Current National Health Care Spending

“There are three basic goals for a National Health Care System; 1) keeping people healthy, 2) treating the sick and 30 protecting families against financial ruin from medical bills”, (Physicians for a National Health Program, 2016). No truer statement could there possibly be written or proclaimed as there is a crisis in healthcare costs across the United States. United States, one of the most developed western country, yet we suffer from – higher infant mortality rates, have shorter life spans and are affected by more chronic disease and or illness – than our contemporaries all while spending the most for insurance per capita and less annual doctor visits with less physicians, (OECD Health Data 2015). There is a question to be answered, “why”, why are we trailing our contemporaries and more important than that is, is our National Health Care system really working for us? The year 2010 was the beginning of change in the United States where we transitioned from primarily private insurance and welfare to a universal healthcare model, under President Obama with the signing into Law of the Affordable Health Care Act March of 2010. The purpose of the Affordable health care act is to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable healthcare, however in 2016 we are still questioning we’ve been successful based on funding, government sponsored healthcare programs, effects on the current HCO, elderly, military and accessibility.

United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010).

A key question from policymakers is why spending on health care consistently rises more rapidly than spending on other goods and services. One of the studies3 concluded that approximately 63% of the rise in real per capita

This paper will include: the current health care expenditures whether spending is too much or not enough, where the nation should add or cut, how the public’s health care needs are paid and provide a forecast for: the future economic needs, why these needs must be addressed, how I envision these needs will be financed and conclusion.

“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.

The main economic challenge for the healthcare system in the United State will be the rising expenses associated with Medicare and Medicaid. The Governments share of healthcare spending is predicted to rise to 31 percent by the year 2020 (Keehan, Sisko, Truffer, Poisal, Cuckler, Madison, Lizonitz, and Smith, 2011). This may jeopardize the economic stability and financial security of the nation.

Close (2016) confirms the cost of healthcare to our government is far exceeding what was originally estimated. The costs over the next decade are expected to be close to $1.34 trillion which is about $136 billion over budget. Barillas (2016) finds government agencies are predicting healthcare insurance premiums for employer based coverage will increase up to 60% by the year 2025. It seems the Affordable Care Act and the expectation of assisting with the healthcare crisis has only added more challenges to the rising costs of healthcare. Someone will have to pay for those increased costs through additional taxations or some other regulations which can directly impact the reduction of funds needed to control healthcare costs. Many Americans do understand there are other things contributing to increasing healthcare costs such as unheard of prescription drug prices and high rates of medical inflation. One point is clear, as discussed by Hilgemann (2015); President Obama wasn’t right when he told the American people the Affordable Care Act would lower their premiums up to $2500 per year. People are often blaming healthcare insurance companies for these higher premiums when they may not really understand that these insurers are losing money also. Hilgemann (2015) indicates only about 23% of insurers in the Affordable Care Act exchange

The single most important impetus for healthcare reform throughout recent history has been rising costs (Sultz, 2006). In the book called The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care, Reid wrote that the nation’s health care system has become excessively expensive, ineffective, and unjust. Among the world’s developed nations, the US ranks near the bottom for healthcare access and quality. However, the US ranks at the top for health expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average of $7,400 per person (Reid, 2010). Therefore, Americans are spending

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.Health care costs are far higher in the United States than in any other advanced nation, whether measured in total dollars spent, as a percentage of the economy, or on a per capita basis. And health costs here have been rising significantly faster

Healthcare spending growth rate trends show astounding estimates. Since 1960, spending has risen from $27 billion ($143 per capita, 5.1% pf GDP) to amazing $1,678.9 billion ($5,670 per capita, 15.3% of GDP, 2003 data) (HHS, 2005). Recent research estimated that by 2013, healthcare spending will be as high as 18.4% of the Growth Domestic Product. It is important to note that the gradual move from hospital to ambulatory setting has resulted in much higher spending on outpatient hospital services and prescription drugs. The spending growth for these two trends is much higher than the overall healthcare cost growth, which, in fact, increases faster than such important economic indicators as GDP growth, inflation growth, and population growth rates.

The total health care spending in the United States is expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010, and, $75 billion in 1970. To put it in context, this means that healthcare spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2012. Many consumers and small employers are struggling to afford their health insurance premiums. Some employers are not able to offer health care coverage at all. For firms with fewer than 10 employees, only 50% offered coverage to their workers in 2012.

Increases in health care spending are not necessarily due to Americans visiting hospitals or physicians more frequently than residents in other countries. Higher health care prices in the United States can be attributed to the increased use of medical technology compared to other countries, the privatization of the healthcare industry, as well as a higher use and cost of pharmaceuticals

The rate at which Healthcare costs in the United States are rising is about two to three times faster than the rate of inflation. This trajectory is not justifiable. There is really an increase in the Health care cost of America. Something is going to have to give. The rising health care cost has punished The United States on multiple fronts.

Steven Brill feels that American health care is eating away at our economy and our treasury and discusses the costs associated with the provision of health care services in the U.S.. The article explores the medical world through the medical expenses incurred by a 64-year-old Janice S., Sean Recchi, A 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio and several other egregiously billed patients. The article poses the question: why exactly are the medical bills so high; in particular hospital bills?

In the year 2012, expenditure on US health care amounted to 2.8 million trillion dollars, accounting for 17.2 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the US. The annual average cost of health care for the characteristic American family of 4 amounted to more than