The Health Insurance Industry : Humana, Inc. Essay

Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection.

Health care plans are policies created to aid the patients in accessing medical services in form of insurance to cover the expenses incurred during treatment and hospital care. In analyzing the options given by two major health care plans elaboration will be based on two major insurance schemes namely indemnity insurance plan and Managed Care plan. All these vary yet with a common aim of providing medical services to the patients. In order for the analysis, consideration will be based on the costs and the coverage. These two plans differ in many important ways, more so in regard to how the services are offered, the way to obtain special care and the cost of care after recovery. Despite the diversities, the two care types share many

Health insurance in the United States is a highly politicized issue. In recent years, many strides have been made to extend health insurance coverage to all Americans with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). While the program has been vigorously debated in the public realm, arguments are often centered around political ideology rather than economic theory. This paper seeks to challenge the entire structure of the current health insurance model, since its inception in the 1950s. Through the overuse of a third-party payer model, a magnitude of problems have emerged that severely diminish the efficiency of health care allocation in the United States. This paper proposes a model that seeks to correct issues of cost, access, and market efficiency by adapting the Medicare Part D payment scheme for an all encompassing insurance model.

President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, into law on March 23rd 2010. Congress had tried for decades to pass health care reform, beginning with President Franklin Roosevelt. “Following President Obama’s inauguration, he used Democrat control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to enact health care reform legislation, and granted the federal government control of over 16% of our nations economy” (Taylor 3). The law states that every American citizen is mandated to purchase health insurance. “If you choose not to obtain Health Insurance by January 2014, you will be penalized $95, or 1% of your income-whichever is greater” (Taylor 5). “The penalty rate for non-compliance will

To decide on whether or not an issue is considered ethical or moral we need the hard cold facts. Facts expose or explain what is to be decided upon—not what the outcome should be. Decisions regarding health care and mental health issues represent a major portion of ethical and moral choices. As individuals we are not always able to understand the justice, or fairness, behind the decisions supposedly based on hard cold facts.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is an act passed by president Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. This act, which provides affordable health insurance to Americans, was passed for three primary reasons. These reasons are to reduce the number of individuals in the United States who currently are not covered by some form of health insurance, to improve the availability and quality of existing health care programs, and to reduce the cost of health care to individuals and the government (“Patient Protection”, 2014). The Affordable Care Act has been successful in some ways, but ineffective in other ways since it was passed in March of 2010. For example, Obamacare has helped expand Medicaid and has helped those who have Medicare. However, this act has had a negative impact on the uninsured and on insurance premiums. In addition, some small businesses have benefited from this act, while others have had a negative effect. The Affordable Care Act has many pros, but it also has some cons, which is why there are still some changes and ideas that I would like to see implemented in our healthcare system.

U.S. health care reform is currently one of the most heavily discussed topics in health discourse and politics. After former President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform in the mid-1990s, the Bush administration showed no serious efforts at achieving universal health coverage for the millions of uninsured Americans. With Barack Obama as the current U.S. President, health care reform is once again a top priority. President Obama has made a promise to “provide affordable, comprehensive, and portable health coverage for all Americans…” by the end of his first term (Barackobama.com). The heated debate between the two major political parties over health care reform revolves around how to pay for it and more importantly, whether it

Asana, you made some very good points. In addition, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has opened its door to millions by allowing individuals to have better access to healthcare with affordable healthcare insurance coverage and improving one’s wellness by focusing on preventive care. In the scenario with Raymond, he needs to seek assistance from his local Health and Social Services Office in Mississippi to learn about the programs ACA provides and how to apply for assistance and to obtain free medical transportation to and from his healthcare clinic.

Healthcare didn’t always exist in the United States. Before the 1920’s, most people didn’t have health coverage. Most people were treated at home and hardly anyone, except a few large employers offered healthcare. Everyone else paid out of pocket. As the population shifted from rural areas to urban centers, families lived in smaller homes with less room to care for sick family members (Faulkner 1960, p. 509). Increasing requirements for licensing and accreditation, in addition to a rising demand for medical care, eventually led to rising costs. By the end of 1920s, there was an increased demand for medical care and the costs of medical care increased.

America is without a question the leading country of medical and scientific advances. There always seem to be a new medical breakthrough every time you watch the news or read the paper, especially in the cure of certain diseases. However, the medical research requires an enormous amount of money. The U.S. spends the most money on health care yet many people, mainly the working class Americans are still without any type of health insurance and thus are more susceptible to health risks and problems. The concept of health insurance for Americans was formulated over a century ago. Most Americans obtain health insurance from

Currently, the issue of health insurance has been a bone of contention for the public regarding whether the United States government should provide this health plan or not. People often possess different perspectives and refer to pros and cons on both sides of the spectrum. While some believes a universal healthcare system will set a foundation for a lower quality of service, increasing governmental finance deficit, and higher taxes, others do not hold the same thought. A universal healthcare system brings enormous advantages rather than disadvantages, such as all-inclusive population coverage, convenient accessibility, low time cost, and affordable medical cost, all of which not only provide minimum insurance to the disadvantaged but also improve the efficiency of medical resources distribution.

In October 2013, the Affordable Care Act took flight and millions of Americans attempted to insert themselves into the health care system through the website Healthcare.gov. The website, however was not easy to navigate through and made it hard and complicated resulting in many Americans no longer pursuing it. Humana helps the The Affordable Care Act by providing health insurance and it is also going out of its way to make sure other people in different areas that do not know too much about it start to understand it better and decided to get insurance. In Mississippi, there is minimal education within the population concerning enrollment options which caused challenges. In Mississippi there is a lack of health insurers offering coverage in the marketplace.

Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century the United States has always had a realization that there was a problem with obtaining affordable health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in March 2010. This law enables people who were unable to afford healthcare the ability to obtain a healthcare plan at an affordable rate. In 2009 a survey was taken as to the amount of people in the United States that carried health insurance. In table one below you can see over 50 million people in the United States did not have any type of insurance, which is close to 17 percent of the population (see table 1 below). “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “32%

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health care company, and a worldwide leader in helping people live healthier lives and taking the necessary steps in making the health system work better for everyone. The UnitedHealth group serves more than 85 million individuals worldwide with health benefits and services. In 2012, they produced revenues of $110.6 billion and were ranked number 17 in the Fortune 500. The economic and political segments would rank the highest in influencing the UnitedHealth Group.

Analyze the current health care delivery structure in your state. Compare and contrast the major determinants of healthcare market power.