The delivery of quality health care to all the people irrespective of their race, age, sex, and class, is the main objective of an efficient health care system. The health care system has evolved in various preventive and promotional policies, programs and practices adopted by the United States health departments, in order to develop and improve the health of the people. A major reform has occurred in health care financing, which provides health care options in order to attain the universal health care coverage. The paper discusses the significance of the health care financing system in the United States; how it has evolved and how it has improved the health care of the Americans.
The health care financing endeavors to move closer to
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However, the changes in United States health care financing system continue to face challenges due to rising health care costs. As the American population increased, the State spent a twice amount of health care costs in 2006, as compared to the amount spent in 1996 (Annie, 2013). Moreover, in the past fifty years, the American health care has reformed, with private and public insurance paying for more health care. The high health cost strains the American business, which directly finance about a quarter of the spending in health care. For example, between 2000 and 2007, the employer-sponsored health insurance premiums rose by 98%, which is four times more than the cumulative wage increases (Teixeira, 2008).
Moreover, high premiums that people continue to pay are usually higher than the amount of deductibles, as well as the health service that they utilize (Annie, 2013). From 2001 to 2004, there was an increase in the number of non-elderly Americans, who spent more than 10% of their income on premiums. Apart from the high American population that may have increased; the higher the overall health care expenditures, the inefficient and dishonest health care financing system may also have contributed to the high health care expenditures. Some of the private health insurance systems may inflate medical bills, thus some
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S.(1997). Chapter 7 Paying for Health Care in America: Rising Costs and
Health care spending in the United States of America as a percentage of the economy has reached astonishing heights, equating to 17.7 percent. This number is shocking when compared to other counties; in Australia health care is 8.9 percent, in United Kingdom 9.4 percent, in Canada 11.2 percent. If the American health care system were to hypothetically become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. While these statistics sound troubling, they lead us to look for answers about the problems surrounding our system. The first health insurance company was created in the 1930s to give all American families an equal opportunity for hospital care and eventually led to a nationwide economic and social controversy that erupted in the 1990s and continued to be shaped by the government, insurance companies, doctors, and American citizens. In this paper, I will go in to detail about the various opinions regarding the controversy, the history behind health insurance companies, and the main dilemmas brought out by the health care crisis. Greedy insurance companies combined with high costs of doctor visits and pharmaceutical drugs or the inefficient hospitals all over America can only describe the beginning to this in depth crisis. Recently, the United States health care industry has become know for the outrageous costs of insurance models, developments of various social and health services programs, and the frequent changes in medicinal technology.
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
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
I will compare the current health care system with the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law on March 23, 2010. The current system, which is being phased out between 2011 and 2018 is increasingly inaccessible to many poor and lower-middle-class people. About 47 million Americans lack health insurance, an increase of more than two million people from 2005 (Rover, 2011) the increasingly complex warfare between insurers and hospitals over who pays the bills is gobbling up a great deal of money and the end result is that the United States pays roughly twice as much per
If we compare the health care financing of past and that of recent times, there exists a dramatic shift in the trends of the issue. In the past times, the
There are many problems with healthcare in America today. One of them including the astronomical cost. According to CDC.ORG in 2007 the average person spends seven thousand four hundred dollars per year on health care alone. This rise in healthcare is extremely detrimental for families, seniors, and people of all ages. With such a high cost of insurance people are forced to make hard choices in
The main economic challenge for the healthcare system in the United State will be the rising expenses associated with Medicare and Medicaid. The Governments share of healthcare spending is predicted to rise to 31 percent by the year 2020 (Keehan, Sisko, Truffer, Poisal, Cuckler, Madison, Lizonitz, and Smith, 2011). This may jeopardize the economic stability and financial security of the nation.
The rising cost of health care has led companies to stop offering health insurance for employees, and private insurance is often too expensive for people to afford. Many families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but are unable to pay for private health insurance. Health care costs in the United States have more than doubled in the last twenty years. Insurance premiums are rising five times faster than wages, and Americans are spending more money on health care than people in any other country. The average amount one person pays per year for health care in the United States is 134 times higher than the average of other industrialized countries (“Health Care Issues”). Even people who have insurance aren’t guaranteed coverage. Many insurance companies find loopholes to avoid paying for expensive medical treatment, leaving people with massive debt from medical bills. Medical bills and illness cause over half of all personal bankruptcies in the United
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.
“The biggest problem with health care is not with insurance or politics. It is that we are measuring the wrong things the wrong way” (Kaplan & Porter, 2011, p. 46). Total healthcare expenditures and expenditures as a percentage of GDP have been considerably higher in the U.S. Hospital care, physician and clinical services, and drug prescription expenditures have been the principal components contributing to growth in healthcare expenditures in the U.S. compared to other countries. The study also analyses and compares the growth of healthcare costs. Three different perspectives on the health care “cost crisis” are understanding the value of health care, most health care costs are fixed and healthcare cost covered by health insurance program. In this paper share ideas to help solve the cost crisis in healthcare.
Steven Brill feels that American health care is eating away at our economy and our treasury and discusses the costs associated with the provision of health care services in the U.S.. The article explores the medical world through the medical expenses incurred by a 64-year-old Janice S., Sean Recchi, A 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio and several other egregiously billed patients. The article poses the question: why exactly are the medical bills so high; in particular hospital bills?
US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of
It is a patchwork of loosely connected financing mechanisms varying in terms of sponsorship and provider type. It also reflects the age, health and economic status of the specific patient groups that are being served. Considering the growing number of Americans who are uninsured for health care and the low ranking of the United States among a variety of health indicators, one may say that it is a disappointing financing system. These observations provide a basis for supporting our position for a national health care system. Where possible, comparisons will be drawn between the United States and other countries. Special focus will be paid to similarities in the public and private financing components of the system, reimbursement of various provider categories and trends that we may expect to see in the future.