Demand For Health Care Services

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.

The paper will discuss the evolution of health care in America and how it has affected the health care system today. It will discuss the advancements made in technology and medical services that have evolved over two centuries. It will review how health care delivery has evolved and impacted today’s health system. The delivery of medical services has changed over many decades. The culture, social economics, and political views, have influenced society on how the medical services and advancements in medical technology have evolved. The three phases of health care structural change is preindustrial era, postindustrial era, corporate era (Shi & Singh, 2013).

It takes a long time to increase the supply of health care professionals. Health care costs were soon rising rapidly. As a result, health care expenditures as a percent of GDP increased from 5 percent to 16 percent (Finkelstein, 2005)

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

Throughout the history of the United States, the economics of the health care system has experienced many changes. There are many factors to consider that has been the drive behind many of the changes within the health care system. Medical and surgical technologies are some factors that relate to the changes in health care. Besides these factors, allocating sources to fund health care services has always been the most critical factor. One might consider the economic term supply and demand when looking at the history of health care economics and the primary funding source. Health care funding

The rising cost of health care is a trend that is negatively influencing access to health care. According to our course textbook, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, over 46 million Americans did not have health coverage in 2008, and 25 million American adults were underinsured (p. 124-125). For most people, this can be attributed to the high cost of premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the history of the trend of rising health care costs, the influence rising costs have on the delivery of health care, how rising costs create disparities in health care, and two ways that nurses can address inadequate access to health care.

As progress was made in medicine gradually with new medical technologies which could only be used in the hospitals, doctors started charging more, which was unaffordable for most people, with time, all this started to change as the industrialization of the American economy caused families and people to start relying on services from doctors and the

One of the issues is the increasing cost of healthcare which is dominating the health policy in U.S. this is accompanied by an increase in spending on healthcare. According to projections by the government, the spending on medical care will continue to rise. U.S spends more money on health care than any other nation globally (Holtz, 2013). The increase in the spending is as a result of improved tools for disease diagnosis, better surgical interventions among others. This raises an issue for the policy makers on the maximum GDP percentage that a country has to spend on healthcare, and whether the nation will afford the cost that is continually growing. In contemplating any change in the health policy, policy makers should consider the cost of the healthcare and the ability of the nation to support that high cost.

Baby boomer aging is one of the large causative factors of this increase in demand (Glicken & Miller, 2013, p.1883-1889). According to Glicken & Miller (2013), the elderly population will nearly double in the next fifteen years putting a strain on the healthcare workforce. Also, more than half of physicians have intentions on limiting care access with regards to Medicare patients. Many medical doctors are refusing to care for Medicaid patients. This is a result of the growing number of individuals now with the means to afford healthcare due to the

“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 decline in hospital capacity was accompanied by a rise in staffing. Full-time equivalent personnel rose (Malagi & Kamath, 2016). Most of the additional personnel in hospitals are not focused on patient care but management or administration purposes. The American Hospital Association data shows that outpatient department visits have risen per 1,000 persons indicating that capacity for ambulatory services has risen overtime. Emergency departments have reduced with a larger percentage of closures being in rural areas. Compared to hospitals, physicians have continued to increase. Specialists have increased except for radiologists and general surgeons. There is, however, an uneven distribution of physicians between rural and urban areas. There is an estimated shortage of 3,000 physicians in nonmetropolitan areas. In addition to an increase in physicians, there are new forms of acute-care facilities. There are relatively new facilities that have been accredited. Ambulatory surgery centers have, for instance, risen (Best et al.,

The physician shortage is of highest concern in the United States, especially since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been passed. The question is, do we really have a physician shortage? Is it by geographical region or by specialty? I will explore this question and have several different solutions to the physician shortage problem.

One of the issues that is widely discussed and debated concerning the United States economy is the healthcare system. Unlike in the majority of developed and developing countries, the healthcare system in the United States is not public, meaning that the state does not provide free or cheap healthcare services. This paper addresses many of the factors contributing to the rising cost of healthcare.

Healthcare industry in United States has been an important industry for a long time. It is one such industry that has representation from both public sector and private sector. The current health care system is segregated and fragmented in America. Some states have very effective and efficient healthcare system while some states lack the desired infrastructure. The evolution of healthcare system in USA can be traced back to 1750. The period from 1750 to 1849 is termed as preindustrial period where the care of sick people was primarily handled by families (Brian, 2010). The period of 1850 to 1969 is termed as postindustrial period which reflects the growth of organized medicine and systematic healthcare delivery.

The number of physicians in the country has been decreasing at such a great rate that the government and other stakeholders in the health care sector are trying to camouflage this by increasing the number of foreign doctors practicing in the country. The American Medical Association has been trying to promote these re-entry programs designed for physicians since the year 2009 to help curb this problem. There are many people who can see what the problem is, but it is not possible for them to do much about it. Physicians also see this problem, and they are well aware of why the shortage is arising, but they are also unable to do much to prevent the issue. There are many problems that lead to the shortage of physicians, and unless something is done, it will continue escalating ADDIN EN.CITE Lynch19721573(Lynch, 1972)1573157317Lynch, MichaelThe Physician "Shortage": The Economists' MirrorAnnals of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceAnnals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science82-88399ArticleType: research-article / Issue Title: The Nation's Health: Some Issues / Full publication date: Jan., 1972 / Copyright © 1972 American Academy of Political and Social Science1972Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science00027162http://www.jstor.org/stable/1040122( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_6" o "Lynch, 1972 #1573" Lynch, 1972).