Essay about Health Economics

Q2-Evaluate Vegemite’s brand image based on the social media research undertaken by Talbot and his team .In light of these historic factors, Why did Talbot want to revitalize the brand?

In 2013, nearly three million Americans missed work due to illness. That costs the United States economy an estimated $84 billion each year. Even though paid sick days are an enticing benefit, there are many downfalls to this proposal. This one-size-fits-all government mandate does not work for every employee.

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, there has been a continuous debate about the effects it will have on the United States economy. Many people argue that expanding insurance coverage for all people will create crippling cost burdens for the economy and taxpayers. While others believe that the ACA will in fact give the economy a much-needed boost. In 2006 as a measure to improve overall healthcare, the state of Massachusetts implemented the Health Care Insurance Reform Act. This paper looks at the positive and negative effects of the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act (MHRA). Using a literature review of public health studies ranging from 2009-2012, I argue that there are both positive and negative effects of the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform. While the Massachusetts Reform increased health insurance coverage for all citizens and decreased the number of uninsured citizens accessing emergency rooms, it also did very little to decrease already existing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities among minorities and whites in the state of Massachusetts. Understanding the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act may help in the goal of trying to achieve near-universal healthcare. This paper provides an understanding of the missing pieces in the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act and constitutes a starting place from which to understand the Affordable Care Act.

Massachusetts began its health care reform in 1988. Under the direction of Governor Michael Dukakis (D), a universal health care law was enacted through implementation of a “play-or-pay” employer mandate; unfortunately this implementation suffered multiple postponements (McDonough, Rosman, Phelps, & Shannon, 2006). Some components of the 1988 law were implemented and stand today: the CommonHealth program for Medicaid coverage to disabled adults seeking to work and to certain disabled children, the Medical Security Plan provides coverage to workers who are collecting unemployment compensation, the Healthy Start program provides coverage to lower-income pregnant women and new mothers, and the student health insurance mandate (McDonough et al., 2006).

Concern for the care of the patient was one of the mitigating factor for our nation’s development of Emergency medical treatment and labor act (EMTALA) . Enacted by congress in 1986, Emtala was government’s way of ensuring basic screening, stabilization and care for all patients. Non participation with emtala was not an option, since the law tied in government payments to the institutions. Simply put if you want Medicare/ Medicaid payments you will abide by this law. There shouldn’t have been need for emtala since there were already safeguards for indigent patients, but they were not followed, rather seen as guidelines. With the backing of Emtala, patients had better care assurances, and guarantee of not being dismissed. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals stated that “individuals shall be accorded impartial access to treatment or accommodations that are available or medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, nationality, or sources of payment for care” It has been strongly inferred that based on the implementation of emtala, increased numbers of uninsured were using the emergency rooms as their primary source of care. The thought was those without insurance, did not seek preventative care through a primary care doctor, as they did not have way to pay for services, but still received treatment through emergency rooms.

In the early 1980’s there was increased observation by emergency room physicians that patients were being transferred or dumped from private hospitals to public hospitals based on their inability to pay. Concern for the care of the patient was one of the mitigating factors for our nation’s development of Emergency medical treatment and labor act (EMTALA) . Enacted by Congress in 1986, EMTALA was government’s way of ensuring basic screening, stabilization and care for all patients. Non participation with EMTALA was not an option, since the law tied government payments to the institutions. Simply put, if you want Medicare/ Medicaid payments you will abide by this law. EMTALA would not have been needed since there were already safeguards for indigent patients, but they were not followed, rather seen as guidelines. With the backing of EMTALA, patients had better care assurances, and guarantee of non-dismissal. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals stated that “individuals shall be accorded impartial access to treatment or accommodations that are available or medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, nationality, or sources of payment for care” It has been strongly inferred that based on the implementation of emtala, increased numbers of uninsured were using the emergency rooms as their primary source of care. The thought was those without insurance, did not seek preventative care through a primary care doctor,

There may be some people that would abuse the privilege of having this, and not wanting to offer it. There are still honest people in the world that it could be an advantage to. Many people have families and cannot afford to call-in sick when they have the flu, or another illness. That is where the paid sick leave would come in. Employees coming to work sick could be a bigger risk then not letting them have to day off. It could be difficult for some smaller businesses to offer this because of the costs. The restaurant industry could get hit pretty hard because of the administrative costs as well as having to cover peoples’ shifts that are unable to go to work. “The U.S is the only major industrialized nation without a national paid sick-leave policy Some 145 countries provide paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses. Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Singapore require employers to provide at least 10 paid sick days” (Koba, 2013).

