Health Care Reform in Unavoidable Essay examples

1929: First offering of prepaid hospital insurance to members of a teachers union in Texas. Offering insurance for the employed

In the past, managed care in the United States took the form of voluntary programs. Such programs date from about 1850, when managed care was provided chiefly by cooperative mutual benefit and fraternal beneficiary associations. Limited coverage by commercial companies was also introduced during that period, and subsequently many plans were established by industries and labor unions.

Kimball, (Shi & Singh, 2013). This concept would soon become the mockup for a private health insurance called Blue Cross. The AMA also gave Blue Cross their blessing as a private health insurance. Continuing along these same efforts California Medical Association began a program which would pay the doctors’ fees. We now know this as Blue Shield. As both of these programs started on their own, in 1974 they would converge into one organization, Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

In the early 1930’s, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Organization led consumers to hospitalization and medical coverage under their own charter for everyone who sought coverage for one prepaid fee.  Years later, other insurance companies, such as Kaiser Permanente began to offer coverage to consumers within their geographic boundary. However, health care spending is on the rise. Over the last couple of decades the expenditures have risen from 724.0 billion dollars in 1990 to 2,486.3 billion in 2009(US census, 2011). Today, we are a nation with Health Care Reform signed into law by President Obama

During the 1920s, individual hospitals were offering treatment for illness on a prepaid basis. (www.google.com) The first ever employer sponsored hospitalization plan was created by teachers in Dallas, Texas in 1929. The problem of giving services for free has faced the doctor and the hospital during the depression to an extent unknown in any other field. (www.google.com)

Medicare’s eventual organization, however, soon allowed for third parties to enter the health care market, and ensure that corporations had a larger stake in the health care system. Because of the federal government’s relative inexperience, people and medical practices would simply choose to use private fiscal agents such as the Blue Cross Association to ensure they had experienced figures. Because of this demand, legislation was changed to accommodate the Blue Cross into the overall federal infrastructure of Medicare. The entrance of third parties into the health care system, including voluntary health insurance organizations, helped to make Medicare seem less scary or rigid

Managed care was started as early as the 1900’s, the cited pioneer of the structured system of care that is known today as “Managed Care” is Dr. Michael Shadid. His goal was to help meet the health care needs of a certain groups of people. Such as: rural residents, workers and families in the lumber, mining and railroad industries; the enrollees paid a set fee to physicians who then delivered care under the terms of their agreement. By 1929 the Los Angeles department of water and power contracted with Drs Ronald Ross and H. Clifford Loos to provide service for almost 2,000

Historically, health care has been around from quite sometime now. According to Karen S. Palmer from the PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) the American Association of Labor Legislation in 1906 is actually was led to the campaign for health insurance, the costs at the time were to be shared amongst the workers employers and the state. (1999) Times during the Progressive era sparked changes in health care economics. A health care crisis timeline from PBS goes more into detail about how starting after World War I, “American hospitals are now modern scientific institutions, valuing antiseptics and cleanliness, and using medications for the relief of pain.” Health was taken more seriously after the war because so much had changed and American were more forward with newer technology. (PBS) PBS’s timeline also says around World War II workers argued with employers about wages so companies began to offer health benefits to keep up with competition. (PBS) This health care system has become a mandatory system still used today to offer to employees working within large companies. However , PBS also says that in the 2000’s healthcare costs started to

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas rapidly sparked interest into other states in the U.S., for instance, in 1934 the Washington Hospital formed Group Hospitalization Inc.,other states quickly followed and by 1942 Group Hospitalization Inc. was sanctioned to use the Blue Cross service mark (qtd in A division of...). The Second World War may have been a motivation force in the connection between employment and health insurance. Although the U.S. government did not become involved in WWII until approximately 1941, mobilization for our involvement began much earlier. In preparation for our war involvement American employers started offering their employees health insurance as a benefit, in hopes to increase the companies employment. This idea decreased the likelihood that only the sick would enroll in health plans and it also decreased the administrative costs of individually sold plans. Due to the employer-offered health care, the country seen a tremendous jump in hospital enrollment. The number of citizens enrolled in hospitals increased from 7 million to 26 million, which was mainly held by Blue Cross. At the end of WWII many labor unions began to bargain for health benefits. The National Labor Relations Act required that management bargain with unions for health care benefits. The Supreme Court in 1940 ruled that benefit plans including health benefits fell under “conditions of employment.” By the mid 1950's over 60% of the U.S.’s

Fee-for service arrangements prevailed as the preferred vehicle for financing health care services since World War II. As employers began to offer health insurance, premiums were fixed in such a way that most patients did not bear the full cost of their health care. As employer premiums rose to meet the escalating cost of health care services, efforts by government, business and the insurance industry focused on controlling utilization and reducing health care cost (Cox, 2001). Group health cooperatives were formed as early precursors of the modern health maintenance organization. As managed health care became more widespread, methods of cost containment became more prevalent by defining medical necessity, coverage policies, practice guidelines,

The ongoing health care reform debate is ultimately the most fundamental debate to human wellbeing. As the debate continues, health care is essential to the success and prosperity of the people, even so the outcome of sufficient care for all people is held in contingence. The discussion surrounding health care reform is intricate and although it receives a considerable amount of attention, it only receives incremental progress. Furthermore, American society is complex considering all the opportunities granted, yet is still fighting obstacles to provide what is arguably a basic necessity. The seemingly endless conundrum to obtain secure care has repercussions of all sorts such as millions and millions of unfortunate American citizens found uninsured and uncared for by the current health care system. Inevitably, the pain of uncared citizens is felt by the entirety of American society reciprocated through overly crowded emergency rooms, medical bankruptcy, and endangering human well-being.

True the United States health care system is unnecessarily fragmented because the health care system embodies both private and government insurance. The fragmented health care system in the United states as has been noted by many healthcare experts comes with various issues such health care disparities and high per capita health spending compared to other nations in the world. Nonetheless, the U.S. healthcare system is a system that is constantly evolving as patients are demanding for better care; and health care payers across the United States are demanding for enhanced cost containment initiatives from the healthcare organizations. To this end, in 1965, two notable governmental healthcare programs were launched, the aim was to make

This pre paid service is considered the foundation to the future of nonprofit Blue Cross plans. The Great Depression that lasted a decade through the 1930’s changed priorities by putting greater emphasis on unemployment insurance and "old age" benefits. Social Security Act is passed.The Roosevelt Administration pushes for health coverage but politics begins to be influenced by internal government conflicts over priorities. Against the advice of insurance professionals, Blue Cross begins offering private coverage for hospital care in dozens of states. This plan developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield initially served as a non-profit organization that charged a standard premium. As new for-profit insurers entered the market, they developed risk models and premiums based on age, gender, health status, and pre-existing medical conditions. Up to the adoption of the Affordable Care Act (ACC,) this became the prominent methodology of determining premiums for

Demand increased between the great wars for a better public health system. Private hospitals were too expensive for many people with serious ailments. Public hospitals became the best place to receive the best treatment with public hospitals setting up wards for public patients that couldn’t pay and private wards for those patients that could pay. Public hospitals struggled with revenue and many set up contribution schemes in the 1930’s

Blue cross was founded in 1929 by Justin Ford Kimball, a vice president of Baylor University health care facility in Dallas who introduced the plan to provide hospital care services. Justin Kimball first plan was to guarantee teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 dollars a year. The plan became popular it was extended to other groups nationally, and other employees started using it throughout the United States. In 1939 blue shield was founded in California by a group of employers providing medical care to their employees by providing a monthly fee, which help pay for physician services. Later in 1980s both company merged, and became successful since providing the best health care service at a low cost nationwide.