The Need For Rationing Increasingly Scarce Health Care Resources

It is no secret that the cost of American healthcare is becoming increasingly more expensive. However, the issue of the rising cost of healthcare and its severity needs to be recognized as a major problem. Health prices are steadily increasing in the United States, and there is no sign of it stopping. Since 1970, spending on American health care has grown 9.8%, which is a rate that is growing faster than the economy (“New Technology”.) Furthermore, health insurance premiums are also increasing at a rate five times faster than American salaries, which makes it difficult for families to afford health care coverage (Zuckerman 28). Therefore, it has become an obligation to address why the cost of American health care is soaring and to seek out a solution to lower the cost. Many would jump to the conclusion that the United States simply charges too much for their medical services, but there are deeper influences that need to be analyzed. The causes of the rising cost of health care are people not using preventive health care, the development of modern technology, and the treatments being overprescribed. A possible solution is to have preventive health care services available in clinics of low-income areas.

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

All healthcare systems, regardless of funding mechanisms, ration the limited resources of health care to some degree (Petrou & Wolstenholme, 2000). Even setting limits on patient choice is a form of rationing that takes place in almost all countries’ health systems (Lauridsen, Norup & Rossel, 2007). In the United States, health care is rationed according to free market principles while other countries employ other means such as long wait times for non-acute conditions or delays in the

no society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.(Bevan, 1952)”It is unfair to these people which do not have enough money to afford healthcare.The poor people’s essential health right should be protected,not be hurt by other people which can afford the extra expensive private medical

In today’s society the value of human life is based on discrimination. Occupational salary, insurance plans, and tax deductions define a person’s worth in the eyes of the government. Inequality plays a significant role in this unjust system that categorizes each life into a monetary bracket where the story of each individual is disregarded and forgotten, leaving only a dollar sign. A life is worth more than any dollar amount and should be valued by individual compassion, impact, and attitude. Humans are not numbers.

One of the great hypocrisies of American culture is found in its health care system. The United States claims in its Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and that all of these men have the inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yet this is the same country that allows over 120 people to die each day because they are uninsured. How can this nation claim that all are created equal and have a right to life when they deny healthcare to those who cannot afford it? This issue has come on the scene relatively soon, having only truly been discussed beginning in the early 20th century. Since that time, a fear of socialism stemming from tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the century has placed a stigma on the concept of universal health care because it is similar to the Soviet’s socialized medicine. In recent years, President Obama made great strides toward universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, but some would argue that while America is on the right track, more can be done to care for the nation’s poor. Others argue that the economic impact of such policies could cause problems for America. Though creating a universal health care system has complex logistical and economic consequences, health care is an internationally acknowledged human right and should not be denied to the American people.

The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the current level of national healthcare expenditures and to determine if we as Americans are spending too much on healthcare. The author of this paper will provide examples and solutions where we as a nation should add or cut from the healthcare expenditures. This paper will also detail how the general public's healthcare needs are being paid for, the biggest economic healthcare challenge, why the challenge should be addressed, and how this challenge to be financed.

Making the decision not to exercise one’s right-to-die approach comes at a heavy cost. Davila (63) argues that the high costs that those seeking futile healthcare for the most inevitable deaths is an issue that can no longer be sidelined. The expense is not just

“When it comes to healthcare, ‘bad people’ are as equal as the rest of us” (646). When someone is sentenced to execution it is decided by the criminal justice system, not the medical community. The justice system views these peoples’ social worth as so low that they deserve to die for the crimes they have committed. “The

At first glance, the idea of rationing healthcare sounds absurd and ridiculous. Just think about it. Selective medicine? Deciding who deserves medical care or not? But when you think about it in terms of families that spend their life savings and then go in debt so that their loved ones can live just a little bit longer, you realize that there may be some sense behind it. It is a well-known fact that Healthcare in United States is one of the most expensive, if not the most. According to the text, “a quarter of the Medicine budget is spent on the last year of patients’ lives and 40 percent of that amount is spent in the last 30 days” (The Last Dance, 2015, p.179) Such a spending can put a significant financial burden on families.Because a very

This worldwide phenomenon has been brought into focus by various health care reforms and other system-level developments (Farrar, Ryan, Ross, and Ludbrook, 2000). Meaning there are more claims on resources than there are resources available, some form of priority setting must occur. This making resources are scarce and there is a need, regardless of how many resources are available in total, to make choices about what to fund and what not to fund.

Block, W. (2008). Is there a human right to medical insurance?. Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 27(1/4), 1-33. Retrieved from http://secure.pdcnet.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/pdc/bvdb.nsf/toc?openform&journal=pdc_bpej&yearrange=1999 –2009&category=0027_40182_2008

However, as time went on, several problems arose which had to do with the principle of justice in healthcare. In America, it is the accepted norm that it is unjust to treat one person better or worse than another person, in similar circumstances (Tong, 2007, p.29). In an attempt

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

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