Healthcare Coverage Is Not Affordable

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.

Financial burdens greatly limit the system’s accessibility; however, many in the U.S. are unable to fully utilize either option. Census estimates from 1999 indicate that 43 million Americans live without health insurance even though 75 percent of them have a full-time job or live in a household with at least one member working full-time (Mueller, , 5) In addition to the totally uninsured, census estimates also reveal that approximately 42 million other people in the U.S. are underinsured. This means that they have some insurance, but are still unable to afford all of their needed prescriptions, tests, visits to physicians, or hospital

In addition to those who are unemployed, you also have the Americans that are employed and still uninsured. These Americans either choose not to have health insurance or they are still unable to afford it. I have been there, I had to choose more money on my paycheck over having health insurance. For most, being uninsured is not a choice, insurance is simply unaffordable. In an article on The Economic Impact Of The Uninsured it states that “eighty percent of uninsured people are employed, or live in a home where a family member is employed. Their plight has nothing to do with a slow economy” (Knowledge@Emory). More young Americans look at insurance as a luxury not a necessity. However, when the unknown happens then these young people are faced with an enormous

Money plays a huge role in access, therefore it is a vital issue to discuss. Within the current system, lack of money results in lack of health care, which leaves thousands of people without any health care coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people paying for health insurance increased 30%, however income only raised 3% (Health Care Problems). Adequate income is a necessity and unfortunately that is not present. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the average annual premium across the country is $16,000. Currently, the average annual income in the United States is $51,107. Mint Money Management suggests that about 4-6% of one’s total income should be spent on insurance, including life, disability, and health insurance. However, the averages in the United States show that the average person spends about 31% of their income on health insurance, which is not financially beneficial. When this rise in health insurance is not parallel to the inflation of income, innocent people are left without a method to achieve health care. There is a program for those who can’t afford health insurance out of pocket nor have access to it, and that is called Medicaid. Issues still exist with the program. There is only so much funding, which leaves many still uninsured. Additionally, people with Medicaid have difficulty

as defensive medicine practice, new technology, malpractice lawsuit and the uninsured. New technology is the biggest factor of the rising cost of healthcare to treated patient of their illness. New technologies have seemed to be the driving force of high healthcare cost in America. The technology accounts for 38 to 65 percent of healthcare spending in America (Johnson, 2011). The annual spending of health care increased from 75 billion in 1970 to 2.0 trillion in 2005 and is estimated to reach 4.0 trillion in 2015 (Kaiser Foundation, 2013). U.S. citizens spent 5,267 per capita for health care in 2002- 53 percent more than any other country” (2005). “America spent 5267 per capita and in Switzerland they spent 3074 per capita” about 1821 cheaper than ours (Starfield, B 2010). Controlling the technology isn’t easy thing to do because of technology prices are set by manufacturing and the installer of the new medical equipment’s. However, there other way

More than 60 percent of personal bankruptcies in the United States are caused by medical bills. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, 75 percent of them involved individuals that have health insurance. When an individual gets sick in this country their first thought is usually ways they can avoiding going to the doctor so they do not have to try and pay for their visit regardless of if they are insured or not. Even now after the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) has been installed, many Americans are left without coverage. ObamaCare is mainly for those individuals without health insurance, therefore, if you are uninsured you must get insurance or pay a monthly tax to still get coverage. With that being said many people are still left without quality coverage or at risk of getting taxed if they were to lose their job. What many people do not realize is that insurance companies have now raised their prices or cancelled plans due to this new Act still making it difficult for some to get insurance. America is still lacking in healthcare compared to many countries around the world. In other countries their government pays for most of the healthcare costs and the system is almost completely universal. The way the United States government distributes our money is not always in the citizens’ best interest and should be revised leaving more benefits for the people of this country. The American Health Care plan recently adopted

There are many problems with healthcare in America today. One of them including the astronomical cost. According to CDC.ORG in 2007 the average person spends seven thousand four hundred dollars per year on health care alone. This rise in healthcare is extremely detrimental for families, seniors, and people of all ages. With such a high cost of insurance people are forced to make hard choices in

While there is not one solid reason for the health of the American people to decline, we are led to believe that the uninsured people in the United States are the reason of it. According to the article, A Creeping Catastrophe according to polling firm Lake Research Partners “while 47 million Americans are uninsured, 91 percent of voters in the 2008 election had some form of health insurance” (Armstrong and Wayne 3). This equal to 15% of the USA population from that year. Now, of this 15% uninsured, how many are unemployed, homeless or really in need

The rising cost of health care has led companies to stop offering health insurance for employees, and private insurance is often too expensive for people to afford. Many families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but are unable to pay for private health insurance. Health care costs in the United States have more than doubled in the last twenty years. Insurance premiums are rising five times faster than wages, and Americans are spending more money on health care than people in any other country. The average amount one person pays per year for health care in the United States is 134 times higher than the average of other industrialized countries (“Health Care Issues”). Even people who have insurance aren’t guaranteed coverage. Many insurance companies find loopholes to avoid paying for expensive medical treatment, leaving people with massive debt from medical bills. Medical bills and illness cause over half of all personal bankruptcies in the United

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 costs continue to greatly exceed the rate of inflation and are one of the largest financial concerns in the United States. While technology is often anecdotally cited as being the largest contributor to this issue, we would delve deeper into the research and data available to verify whether this is true or not. The aim of this project is manifold. The first objective is to examine the costs which are associated with new technologies in healthcare, and with theses technological improvements, do increased investments and expenditures outweigh the quality outcomes they influence? This paper will also explore ‘problem areas’ in this sector where research shows that there is a vast amount of overspending for technology. We will also explore emerging technologies which demonstrate promise in decreasing healthcare spending and potential cost-effective, advantageous uses of these advances. In addition to this, we will determine prospective measures, such as governmental regulations, which may curtail the increasing costs and economic burden of technological advancements in healthcare. Using various economic theories and principles, described later, this project will also analyze various factors which allow technological innovations to consistently drive such unusually high healthcare spending.

Health care is an essential need of an American. For the best type of health care, it is best that an individual contains health insurance. Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Health Insurance, National, is government provided insurance that pays the health care expenses of all or most of a nation’s citizens. Such programs are usually financed by income or payroll taxes on individuals” (Encyclopedia Britannica ,98). Many individuals in America are not insured however, they still receive some type of free health care from places like the emergency room at the hospital. In addition to the inflation of many Insurance companies, this is causing a rise in the cost of health care specifically for the average family in Miami, Florida, and it is more

United States has one of the greatest health cares in the world in terms of latest technology and research yet it still unable to help half of the population due to lack of affordable health insurance. The passing of ACA in 2010 was supposed to provide many of U.S. citizen with much needed health benefits yet apporoximately 29 million of Americans don’t have insurance. The main reason is the high cost and not many employers offering insurance so it makes it that much harder to get needed health care.

Requiring all citizens in the United States to sign up for healthcare will be beneficial in several ways. A major change could be a decrease in the amount of medical bankruptcies that occur. Due to the high cost of medical bills in America, many people have trouble keeping up with payments and get into financial trouble. According to a medical study conducted with the Kaiser family, “62% of personal bankruptcies in 2007 were caused by medical bills ().” This poses an even more serious problem with those who have a low socio-economic status. Compared to the wealthy, people with low income pay more for health care and get lower value insurance plans (Rudiger, 2015). If everyone had medical coverage this problem

As insurance premiums rise and more employers drop coverage, an increasing number of Americans are living without health insurance. Nearly one in three non-elderly Americans—86.7 million people—went without health coverage for all or part of 2006-2007. And four out of five of those individuals were in working families.