Introduction
Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law four years ago, liberals and conservatives have lived in two diametrically opposed realities. Conservatives call the revolutionary policy, a dismal failure, claiming it would drive costs for consumers while limiting access to and stressing the bands of supply and demand for health care. Conversely, the progressive supporters have been delightedly enthusiastic as they believe that the expected healthcare services of Obamacare, will decrease cost while increasing access to affordable health care for millions (O’Brien, 2014). The effect of healthcare services provision and consumer costs in both the short and the long run are analyzed assuming continuation of key trends in consumer practices. This paper will examine the demand and supply of MRI services in the health care system, how they have been impacted by the Affordable Care Act.
Demand and Supply
Economically, the demand and supply of a product describes how cost or price, vary between availability and demand. Hence, for a given commodity, demand is the relation of the quantity of goods and services that consumers would be prepared to purchase at each unity price.
Demand
The law of demand asserts that, generally, price or cost and quantity demanded in MRI products and services should be inversely related. That is, the higher the price of a product, the less of it people would be prepared to buy (other things being equal). However, with
Demand refers to the quantity of products people are willing and able to purchase during some specific time period, all other relevant factors being held constant. Price and quantity demanded stand in a negative (inverse) relationship: as price rises, consumers buy fewer units; and as price falls, consumers buy more units (Stone 75).
2013, 3). What is the meaning of demand ? “demand is a relationship between price of the good and the quantity demanded of the good (Curtin University 2015).” The law of demand is, “Holding everything else constant, [ceteris paribus] when the price of a product increases the quantity demanded will fall, and when the price of a product decreases, the quantity demanded will rise (Curtin University 2015).” According to Curtin University, “Price and quantity demanded are negatively related, as the law of demand.” The demand curve In the figure 1, previously, customers who want to buy iPhone 6 in 16 GB storage must pay AU$869, however, they must pay more which the cost is AU$999 now and the quatity demanded from point X to point Y automatically decreases. It means that “there is a movement along from point A to point B because the price rises (Curtin University 2015).”
This paper will look at the impact of Affordable Care Act on supply and demand in healthcare. The goal is to show if there is equilibrium of supply and demand since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. This has been done by looking at a variety of articles such as The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Health Care Workforce. The Affordable Care Act has created provisions to address some of the supply shortages. Through the provision it will take time for the full effects to come to light. This paper will provide valuable information regarding the Affordable Care Act impact on supply and demand.
It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost
Supply and demand regulate the amount of each good produced and the price at which it is sold. It is the conduct of individuals as they work together with one another in aggressive markets. “A market is a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service. The buyers, as a group, determine the demand for the product, and the sellers, as a group,
Supply and demand is a fundamental element of economics; it is the main support system of a market economy. Demand can be interpreted by the quantity of a product or service a consumer is desired to acquire at a given time period. Quantity demanded is the amount of product consumers are willing to purchase at a given price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is commonly known as the demand relationship. Supply however, accounts for how much a market produces for consumers. The quantity supplied refers to the actual amount of a certain good firms are willing to supply to consumers when receiving a certain price. Having limited resources we all have to
The market price of a good is determined by both the supply and demand for it. In the world today supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental principles that exists for economics and the backbone of a market economy. Supply is represented by how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good that producers are willing to supply for a certain demand price. What determines this interconnection is how much of a good or service is supplied to the market or otherwise known as the supply relationship or supply schedule which is graphically represented by the supply curve. In demand the schedule is depicted graphically as the demand curve which represents the
Market demand is an aggregate of all the demands a consumer group of a given geographical area is willing to buy and is able to pay for in a given time period. While evaluating available opportunities in market the marketer must first try to estimate the demand. However market demand is not a permanent rather it is a combination of time, space and product level.
Understanding the fundamental concepts of economics allows us to analyze laws that have a direct bearing on the economy. These laws and theories are essentially the backbone of how economics is used and studied. The law of demand can be expressed by stating that as long as all other factors remain constant, as prices rise, the quantity of demand for that product falls. Conversely, as the price falls, the quantity of demand for that product rises (Colander, 2006, p 91). Price is the tool used that controls how much consumers want based on how much they demand. At any given price a certain quantity of a product is demanded by consumers. As the price decreases, the quantity of the products demanded will increase. This indicates that more individuals demand the good or service as the price is lowered. This can be illustrated using the demand curve. The demand curve is a downward sloping line that illustrates the inversely related relationship of price and quantity demanded.
Elasticity of demand represented as “Ed” is defined as a “measure of the response of a consumer to a change in price on the quantity demanded of a good” (McConnell, 2012). Determinants for elasticity of demand would include the substitutability of a good, proportion of a consumer 's income spent on a good, the nature of the necessity of a good and the time a purchase is under consideration by the consumer. Furthermore, elasticity of demand is calculated with this formula:
(Market Concentration, 2015). In researching the market conduct since implementation of the ACA, the literary resources where few and far between when giving a concrete definition of the ACA’s impact to date. However previous articles when compare to the statistics before 2010 shed some light on the efficacy of this reform. To begin evaluating market conduct we explore pricing in the current economy.Price is the amount that an individual pays for a service or a product usually driven by the market of the product and the need for those services. The cost for the majority of people is a determining factor on which brand or product you are going to purchase and this goes the same for patients or consumers who have to make healthcare decisions based off of price. One study provided by The Health Care Cost Institute (a new, national database provided currently by Aetna, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and United) would suggest prices are now the main driver of health care costs increases. In a study in which the HCCI published results for 2010 spending, they found overall, per capita spending was up 3.3%, with utilization at -5%. This increase was due to price increases such as inpatient care of 5.1 percent, ER visits of 11 percent and professional services of 2.6 percent. Evidence of recent moderation in hospital price growth provided by the Altarum Institute Price Brief for September 2012 shows health care price inflation has increased at 1.9 percent each year, and shows it has
Supply and demand lies in the heart and soul of economics. The concept is perhaps the single most driving force in an economy, specifically a capitalist economy. Supply and demand is based on two concepts: The law of demand and the law of supply. The law of demand states that the demand of a product rises as its price falls, therefore the demand of a product falls as its price rises. A good example of this occurs in grocery stores. If the price of a case of Coca-cola drops from $6.99 to $2.99 the demand for the product will rise because more people are willing to pay $2.99 rather than $6.99. Not only will typical consumer of Coca-cola purchase more but consumers who are not normally willing to pay $6.99 will make the purchase. Substitution also plays a role in the equation. Substitution occurs when consumers substitute one good for another based on price levels. In the Coca-cola scenario, some Pepsi drinkers will purchase the Coca-cola given the case of Pepsi is price higher.
Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand.
Demand is the relationship between price and quantity demanded for a particular good and service in particular circumstances. For each price the demand relationship tells the quantity the buyers want to buy at that corresponding price. The quantity the buyers want to buy at a particular price is called the Quantity Demanded.
Earlier I stated that economics is concerned with consumption and production. We can look at it in the terms of demand and supply. It is simply the quantity of a good buyers wish to purchase at each conceivable price. Three factors determine demand: