Private Health Insurance in Oecd Countries

In 2010, the United States created The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The objective was to share the responsibility of costs between the government, individuals, and employers to provide affordable access to quality health insurance. “However, health coverage remains fragmented, with numerous private and public sources, as well as wide gaps in insured rates across the U.S. population.” (“United States: International Health Care System Profiles,” n.d.). Each individual state within the US, generally has control over private insurance.

The United States (U.S.) has a multitude of options for health care coverage. People have the option for private or public coverage. One example of public coverage is Medicaid and an example of private coverage is Blue Cross and Blue Shield (HCSC, 2015). There are many differences between each health care option, the biggest difference is the price you are paying. This paper will discuss the differences between private and public health insurances as well as the cost for each.

Private Health Insurance (PHI) is an important component in the funding of healthcare services in Australia, supplementing free universal public hospital access available through the Government’s Medicare system by providing coverage for treatment as a private patient in hospitals and for ancillary items such as dental, physiotherapy, ambulance and other services. From an insurance perspective, PHI differs significantly to general and life insurance in a community rating rather than individual risk underwriting applies. In 1976, The Australian Government established Medibank Private as a not-for-profit private health insurer, as an operating division of a statutory authority (the Health Insurance Commission). Medibank Private proved a success,

Funded by the employer, the health reimbursement account (HRA) is a reimbursement plan for the employee with high deductible health plans. In order for employees to receive payments back for out of pocket medical services, the employee must make a claim to the HRA. For instance, the employee with a high deductible, copayments, and coinsurance in which medical services not covered by the health plan, may request payment for out of pocket expenses (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, Seggern, 2008).

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

Rising health insurance premiums have made healthcare unaffordable in the United States. Health insurance premiums in this country have undergone a steady rise over the past few years while incomes have remained the same. More than 50% of individuals with low incomes holding private insurance in the United States are unable to afford their healthcare costs (Collins, Gunja, Doty & Buetel, 2015). In addition, costs related to healthcare are equally unaffordable to 25% of working-age individuals who hold private health insurance policies (Collins et al., 2015). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) survey on employer health benefits, employer-sponsored health insurance plans have also had moderate rises in premiums in 2013 for both individuals and family coverage (Claxton et al., 2013). While

Health insurance is important as it allows people to receive health care. However, health insurance providers are not equal, which result in an unequal quality of care. Private health insurance leads to an increase quality of health care. This is show in the article “A National and State Profile of Leading Health Problems and Health Care Quality for US

In 1954, Congress passed legislation allowing employers to provide health insurance benefits to employees on a tax-free basis (Sih and Singh 99). This legal provision marked the beginning of the rapidly expanding health care costs still apparent today due to the major incentives provided by the government to obtain employer-based health coverage. The overwhelming popularity of employer-based health insurance has led to a serious market inefficiency resulting from the system of third-party payment. As individuals rely on their insurance companies to pay for their medical expenses, this provides

Long time ago, there was no need for health insurance in America, as doctors had many clients because their services were not so expensive and in some cases in rural areas, people could pay by giving other items. Doctors were not as knowledgeable as they are nowadays to care for the sick, therefore this didn't have much effect then on the patients, as they were treated for the basic illnesses.

Finding a healthcare system that is beneficial and affordable for the country’s citizens is challenging and often seems impossible due to the high price of medical care and the broad spectrum of healthcare issues that insurance plans must cover. The debate of a healthcare system which is affordable, effective, and accessible for the majority of the population is a topic of great discussion. The United States and Switzerland health care systems are prime examples of this debate. The United States has The Affordable Care Act, or Obama Care as it is commonly known in Switzerland residents have a Universal Health Care System. While both systems provide health care to their residents, they each have good and less desirable aspects to them.

In America, we not only have the problem of the non-insured but the under insured which causes just about as much problem as the underinsured. Each group has contributed to the vast growing cost of healthcare. Over the last decade or two, the amount of uninsured has risen due to the job market in the economy and the fact that most insurances are tied to employment, which is also a problem as the unemployment rate rises. The purpose of this paper is to explore this issue.

The complexity of health care could take the rates on a massive trajectory that does not favor the people covered. Therefore, the financial protection that the levels of health insurance covers, help to guard against the risks related to the unexpected costs of health care. The source of coverage could still have an impact by the insurance coverage and financing alternatives that one has access to; Conversely, private insurance, social insurance, and the national health services are the types of healthcare systems by funding and provision. As we look to health care coverage and the reform of Obamacare, I’ll analyze the impact of the uninsured in the industry and look for a resolution to improve the

The cost of care has been a growing problem throughout developed nations during the last 15 years. For example, across 34 nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average per capita health care expenditure increased by more than 70 percent between 2000 and 2010. However, the biggest spenders — such as

Countries that have universal health plans, like Japan and Germany, have better life expectancy rates, spend less on health care, and have more than double the number of its citizens insured (Stephens & Ledlow, 2010). While the debate over

Thereby, the ability of universal health coverage, is highly recognised when addressing health inequities, social determinants of health and human rights and it is heralded as “ the third global health transition” ( Rodin and deFerranti, 2012). Universal health Coverage is reflected in the UN sustainable development goals and is strongly encouraged due to its ability to provide an umbrella goal by including both, the millennium development goals (MDGS) as well as