Obama Care Trends

There have been many studies performed focusing on the rising costs of health care and some of the findings state that the rising cost of healthcare premiums is a worldwide problem. However, I believe they are higher in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. health care costs were $3.2 trillion. That makes healthcare one of the largest U.S. industries, equaling 17.8 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in comparison to the late 1960s; where healthcare costs were only $27 billion, or 5% of the GDP, which averaged $9,990 per person each year. The main reason for the rising cost of healthcare is a combination of government policies and lifestyles changes. Examples included lack of coverage or costly coverage, lack of available coverage for

“The amount people pay for health insurance increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of time only increased 3 percent.” (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). The rising cost of healthcare is a huge problem in America today. In this paper I will analyze the different issues and causes for the increase in cost.

Uncontrollable skyrocketing health care costs not only effect our economy but every American pocket book. The Obamacare Act was the most important healthcare reform enacted since Medicare/Medicaid was created in 1965 (Jama, 2016). The Affordable Care Act has made a substantial progress in solving the challenges U.S healthcare faced for decades. The uninsured rate was dropped from 16.0% in 2010 to 9.0% in 2015 (Jama, 2016). Not only has the ACA delivered an access to quality

In 2014, the U.S. health care spending increased 5.3% to $3.0 trillion, or $9,523 per person, a faster increase than the 2.9% in 2013. The spending increased due to extensive coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014b). In 2014, Medicare spending grew 5.5% to $618.7 billion and represented 20% of the national health expenditure, a faster increase than the 3% growth in 2013. The spending increased due to prescription drugs, physician and clinical services, government administration, and insurance (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014b). In 2014, Medicaid spending grew 11% to $495.8 billion and represented 16% of the national health expenditures, a faster increase

In March of 2010 President Barack Obama reform Health care in America and implement a new law called the Affordable Care Act. “Millions whom previously could not afford to purchase insurance now had care drastically impacting the way health care would be delivered” (Wilson, 2010). “The Us spends 1.5 times more in health care than any other developed country and 2.5 times more than the average. At least $3000 more per person that Switzerland with comparable income yet americans die earlier and live in poorer health. Growth in the US Healthcare is Unstable , health care spending has doubled in the past 30 years rising from 9.2% of GDP min 1980 to 17.9% in 2014. Health insurance premiums have increased 97% the last decade “(Kane, 2012)

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.

Preventable causes of illnesses like smoking and obesity were left unaddressed, depleting precious resources and increasing costs of care. From the patient perspective, cost sharing measures for preventive services like deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance deterred individuals from undergoing essential preventive services like cancer screening, immunization, and counselling. Ultimately, $277 billion dollars were spent on treating illnesses which could have been prevented by broad based prevention programs, and we incurred a loss of $1.1 trillion dollars due to lost productivity as a result of chronic illnesses.

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

Health care spending has increased over the past decade, in which has contributed to the United States deficit. In the years to come it seems as it’s only going to worse. In order to ensure that U.S. citizens have affordable and accessible health care, the government has stepped in.

The new affordable healthcare reform has been delayed until 2015/2016. This mandate requires employers with 50 or more full time employees to provide health insurance or pay a per month "Employer Shared Responsibility Payment" on their federal tax return (Pyne, 2013). This has employers concerned about continued increases in healthcare cost. This cost increase provides an incentive to create new innovative solutions toward healthcare services. One solution that has been gaining traction is the use of preventive care. Preventive care involves a healthy lifestyle from nutrition, exercise and frequent visit to healthcare facilities for health monitoring. Monitoring provides the means to identify issues early so that less costly health services will be required to resolve.

The government and president have searched for solutions to control and cut health care spending. “The rise in the health care over the past years has made the economy of the United States to decline” (Yong, Saunders, Olsen, & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2010). The increase in health care has effected government spending. Obama care was suppose to help the poor and ease the rich but it has only lead to difficulty in the health care field. Instead of increasing healthcare coverage, it has led to an increased number of people who do not have health care coverage.

The introduction and implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act has put the insurance industry and healthcare costs under the public microscope. As politicans, insurance executives, doctors and consumers scutinize every cost associated with healthcare, Preventive Health Care has become a topic of debate. Preventive health care saves lives and contribute to a better quality of life by diagnosing medical conditions at early more treatable stages. This paper examines the effectiveness of preventive healthcare in containment of health care costs and overall health benefit of consumers. After a brief introduction to preventive health care, the paper provides evidence of prevention activities that generate significant cost saving to

The US is facing a chronic disease epidemic and health expenditure is exceeding economic growth. About 133 million Americans or 1 in 2 adults have at least 1 chronic illness. This accounts for more than 75% of health care costs and 70% of deaths each year, costing the US $153 billion annually in lost productivity.*Heart disease is preventable by 80% and most that are at risk are unaware. One study shows that chair side medical screening for diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension could save the health care system $42.4 million or $13.51 per person and $102.6 million that’s $32.72 per person over a one year period. These numbers are calculated before the cost of labor and strictly rely on patient compliance and adherence to

The OECD started a network to provide help with budgeting healthcare spending, furthermore their goal is to help policy makers understand the problems with the system and come up with alternative solutions (White, 2014). Budget makers can make an argument that health care spending displace investments in the fiscal space. Citizens probably be willing to pay more when it comes to maintain the healthcare programs (White, 2014). When spending is unsustainable it means that the support from Politian’s was not sustained, which is it was no support for the redistribution for the spending. The United States faces the most challenging of other countries with the redistribution health spending, either it is too high, less affordable for individuals and incomes are not equal (White,

I am definitely for taking preventative healthcare measures. Chronic diseases such cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases “are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths each year, and treating people with chronic diseases accounts for 86% of our nation’s health care costs.” (http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/) Most people postpone annual check ups and essential tests like mammograms and colonoscopies because they don’t want to pay out of pocket for an examination they believe is too costly. However, getting one of these tests can help you save a lot of money in the long run if you do end up having cancer or even high cholesterol. Most disease are exceedingly preventable or curable if caught soon enough. Especially as you get older preventive healthcare