Healthcare Consumerism And Health Care

Rising health care costs became an issue after the Medicare and Medicaid programs were formed in 1965 and have continued to be a factor in the United States economy since then. “By1970, U.S. government expenditures for health care services and supplies had grown by 140%, from $7.9 billion to $18.9 billion.”() By the 1990s the annual increase in the government health care expenditures was finally brought under control and has fluctuated between a 5% and 8% increase each year since then. This essay will discuss the different factors contributing to the rising costs of health care in the United States, as well as how the cost of health care affects the accessibility and quality of medical care throughout American history.

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).

This paper pertains to the marketing of Health Care Services and provides the steps and history of marketing in health care and the effects of marketing on the health care delivery system from 1950 to 1990. It introduces the health care consumers and their role in the marketing process as well as the factors that influence consumer behavior. These factors influence the success of marketing in health care. It also provides the requirements for successful marketing and current techniques and strategies used by health care organizations.

"In the past two decades or so, health care has been commercialized as never before, and professionalism in medicine seems to be giving way to entrepreneurialism," commented Arnold S. Relman, professor of medicine and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (Wekesser 66). This statement may have a great deal of bearing on reality. The tangled knot of insurers, physicians, drug companies, and hospitals that we call our health system are not as unselfish and focused on the patients' needs as people would like to think. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly ruthless, many of them spending millions of dollars per year to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs and to convince consumers that their specific brand of drug is needed in

Health care spending in the United States of America as a percentage of the economy has reached astonishing heights, equating to 17.7 percent. This number is shocking when compared to other counties; in Australia health care is 8.9 percent, in United Kingdom 9.4 percent, in Canada 11.2 percent. If the American health care system were to hypothetically become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. While these statistics sound troubling, they lead us to look for answers about the problems surrounding our system. The first health insurance company was created in the 1930s to give all American families an equal opportunity for hospital care and eventually led to a nationwide economic and social controversy that erupted in the 1990s and continued to be shaped by the government, insurance companies, doctors, and American citizens. In this paper, I will go in to detail about the various opinions regarding the controversy, the history behind health insurance companies, and the main dilemmas brought out by the health care crisis. Greedy insurance companies combined with high costs of doctor visits and pharmaceutical drugs or the inefficient hospitals all over America can only describe the beginning to this in depth crisis. Recently, the United States health care industry has become know for the outrageous costs of insurance models, developments of various social and health services programs, and the frequent changes in medicinal technology.

“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.

Perceptual differences among consumers and economist are due in part to media influence such as reports on the abuse of the health care systems, investigations concerning fraud, and opposing political banter. The fact is, albeit slow, the cost of health care is rising, however the rise has been unprecedentedly slow.

The subject of health care is a sore subject, one of the most debated topics in the United States of America today and it is also the source of a vast array of complex problems for the American people. Americans have seen an increase in the rates of uninsured Americans, an increase in the cost of health care, and a growth in profits for health care companies. Due to the problematic trends that have taken place in the health care system in the United States, many Americans have viewed it as “the health care crisis” (Obamacare Facts, 2015). During the administration of President Barack Obama, a new law was implemented in order to reform the United States’ health care system called The Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare or ACA.

By utilizing independent resources, consumers can educate themselves on important information about selecting care and diverse healthcare services available.

In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most significant health care legislation reform in the United States since the passing of Medicare and Medicaid (Russell Sage Foundation, n.d.). Changes in healthcare delivery affect consumers, insurance companies, healthcare providers, and policy makers. Several factors provoked this monumental change in health care. Social, political, and economic forces drive change in the United States healthcare system. Within these categories, scarcity, a changing demography, and interests groups have a profound influence on how we view health care and which policies are enacted.

Most countries don't allow drug companies to advertise directly to patients. In the United States, however, direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is completely legal. The article "Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?" questions the validity of this decision and provides several different examples of the advantages and disadvantages of DTC prescription drug ads. There are both positives and negatives associated with the advertising of prescription drugs.

Health care is the upkeep and improvement of physical and mental well being. It is conveyed by experts in united health, dentistry, birthing assistance obstetrics, medication, nursing, optometry, drug store and other care suppliers. It alludes to the work done in giving essential care, optional care, and tertiary care, and in broad daylight health. The United States alone populates 314 million individuals, out of this unbelievable number just 60 million were uninsured. There are three significant issues in healthcare today; billions of dollars are continuously squandered and costs are soaring, the trade commercial center, and unnecessary care and endures motivation by the way we pay for care.

How did American healthcare become big business? Some blame the lack of government regulation, that which allows medical industries to profit off of sick or injured patients. Others point fingers at those who benefit from government sponsored healthcare, claiming that tax increases and excessive use of government money are the true root of the problem. In Elisabeth Rosenthal’s An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take it Back, the acclaimed journalist (and licensed physician) explores the growing link between healthcare and profit. Rosenthal expertly analyzes the rise of profit-driven insurance agencies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies; as well as describes the effect that these institutions

In light of these new traits of the society, the health care sector must develop itself and address the new needs of the society. Furthermore, these new needs are not only shaped by the changes in the life style of the population, but other traits as well. For instance, at a demographic level, it is noted that the population ages at a rapid rate and requires more health care. Then, at an economic level, it is noted how the internationalized economic crisis poses new threats and limits the population's access to health care.