Purpose: The purpose of the article was to address one of the interventions in Hepatitis C treatment and the temporal aspect of it in particular. The authors use a question to begin the article which makes it easy for the reader to find the purpose of the article and later the issue which would be preceding it. Within the purpose, the authors also identify their audience being the patients living with Hepatitis C virus, the insurance companies, and the health departments. Identifying the stakeholders is effective in targeting the message to the appropriate population and further adds clarity to the issue since it would be relatable to the authors of the article as well as their audience.
Issue: The issue at glance is whether or not to
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Reason 1: It costs about $75,000-$100,000 per patient to treat the infection.
Reason 2: Treating everyone living with hepatitis C in the US would cost at least $200 billion: 2/3 of what the US spends on the pharmaceuticals.
Reason 3: Treating 127,000 Medi-Cal patients would cost the state about $438 million to $1.71 billion per year.
All the reasons provided can fall under the category “evidence: data”. The authors do not provide any sort of citation or credible sources for their reasons, but we can accept the data to be true since it is easily verifiable. The lack of citation makes the evidence less accurate since we lack the source and the type of source. It also makes it unreliable for the same reasons. Despite the lack of accuracy and reliability, the reasons are relevant to the intermediate conclusion drawn and the issue as a whole. Throughout the article financing the treatment is at the heart of the decision making. Providing costs ties these ends and provide the audience with vital information that can’t be overlooked. The last reason of Medi-Cal patients is of particular interest, since it presents the problem whose solution is later provided in the article. The last reason is more relevant to the article as it ties to the evidence provided about the intervention already ongoing in California. Reason 3 goes in depth of the conclusion drawn by giving a specific data about a specific
Consequently, it become a financial problem where physician sees no improvement in their revenue/profit, and the cost of treatments continue to rise as reimbursement challenges the physician’s charges. There is always a cost to a better health care and coverage, and vast of it comes from taxation. Hospital and physicians function on funding to keep the door open and operating, and majority of the funding are from taxation. For
This research paper is going to review today’s silent killer, the Hepatitis C virus. This paper will talk about the description of the disease, the signs and symptoms, the etiology and risk factors, diagnostic studies, treatments and prognosis of this disease. I had lived with this disease for over ten years before diagnosed so it is important to understand the signs and symptoms so the disease can be identified and a treatment plan can be identified as the sooner it is treated the more likely it will eradicate the disease.
The potential opportunity for the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion is the fact that low-income citizens will be insured. The decision of the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion will also impact the state’s budget, and this is the main challenge (Frakt, 2013). The government will cover majority of all the cost even as Medicaid expansion provides coverage for the low-income uninsured citizens. Expansion of the Medicaid is also a broken system that has poor outcomes, not severe federal strings, high inflation and no incentive for the personal responsibility of the citizens who
When it comes to health care, cost is one of the biggest problems. Something needs to be done in order to make it possible for patients, families, and businesses to be able to afford health care. US does not always spend health care dollars in the most productive way. The cost of cancer treatments alone can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the only way to pay for that is to raise the cost of the insurance to the patients. Cost is defined as the “price” of healthcare. The “price” or cost can come from various places such as, the physician’s bill, the cost of prescriptions, as well as what the employers pay to cover their employees. The cost of treatments, emergency room visits, medicines, the cost of newest technology and etc. is what is making our increase in cost rapidly. The rising costs leads to becoming a financial burden to families, even the ones that have health insurance, which can typically result in individuals not receiving the health services that they need.
With the implementation of the ACA, many states have expanded their Medicaid programs to include a larger population of low income individuals and families that were not able to obtain health insurance prior to the law. Some of the issues that state legislators struggle with are the overall cost of providing services for the additional recipients, staying within budget, determining an adequate approach of offering quality care, and providing adequate coverage for each recipient. Even though the cost of Medicaid expansion within each state has increased the budget for the program, new appraisals has shown that Medicaid programs spend less per enrollee than commercial health insurance and much of the increase in Medicaid expenses originate from the increase in enrollment in the programs (Coughlin, Long, Clemens-Cope, & Resnick, 2013).