The implementation of the healthcare reform to the people throughout the United States provides healthcare coverage to all Americans increasing the accessibility to quality healthcare coverage making it more affordable for families. Throughout this paper I will discuss how effective the healthcare reform has been for the state of Pennsylvania, describing what the positive and negative outcomes are, and how the it has impacted the community health within my state. I will further discuss what effects the health care reform has had on economics in health care within my state.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of a person’s ability to pay. The law's initial intent was to ensure patient access to emergency medical care and to prevent the practice of patient dumping, in which uninsured patients were transferred, solely for financial reasons, from private to public hospitals without consideration of their medical condition or stability for the transfer. EMTALA is considered one of the most comprehensive laws guaranteeing nondiscriminatory access to emergency medical care and to the health care system.

I personally feel the affect economics have on healthcare or the lack there of, can never be explained any clearer; unless you are experiencing it yourself.

The National Association of Trauma Specialists (NATS) understands that there is a magazine article circulating making claims that emergency medical care is “the most expensive operation in hospitals.” The blatant inaccuracy of this article ignores certain facts about emergency medical care. First, the magazine failed in informing its readers that emergency room physicians work for more than 70 hours a week on average. The service they render to people who need it the most is not only physically demanding and debilitating, but also they are taken away from their families. NATS continues to record higher levels of divorce, alcohol and substance use more than the other segments of the medical profession. Second, there is a high demand for emergency

One of the must have necessities of a human being is the provision of sound health care and every government, both national or local is obligated to offer this essential service to all the citizens without favor or any discrimination of any kind. Where else it is paramount that every employer to make sure the health and the safety of the employees are given the first priory. This will make sure the employees who are injured during the work are taken care of, and they are relieved the burden of the cost of health care. Thus, it is common to find most companies get the services of insurance companies and other organizations which provide health care programs for workers such as IndUShealth to make sure the welfare of the employees is in safe

Health care reform has been a big topic since the Clinton administration when First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, took it under her belt to devise a new system. Health care is the provision taken to preserve mental and physical health using prevention and treatment. Compared to other health care systems in the world, the United States is ranked 37th in terms of care, claims Michael Moore (2007). Ironically, our health care system spends more than any other nation on its patients, averaging nearly $8,000 per person (DiNitto, 2012). With soaring costs, it is no surprise that one in every seven Americans are uninsured (Kaiser, 2011). Even with these sorry figures, statistics show that 85% of Americans are satisfied with their health care

Typically, individuals choose an optimal level of health that is below the maximum level. This is regarded as a key prediction of the Grossman Model. As it suggests when individuals face trade-offs “they do not place an over-riding value” (Wagstaff, 1986:p2) on their health. This is because individuals value other things as well, which in this model is Z. By investing solely in health the individual faces the opportunity cost of Z. For this reason H is below the maximised level as individuals consume both H and Z. It is evident that it is unrealistic to assume individuals would consume at the Hmax. Moreover, individuals also deviate from the optimal level H*. This essay will now evaluate the theoretical reasoning explaining this, as well

The case study notes that state laws are not labor friendly and thus, the city has authority to decide on certain aspects of the labor force (Denhardt & Miller, 2000). Because of this, management is able to decide what is best for the organization. Even though the State might not require that health insurance be mandatory for city employees, as aforementioned, it might be one of the reasons that employees are actually working in this place. Therefore, management needs to be cautious about the decisions take and make sure the final decision is agreed upon. It is true that it has taken time, but an untaught solution, as a state law may offer, will only be a quick fix and may result