Health Care Coverage: A Case Study

The U.S. health care system faces challenges that indicate that the people urgently need to be reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps even for those with access to insurance coverage.

Recently the Untied States top priority has been to provide accessible and affordable health care to every American. Those that lack access to coverage find it much more difficult to seek proper treatment and when they do they maybe left with astronomical medical bills. The CommanWealth Fund found that one-third or thirty three percent of Americans forgo health care because of costs and one-fifth or twenty percent are thus left with medical bills that have problems being able to pay. The federal government, through the Affordable Care Act (2010), has mandated that every person have health coverage in order

I will compare the current health care system with the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law on March 23, 2010.   The current system, which is being phased out between 2011 and 2018 is increasingly inaccessible to many poor and lower-middle-class people. About 47 million Americans lack health insurance, an increase of more than two million people from 2005 (Rover, 2011) the increasingly complex warfare between insurers and hospitals over who pays the bills is gobbling up a great deal of money and the end result is that the United States pays roughly twice as much per

This report is gives a look at numerous factors affecting healthcare and how a lack of insurance has implications to not just the individual, but society as

“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 purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the current level of national healthcare expenditures and to determine if we as Americans are spending too much on healthcare. The author of this paper will provide examples and solutions where we as a nation should add or cut from the healthcare expenditures. This paper will also detail how the general public's healthcare needs are being paid for, the biggest economic healthcare challenge, why the challenge should be addressed, and how this challenge to be financed.

The complexity of health care could take the rates on a massive trajectory that does not favor the people covered. Therefore, the financial protection that the levels of health insurance covers, help to guard against the risks related to the unexpected costs of health care. The source of coverage could still have an impact by the insurance coverage and financing alternatives that one has access to; Conversely, private insurance, social insurance, and the national health services are the types of healthcare systems by funding and provision. As we look to health care coverage and the reform of Obamacare, I’ll analyze the impact of the uninsured in the industry and look for a resolution to improve the

Higher spending on health care is a concern to both public and private insurance policymakers. An increase in medical expenses leads to a decrease in other public expenditures. It limits public spending on other more desirable goods and services. According to Improving Health Policy and Management by Stephen M. Shortell and Uwe E. Reinhardt, "higher health care costs make it increasingly costly to expand coverage to the 33 million Americans who are without health insurance." Therefore, those who are currently without health insurance will most likely go through great difficulties in order to obtain

Substantial increases in health care costs has put significant strains on federal, state, and household budgets as well. Quality of health care varies widely, even after controlling for cost, patient preferences, and sources of payment (ATR, 2015). Many Americans lack health insurance coverage which also put a burden on the health care system itself, onto the consumers, and the tax payers as well.

Health care reform and access to insurance have been staples of the American political agenda ever since the end of World War II. From President Truman’s call for universal coverage in the late 1940’s to the creation of Medicaid and Medicare to the Affordable Care Act, both parties have debated how to lower the rate of uninsured Americans. After nearly 70 years of debate in Washington and beyond, the number of Americans with health insurance has certainly grown (Miller, 2014). However, the number of people in the United States without coverage is still unacceptably high and a problem that should be addressed with a great deal of urgency and care.

The United States spends twice as much per citizen for health insurance as any other country in the entire world, but continues to fall behind other countries when it comes to coverage and quality (Rangel, 2011). There are nearly forty-six million uninsured Americans, and millions more have inadequate coverage. The affordable health care act, was designed to help millions of Americans. But, to Americans it is questionable at best. Obamacare is so fundamentally inconsistent that it is taking Americans in the opposite direction of the necessary reforms needed. The root cause for our health care system include misaligned reimbursement policies and incentives, lack of integrated patient care process, and poorly coordinated patient care treatment (Health Care Delivery System Reform, 2015). America cannot build sustainable health reform on a dysfunctional health care system. The United States needs to get rid of Obamacare and pass a new comprehensive reform that makes health care affordable for families, businesses, and the government.

The effect of this is generally children will have better health and will not need to use money from the health insurance company.

Health care cost have continued to increase by many accounts at an even faster rate than ever. Premiums are expected to rise by more than 10% in most states next year. There are many reasons for this. Health insurance companies need healthy young people to buy insurance to fund sicker, older ones. Also the growing number of uninsured and underinsured is putting an extreme strain on the health care system as costs continue to rise. The uninsured and underinsured sustain “economic costs from their lack of coverage, including disability and lost work for additional aggregate costs of $65 to $130 billion”, also the annual cost for all of those uninsured at least part of the year was $100 billion. During 2001, 2.2 million Americans lost their insurance… Because it so expensive to self-insure when unemployed, many unemployed individuals cannot find an affordable way to obtain health coverage and remain uninsured. Therefore, having a universal health care system would do both provide access care to all, but at the same time raise the cost and reduce the quality of care.

Under Obamacare, almost 6 in 10 Americans can receive medical insurance for an average of just $82 per month. However, the net cost of Obamacare to the U.S. government is expected to reach $1.207 trillion dollars by 2025 , and the majority of this cost will be divided among taxpayers¬¬. Critics of Obamacare assert that the program has led to excessive overcrowding in hospitals, decreasing the quality of care. Since 2010, over 25% of emergency room physicians have reported observing a significant increase in the number of patients . However, in 2016 it was reported that the uninsured rate of adults dropped from 18% in the third quarter of 2013 to 11% in the first quarter of 2016 . Much of this can be accredited to Obamacare’s success in increasing coverage among American citizens. The program has expanded both public and private insurance coverage since its inception and has been predicted to lower future deficits encountered by the US government as well as Medicare and Medicaid

National health care spending is a heated issue; however there is a single entity that all agree upon and that is there needs to be cut backs or the maintaining of current expenses. The current reform will help decrease the percentage of Americans who are without coverage. An vigilant observation on healthcare spending is needed, at the rate its going now thing don’t look too good financially for anyone when it comes to healthcare.