The medical home model is viewed as resonating well with the new and highly effective regimens of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) treatment and could reduce the prevalence of the disease. The authors used statistical data in demonstrating the challenges faced by patients with chronic HCV infection against the limitation of the existing healthcare system besides the ACA. The study considered the ACA as beneficial in this regard, owing to its integration of the behavioral and medical healthcare, and also on account that ACA expands the eligibility of Medicaid and offers consumer premium subsidies. The study recommended that by maximizing ACA, the public would benefit more in dealing with such serious infections as opposed to relying on the ordinary healthcare
Frech cited several keys to the high costs here including marketing by pharmaceutical companies; the incredible number (around 20 percent) of the people who work in the medical field but never come into contact with any patient and the lack of wellness programs and poor lifestyle
The subject of healthcare in the United States can be a contentious one, and it is also an area where peoples' perceptions don't always align with the facts given by policymakers. What makes healthcare spending so scandalous is the amount of money the United States pours into healthcare each year. Over $8,000 per-patient per-year costs, amount that has more than double any of the other nation. Yet 15 to 25% of the American population has no healthcare coverage due to a lack of any form of universal
According the Department of Health and Human Services, total health care spending in the U.S. reached $2.3 trillion in 2008, or $7,681 per person. As a share of GDP, healthcare expenditures set a new record of 16.2 percent. That’s double the 8.1 percent share of GDP in 1975, and it is triple the 5.2 percent share of GDP in 1960. (Perry, 2010) Last year in 2012, total U.S. health care spending hit $2.807 trillion, or $8,948 per person. (Geisel, 2013) Its rate of increase has been relatively low since 2009, at
When it comes to the issue of healthcare, a lot of specific forces come into play. In order to understand and keep track of political situations like those dealing with healthcare one must use the analytical framework. A current political issue relating to healthcare is the Medi-Cal program in California and its controversial system of recovering medical costs from the deceased. Governmental, political and structural policies and politics each have their own roles to play on this specific issue.
Did you know that over two hundred million people are infected with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)? Unfortunately it is true, and twenty five thousand more are infected each year. Out of these victims, three are acquaintances of mine. They are why I chose to research this Silent Epidemic. In this paper you will not only learn about the virus itself, but also ways to recognize and prevent it. The goal of this is to prevent the further spread of this disease, and furthermore to make you aware of your options if infected.
Hepatitis C has been referred to as a "Silent Epidemic," since it usually progresses slowly over many years. Most people who are infected with hepatitis C are not aware of any noticeable symptoms for as long as one to two decades after they are infected. In fact, by the time symptoms appear, the virus has probably already begun to damage the liver. If the liver is injured and stops functioning, death will always be the outcome (Lieber). Liver failure from chronic hepatitis C is one of the most common causes of liver transplants in the United States.
The healthcare system plays a key role in the economic stability of our country, as every year trillions are spent in attempt to combat disease and health issues that plaque humanity. As it makes up a significant amount of the expenditures in the economy, so the costs associated with health care of those in pain from illness and injury, including lost productivity, increased need of assistance in living and also the cost of death in some cases, is important to the economic stability and over all standard of living in our country. The key to economic prosperity is balancing the need for care with the costs of illness to keep as many people healthy and well without breaking the bank of collective society. The costs of healthcare have been increasingly problematic in recent years with so many issues surrounding the current system. With the “total health care spending in the United States expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010 and $75 billion in 1970, meaning that health care spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021” (Aetna). With this in mind it is apparent that as we look at the trillion-dollar industry of the medical community it seems that it needs to be a major focus of our nation as a whole and with the many issues come many creative solutions. First let us analyze the reasons behind the current cost and the major problems facing this industry and than discus what
Hepatitis C infection is transmitted mainly through percutaneous exposure: injecting drug use, accidently needlestick injuries (Tohme and Holmberg, 2010), and procedures as renal dialysis and unscreened blood transfusions (Candotti et al., 2001), the latter has become rare due to routine screening for HCV (Boesecke, 2011). Most HCV infections occur in people who use unsterile injection and contaminated drug solutions (Nelson et al., 2011). Overuse and unsafe injection caused to 2–5 million HCV infections worldwide (Seeff, 2002). The risk of HCV infection from infected mother to her child occurs in 4–8%, Sexual transmission of HCV occurs infrequently in heterosexual couples (Marincovich
Continue to support, expand access to and evaluate the effectiveness of the range of opioid pharmacotherapy programs in reducing transmission of hepatitis C.