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Macroeconomic Analysis : Potential Effects On Economy

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Macroeconomic Analysis – Potential Effects on Economy. From 2001 to 2014 the total number of patients treated in the VA system increased from 5,124,168 to 9,111,955 per year, an increase of 78% (Erin, June 3, 2014, para. 4). The 2015 VA healthcare budget is 163.9 billion dollars, which includes all costs such as cost of construction, mandatory benefits programs, information technology, discretionary benefits programs, and medical programs for veterans (VA.gov, 2015, graph 1-2). The benefits reaped by the U.S. economy are by the major stakeholders being paid for their services provided to veterans, while the government gets paid through taxes. The veterans benefit by not having to pay total health care cost completely out of pocket. In addition to the dollar amounts, the veterans benefit because the VA can provide care for needs that are unique only to the military.
Microeconomic Analysis – Potential Effects on Behavior. From the given budget of $163.9 billion and dividing that by the 9,111,955 veterans, one could extrapolate $17,989 is the current amount the VA spends, on average, per enrolled veteran in the system. This 163.9 billion includes not only health coverage costs, but also everything needed in order to treat veterans. Some supporters of the VHA claim that they have lower health care costs than the similar Medicare single-payer system. However, when the actual amount of coverage is considered the VHA falls behind (Sarah, June 2, 2014, para. 4). This could

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