Healthcare Systems And Health Insurance

Universal Healthcare sounds appealing, but it actually lowers the quality and quantity of healthcare services that are rendered to patients, thus downgrading the healthcare system as a whole.  Not having to pay, with everyone having coverage leads to longer wait times for medical service and many people overusing health care services. Implementation of Universal Healthcare in the United States would lead to a detrimental crippling of the nation’s health system. For those countries that have implemented Universal Healthcare or a system similar to it, all or most aspects of the coverage such as cost and care is generally provided by and tightly controlled by the government, a public-sector committee, or employer-based programs, with most of the funding essentially coming from tax revenues or budget cuts in other areas of spending. This paper will conclude with comparing the US healthcare system to others and how the US has one of the most advanced systems in the world.

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 cost of health insurance has changed drastically over the years as it has become more expensive. Depending on personal characteristic, the cost of health insurance may vary. For instance, as individuals grow older the more expensive it becomes. In this case, health insurance is more costly because “older individuals require more health care” therefore “the cost of providing health care is rising” (Madura &Atlantic, 2012). Not only does this affect the high cost of health insurance, but the number of individuals uninsured. As stated by Madura and Atlantic (2012), “about one in every five workers is uninsured” and has increased since then because health insurance has become unaffordable. As a result, individuals tend to seek health care elsewhere as they can no longer

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.

The first characteristic of the US health care system is that there is no central governing agency which allows for little integration and coordination. While the government has a great influence on the health care system, the system is mostly controlled through private hands. The system is financed publically and privately creating a variety of payments and delivery unlike centrally controlled healthcare systems in other developed countries. The US system is more complex and less manageable than centrally controlled health care systems, which makes it more expensive. The second characteristic of the US health care system is that it is technology driven and focuses on acute care. With more usage of high technology,

Looking back at our former healthcare system, we see that it was far from flawless, some say it is due to the government, while others claim the health insurance and the healthcare system in general is to blame. So it 's no wonder that the healthcare system is constantly fluctuating. These fluctuations have let us to a system that was very flawed and in dire need of rectification. Furthermore, the health insurance market wasn’t readily accessible to the middle and lower class, due to high costs, bizarre prerequisites, and complicated terminology.

The Government is a very important body as a stake in the health-care sector. Policies, Acts, and reforms are enacted and passed by the Government for adequate and better healthcare to meet the needs of its people. Insurance policies are one of the many ways that most States use to provide affordable and quality health care to every citizen. Although some of the laws may not have had a great impact towards the health-care, many have improved the services offered to the health-care consumer (Schmeer, 2016). Moreover, the government is also responsible for developing up policies which help in regulating the health

2008 was an election year and also the year Frontline’s program, Sick Around the World was made. A big topic pertaining to the election year was healthcare reform. How were the presidential candidates going to “fix” the U.S. health care system that is supposedly the best in the world? At the time of this program, the U.S. was 37th in the world in terms of fairness and quality (Palfreman, 2008). Other rich countries were ahead of this U.S. in this ranking but were spending a lot less. Frontline’s reporter, T.R. Reid traveled to 5 different countries to examine their health care systems on how this was possible and hopefully come away with any ideas that could potentially help with the U.S. health care system.

The United States health care system may be unique in being a true melting pot of cultures, ethnicities, and races. Health care and maintenance of one’s health is a necessity of life, regardless of ethnic, social, or cultural background. The cultural landscape of America is a constantly changing as evidenced by some projections stating by the year 2045 that non-Hispanic Caucasians will represent less than 50% of the U.S. population for the first time (Alba, 2015). However, this estimate may actually be inaccurate due to the numerous American families that already incorporate multiple racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. Nurse anesthetists that provide anesthesia for surgery are exposed to a myriad of cultures and all the differences that come with them. These many differences may affect how an anesthetist interacts with their patients, may cause a simple procedure to become a more challenging one, or it may also affect an anesthetist own beliefs and how that approach a case.

Health care systems are organizations that are formed to meet the overall health needs of the population. Health care is regarded as one of the leading cause in promoting not only physical and mental health but the well-being of the population. Legislation is implemented requiring government to offer services to all members of its society. The role of health services and the organizations that provide aid is to focus on the health of an individual and to uphold their human rights. According to WHO (2013), a “well-functioning health care system requires a robust financing mechanism, a well-trained and adequately-paid workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and well maintained facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies (World Health Organization; 2013).

The health care system within the United States is facing numerous problems. Even after the passing of the Affordable Care Act many Americans remain uninsured or underinsured. This results in citizens facing financial blockades in receiving care at a primary level and often waiting till the health issue has escalated to the point of needing hospitalization before seeking care. While each state has had challenges expanding their health care system the board of Access Health Care Initiative (AHCI) has chosen the state of Pennsylvania as a target region for possible expansion. The question posed by the board of directors is would it be possible for AHCI to expand into Pennsylvania and have a positive effect on the state’s health care system. The research has shown that it would be possible for AHCI to expand into Pennsylvania and help the state meet the health care needs of its residents. However this expansion will take careful planning and the ability to overcome some unique problems that Pennsylvania poses.

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.

In this paper there will be a brief discussion of three forces that have affected the development of the U.S healthcare system. It will observe whether or not these forces will continue to have an effect on the U.S healthcare system over the next decade. This paper will also include an additional force, which may be lead to believe to have an impact on the health care system of the nation. And lastly this paper will evaluate the importance of technology in healthcare.

Given the fact that the United states of America and Canada are linked together sharing a border which is open basically to and from both sides, their health care systems are highly different from each other and how the services are financed, organized and given to the citizens.

Under the current healthcare reform bill HR-4872, there are several stipulations that will benefit everyone. The proposed bill eliminates the “Pre-existing Condition” clause that insurance companies have been manipulating around for many years. How many people have been stuck in dead end jobs, unable to further their career for the fear of being denied insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. The bill (HR-4872) also makes purchasing health coverage affordable. Under the current American system, the health insurance providers can pass on rate increases to the consumers without regard to the clients ability to pay or their after taxes income. It is estimated that healthcare insurance costs have increased as much as 18 – 25% over just the past three years alone. This dramatic increase in premium expenses has put healthcare insurance out of the reach of millions of Americans.