The Health Care Industry Of The United States

Imagine this: you are tragically diagnosed with a chronic life-threatening illness. Your only hope to survive is through medication to treat your disorder. The medicine is pricy but you can work out the costs each month. One day, you go to fill your prescriptions and realize the cost of a $13 pill has jumped to an astounding $750. You need this patented medication to survive and to afford it you end up losing your home, filing for bankruptcy, and sleeping in your car. This story sounds fictional but it is the reality for many Americans who can no longer afford their grossly overpriced medications.

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 cost of health care has been at the forefront of politics for years. It is one of the most talked about topics not just in political venues but also country wide. Every American has an opinion on how our economy can be fixed and they are passionate about health care reform. The price of insurance alone causes many Americans to not have coverage. For those that can afford coverage, the struggle to pay co pays is immensely crippling their bank accounts. Of these burdens on Americans today, the most frightening fact lies in the cost of prescription medications.

25% or more of one’s income going toward health care is too much for today’s economy this

In 2014, the average cost for an individual rose to $5,615. For those that have an income over $200,000 have to pay a higher tax. This tax is called the Robin Hood redistribution and was set to begin in 2014 with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. For the employers of companies, on average, they would have to pay around 30% for their employees to be covered with healthcare and insurance whereas in 2010, they only had to pay around 10%-20% of their healthcare and insurance. Currently, Americans have higher health insurance premiums, increased deductibles through their health plans, and the highest prescription drug costs our country has ever had. The costs in prescription drugs drastically rose between 2010 and 2014. Since 2010, the average cost for a patient to fill a prescription drug through commercial plans have risen by more than 25%. Drug companies put a higher cost on their drugs in 2014 as they saw the rise of those acquiring health insurance and healthcare. However, in states such as Kentucky and Arkansas, in 2014, people who skipped paying for their medication due to the cost being so high, dropped by 15% from roughly 43% to 28% due to Obamacare. Although, with Medicaid expanding, this puts more pressure on the middle-class population in the country as well as healthcare professionals as many physicians have to pay nearly half of what they earn to the

The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).

Every country worldwide has it 's own way of providing and making health care available for its citizens. More specifically, the developed nations all have their own system in how they make their health care available. Some are more expensive, some provide better quality of care, some are available to all citizens and some are available only to those who can afford it. For the first time in United States history, a health care act has passed, that will claim to insure everyone nationwide regardless of their income. This act adopted is also know as the ACA. This paper will go into detail about health care that is provided not only in the US, but in other countries world wide. We will discuss the benefits of certain systems and the pros and cons of some of the systems. The costs, the most successful, the increased access to primary care providers, the use of technology, and what needs reform.

The United States’ healthcare system is not easy to define. It is a complex, decentralized, market-based system with multiple stakeholders. In this paper we will try our best to discuss the organization, financing, and delivery of the American healthcare system, as well as identify respective flaws. We will conclude this paper with a discussion on potential solutions to the flaws we have identified.

Health Care in the United States The federal government should provide health care for all citizens who cannot afford their own. The issue of health care in the United States has been discussed for many decades and a solution that is suitable for everyone has not yet been established. There are millions of Americans who are not covered by insurance companies and also those who do not have the appropriate coverage they need. These people cannot afford to pay for it on their own, and medical expenses are the main financial problems within their families.

Health care informatics delivers a promising future for the health care industry. Big data analytics, computer aided decision support, and systems integration will provide health care organizations with new tactics to treat patients while controlling cost. “Widespread use of health IT within the health care industry will improve the quality of health care, prevent medical errors, reduce health care costs, increase administrative efficiencies, decrease paperwork, and expand access to affordable health care” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2014). While health care informatics is at the forefront of medicine, the resources necessary to supply and manage qualified staff must not be overlooked. Patient care requires able-bodied

When observing the healthcare industry, the need for enduring education in internal functions has been recognized. Equally important to success in the healthcare industry are external functions such as marketing. However, some suggest that pricing strategy, product strategy, and division and targeting were the tasks that require the most knowledge for healthcare marketers, and that they do observe numerous breaches in many areas examined (Kennett et al., 2005). Easier access to medical information on the Internet means your healthcare business must do more than just provide services or products towards health issues. There must be a need to employ a diversity of marketing techniques to help approaching patients understand new health care ideas and solutions (Wagner, 2015).

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

The Medicaid, one of the government’s programs for low-income Americans, receives a mandated discount. The FDA can merely mandate the manufacturers to provide safety and efficacy data of new drug products but cannot set drug prices or exercise price control. This is one of the reasons for drug price jumps in the US, for instance, the generic drug named Daraprim price (used in the treatment of toxoplasmosis) escalated overnight from $13.50 to $750 for just one single pill. Another panelist, Steven Pearson, mentions that Medicare, the major federal payer, cannot negotiate the high drug price cost as it is unable to look at the cost-effectiveness of the drug. Moreover, he mentions that one of the reasons for high drug prices in the US, despite having thousands of individual insurers, is that the insurance companies do not have any leverage when it comes to negotiating the high drug prices with pharmaceutical companies as the company can easily take their business to other insurance company for a better

The healthcare industry comprises diverse healthcare organizations, covered entities, and third parties. In turn they provide services via health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), point of service (POS), and demonstrate their ability to share and exchange data via data interoperability technologies such as Health Level 7 (HL7), Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE). This flow of information must follow proper Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) guidelines to safeguard the patient’s private and confidential information. To collaborate with diverse entities, workflow management must flow from one entity to another while simultaneously maintaining the CIA (confidentiality, integrity, and availability) triad (Hernandez, 2015).

We all know that the healthcare industry has been going through significant transformation. However, while many Americans struggle to obtain the oral health care they need, dentistry has remained largely untouched by reform. Though much has been written about the access issue, a look at the current environment in which dental practices are operating yields some interesting solutions and fodder for conversation as we look at ways to serve our growing population.