is, most of the population cannot afford it. Even if people do have Health Care, they cannot afford paying the high premiums, out of pocket and high deductibles. Health care might not seem like an important topic, but is necessary for the daily lives of people, nobody knows what will happen in the next second of their lives. Everyone needs affordable health care and I think that reducing the cost of health care and making it possible for everyone to afford it would make everyone happy.

There have been many studies performed focusing on the rising costs of health care and some of the findings state that the rising cost of healthcare premiums is a worldwide problem. However, I believe they are higher in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. health care costs were $3.2 trillion. That makes healthcare one of the largest U.S. industries, equaling 17.8 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in comparison to the late 1960s; where healthcare costs were only $27 billion, or 5% of the GDP, which averaged $9,990 per person each year. The main reason for the rising cost of healthcare is a combination of government policies and lifestyles changes. Examples included lack of coverage or costly coverage, lack of available coverage for

“The amount people pay for health insurance increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of time only increased 3 percent.” (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). The rising cost of healthcare is a huge problem in America today. In this paper I will analyze the different issues and causes for the increase in cost.

Healthcare costs in the United States have been rising for several years and show no sign of stopping. In 2008, the United States spent on 2.3 trillion on healthcare, more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 19801. Although the large amount of money invested in healthcare does translate to better care for Americans, the worsening economic situation, rising costs, and federal government’s deficit have placed a great strain on the system. This includes private employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a private and non-profit healthcare analysis organization, “in 2008, U.S. health care spending was about $7,681 per resident and accounted for 16.2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); this is among the highest of all industrialized countries”1. Concerns for the enormous strain on the financial systems that fund healthcare and the desperate need to provide adequate healthcare for Americans have driven many a President since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, to seek some type of healthcare reform and universal healthcare for all Americans. President Barack Obama succeeded where many had failed and on March 23, 2010, a national health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law. On March 31, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new rules

Effective financial management is the basis of thriving health care organizations. Organizations must make good investment decisions based on objective analysis (Healthcare Financial Management Association [HFMA], 2005). Integration of financial management principles provides decision makers with guidance to make capital decisions maximize mission-based benefits at effective costs (HFMA, 2005). An operating budget is the statement of profit and loss for the entire organization. Various health care entities prepare operating budget for the following year for discussion and approval by top management (Academic Writing Tips, 2011). At the end of the year, departmental managers provide an account for the previous year’s

People need to be more aware of the things that they are engaging in and know what it is that they are getting and paying for. One of the cheapest ways to cut down on health care spending is if people change their lifestyles by eating healthier, exercising more daily, weekly or monthly than they were doing before and this could make the biggest impact for all of us. This will defiantly cut out unnecessary trips to the doctor or the hospital. Parents need to also educate their children to be healthier and watch what they eat and

health care costs in america are rising to help more people get access to proper health care. There is the side of the argument that raising costs of health care is unfair to those people who do not need as much coverage or those who do not want to pay or cannot afford health care. There is always the benefit if someone who does not have good enough coverage or someone who does not have enough coverage to cover there costs. I personally think that raising health care prices are a good thing because it makes health care more open to everyone

Decreasing healthcare “cost” has been repeatedly debated for decades now. Despite tremendous efforts to reduce cost, the US Healthcare System is still struggling to deliver an effective and affordable level of care. Not only the cost of healthcare is higher in the U.S., there is also much waste due to unnecessary laboratory, radiology & other investigations, unwanted hospitalizations, procedures, longer hospital stay, preventable emergency room visits, and a lot of medications waste, that costs the U.S. $750 billion annually according to IOM in 2012 (Glicksman E. , 2015).

Medicare is another section that will feel some relieve from practices brought from the Act. As mentioned before, the cost of health care is expensive, therefore making it difficult for those under the Medicare plan to seek preventive services. Before moving forward on the effects of the Act on Medicare, one must first explain some of the benefits of Medicare. Medicare is the nation’s largest health insurance program, it serves more than forty-two million enrollees, and it was originally established to provide access to health services for the elderly (Carroll, 2009). One can grasp the idea that the nation, along with its government, has made constant efforts to support the health of all Americans. This especially true for the ever growing

Cost containment is a way for the U.S health care delivery system to solve inflation in cost which will save money for the hospitals involved. According to “Health Care Cost Containment: A Contradiction in Terms?” cost inflation has many contributors including the increased cost in hospitalization, advancing medical technology, prescription drugs, professional degrees, legal settlements, and other related services (McConnell CR, 2002, p.70-71). All of these contributors are coming from different aspects of the health care delivery system but they all end up with the same results. Cost containment effort ideas can solve all of those problems as long as they are properly implemented and people really believe in helping to keep costs at a

Medicaid is a vital lifeline for some 72 million Americans. Two-thirds of all Medicaid spending supports senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Cutting Medicaid would jeopardize the quality of healthcare, long-term services, and nursing home care for tens of millions of Americans. There are significant cost issues in America’s healthcare system that must be effectively addressed, but these challenges will not be remedied by benefit cuts to vulnerable

It is no secret that the US healthcare has many issues in its system. Especially, when you compare it to other countries like: Great Britain, Japan, France, Canada etc. According to Sultz and Young states that “The United States ranks eighth behind all of these nations in life expectancy at birth, highest in infant mortality rate, and highest in the probability of people dying between the age of 15 and 60 years.” The US healthcare system has many issues like a large number of uninsured According to Sara R. Collins, Munira Gunja and Sophie Beutel in the 2014 census 33 million people were uninsured. Other issues are medical professional shortage, medical error or infection, people using apps to diagnose themselves, and rising cost of care. The main focus in these paper will be the rising of cost. The cost of current health care explains for most of the issues that is happening in this country.

There are many areas that offer different opportunities to reduce health care spending while improving Medicare and Medicaid cost for individuals. Over 30% of healthcare spending is mostly unnecessary care. Cost of healthcare will most definitely become a concern for thousands of individuals and their families. Health care plans like Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other health care plans have a great opportunity to help improve better care at a lower cost. Healthcare plans play a big part in transforming the United States healthcare system. The United States a lot of money on healthcare than other countries. Paying high insurance claims does not mean you are getting more. Many people have pointed out many ways that healthcare workers in the