Healthcare Initiatives Of The United States

More and more people with medical insurance are relying on the health care system as new technologies and treatments become available. This leads to a grater number of claims for payment by insurance companies, the costs of which are passed back to health care consumers. The baby-boom generation is entering its peak health-care using period. Over eighty million Americans will turn 50 in the next 10 years. The cost of providing heath care for these individuals will be staggering

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.

As a growing number of Americans find themselves without health insurance, it is demanded that the United States explore innovative policies aimed at extending coverage. The high cost of expanding coverage raises many questions about how best to improve access while preserving individual choice and maintaining quality of care. Differing viewpoints among policymakers, insurers, doctors, hospital administrators, employers, public health advocates, and health policy researchers provide a complete picture of the current and desired state of American healthcare.

There are providers, of public hospitals community and rural health centers, and local health department considered to be safety net providers that service the uninsured. But the result of increased demand has caused limited capacity and decreased treatment options due to eroding finances (KFF, 2013). In order to improve the well beings of Americans, it is imperative to establish a health care policy that will deliver comprehensive coverage for all.

Societal beliefs and values influence the Affordable Care act. The health care budget is under constraint, how to provide the most recent and enhanced health care while saving money has become a major issue. With this new health reform, millions of Americans who could not afford insurance with their employers or are uninsured due to lack of employment have the opportunity to become insured. The major economic change in this society has created enormous challenges for workers, families, as well as employers. The implementation of this act reduced this plague in the health delivery system.

Healthcare in the United States is in a crisis situation. Healthcare costs are rising to the point where people are required to pay their health insurance premiums and deductibles over having enough money to cover groceries to feed the family. It seems our government is at odds in terms of the success with the Affordable Care Act and the outcomes we are witnessing from its’ implementation in our country. Many Americans understand the incentives of having healthcare insurance coverage and the benefits it can provide. With so many more individuals entering the healthcare insurance marketplace due to the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act we also see an impact to the supply and demand of healthcare availability and healthy outcomes.

In the current U.S. system the free market prevails and companies, in this case, major insurance providers “compete” for business. This competitive business approach should in theory drive costs down. For some reason, however, an argument can be made that it has produced the opposite result in profiteering. The nation’s largest insurer, UnitedHealth, boasted over a 10 percent revenue increase in 2013 according to Forbes (2013). Health insurance affordability contributes to the disparity in access to health care, as evidenced by the fact that there are millions that are still uncovered. A greater majority of certain minorities lack both health insurance and the financial resource to seek out either health care or insurance. While insurance companies reap huge profits the percent of private sector companies offering health insurance has dropped to less than 50 percent (Kaiser, 2013). There is decidedly a lack of coordination of care for this at risk population as well, since treatment is rendered sporadically and with continuously changing providers. The last major challenge is that of improving the quality of health care. According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), an estimated 13.5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse events during their hospital stay and an additional 13.5 percent experienced a temporary

The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly examine the similarities and differences of Medicare and Medicaid managed care plans by comparing and contrasting its strengths, weaknesses, incentives, commitment to access, and risks to the consumer. Medicaid and Medicare are both health insurance programs financed and administered by government entities and are both equivalent in terms of the number of beneficiaries and total expenditures (McCarthy, Schafermeyer, & Plake, 2011). These healthcare programs differ in terms of how they are funded and governed and who they cover. Medicare is an important source of coverage for 65 or older adults, for people under 65 with disabilities, and for people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States. It provides health insurance protection and enables access to medical care for 54 million beneficiaries.

Healthcare reform in the United States (U.S.), continues to be a hot topic in the news. Whether it discusses how the program will be financed, the need to redesign the organization, or how the process of delivering healthcare will be implemented; one thing that is a frontrunner, is the need for registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to fill the increased demands on the primary care system (Institute of Medicine, & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2011, p. 375). “Several programs and initiatives included in the health reform legislation involve interdisciplinary and cross-setting care coordination and care management services of RNs” (Institute of Medicine, & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2011, p. 377).

One of this health care’s programs objective is to limit the number of uninsured (Shi & Singh, 2015). This controversial healthcare plan incorporates a privately funded insurance which is paid for through employment and solely by the patient and a publicly funded insurance by the government. Medicare is provided for senior citizens 65 and older, and Medicaid is provided for low income citizens. The federal government and state government both partake in the funding of Medicaid. Although insurance is provided to the low income through Medicaid, the United States continues to suffer from cost escalation spending 17.1 percent of GDP on healthcare in 2013, a 50 percent more than the second nation (Commonwealth, n.d.) The high cost and limited coverage continues to spark up the conversation for a

In 2014, the US entered into the force sensational health care reform of the protection of patients in the United States, which is called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Under this reform, all the citizens and residents of the country are required to have health insurance. It has also caused many discussions and opinions among people. Supporters of it say that this is a significant step forward, since there is no company that can refuse a person in the insurance policy. However, opponents believe that this reform will only worsen the condition of the Americans. The current health care reform has its drawbacks, such as increased fees for insurance, and the impossibility of choice, therefore, it is necessary for change.

The rising healthcare cost is an issue that affects many working class Americans. Experts have tried to come up with different ways to make health care more affordable and easily accessible to all. Despite all the efforts and even after the Affordable Care Act, there are still millions of Americans without health insurance coverage and therefore unable to access the necessary medical care. According to a 2015 report by the U.S Census Bureau, there are over 33 million uninsured Americans. (“Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2014 - p60-253.pdf,” n.d.) The Affordable Care Act has unquestionably made healthcare more accessible and reduced the number of uninsured Americans. However, there are still millions of

We all have this confusion between Medicaid and Medicare some people don’t know the difference between the two or don’t even know what either of them are. The Federal government has two different programs to provide health insurance coverage to citizens in the United States, which are Medicare and Medicaid. The two programs, while helpful to those individuals who qualify, are not available to everyone. I’m here to briefly explain and discuss the two programs, their similarities, and their differences and hopefully get people to understand each program. This become important in our lives because once we reach the age limit of where we can’t provide or take care of our illnesses these programs come into play on your health care options. This topic I choose has a big connection into our class because this is something we need to be aware of when it our time to retire and know that we have some type of insurance to support with our health. Once we get to the age where we can pay for things we need the Medicare or Medicaid program to help us get the care that we worked hard for and most importantly deserve.

One of the most difficult challenges that our healthcare system faces is in long term health care policies such as Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is the federal program for the elderly and disabled. It covers many of the costs associated with acute medical care but covers very few long term care services. Medicaid is a federal and state health program which covers

The higher cost of affordable Health care is also eroding the ease with which to afford other insurance that covers about 30 percent of Medicare enrollees ‘expenses. In 2005, about 89 percent of beneficiaries obtained such additional coverage, including through former employers (33 percent), medical policies (25 percent), Medicare advantage plans (13 percent), Medicaid (16 percent), or other programs (1 percent) (MedPAC). These supplemental insurance programs were all very helpful at the onset, but with the passage of time and as health care costs continued to rise, employers are finding it difficult to support these programs and as a consequence, a greater number of these employers are either reducing the benefit or eliminating these benefits especially those that affects their retirees thereby increasing the cost of these supplemental insurances.