The Role Of Inefficiency Of Medical Care

Rising health care costs became an issue after the Medicare and Medicaid programs were formed in 1965 and have continued to be a factor in the United States economy since then. “By1970, U.S. government expenditures for health care services and supplies had grown by 140%, from $7.9 billion to $18.9 billion.”() By the 1990s the annual increase in the government health care expenditures was finally brought under control and has fluctuated between a 5% and 8% increase each year since then. This essay will discuss the different factors contributing to the rising costs of health care in the United States, as well as how the cost of health care affects the accessibility and quality of medical care throughout American history.

The articles I chose for my annotated bibliography were about healthcare cost and quality. The theme in many of these articles was about healthcare cost and does it affect patients experience. In some settings like hospitals, the cost of quality affects patient experience. The largest component of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product goes to healthcare spending (17% in 2009), and yet the quality is unsatisfactory. It was also interesting to find out that more people die each year in the United States from medical errors than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS (National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, 2002).

As Americans we should all be afforded access to healthcare. Access to healthcare is an individual right according to the human rights amendment. The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015). However there are strengths and weaknesses to every healthcare system and the U.S. Healthcare system is not exempt. I plan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the U. S. Healthcare system (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015).

The rationing of Healthcare in the United States exist in many different forms. According to the medical dictionary (2002), “Healthcare rationing is the limitation of access to or the equitable distribution of medical services, through various gatekeeper control.” Healthcare rationing takes place when a treatment is denied by a healthcare provider or insurance company. Patients that have access to private health insurance is rationed based on the prices of the services in which they receive and also their ability to pay. Insurance companies pre-screen applicants that are applying for health insurance for pre-existing medical conditions and at this time a decision is made to either decline the applicant or apply a higher price for additional medical coverage. Individuals that receive state insurance such as Medicaid is restricted by the applicants’ income and assets limits as well as other federal and state edibility regulations. According to Shi & Singh (2015), “ Although uninsurance among adults has increased, lack of health insurance coverage among children declined from 13.2% in 2009 to 6.5% in 2011 (CDC 2011a), mainly because of the success of the CHIP program.”

Moreover, Medicare does a poor job in maintaining the cost of care. Some patients have to draw from their assets to cover the expense of care. Expenses can incur for those diagnosed with a stroke or heart attack. There are costs not covered by an individual health insurance plan. “These include deductibles, co-payments and limits on total plan payouts-expenses that could quickly place a family’s financial position in peril” (Hersch, 2014). Family and personal relationships can be impacted by illness. Family members may have to miss work to care for a relative.

Primary care is the backbone of many industrialized nations, but is the US one of them? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The US lags behind such developed nations in its accessibility of primary care by a huge difference. The United States healthcare system fails to ensure the timely preventative and primary care for its residents. The current estimates indicate that there is merely one physician for every 2,500 patients. Not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also privately insured adults struggle in accessing the right primary care physician at the right time. Moreover, maldistribution of physicians only exacerbates the problem, especially for those residing in health professional shortage areas (HPSA).15 Approximately, sixty-five million Americans live in designated primary care shortage areas.13 Such underserved population faces higher disease and death rates and health disparities that then result in higher rates of hospitalizations and emergency department visits—in other words, expensive medical bills.21 More governmental control on the geographic location of primary care physicians can be a first-step to fixing the shortage problem.

The underlying issue is the financial challenges and lack of resources SNF’s face, in a growing elder population, that results in razor-thin operating margins from a series of cuts over the last five years, a gap between care people receive and the care they deserve and further reductions to the profession that threaten access to health care in rural areas (AHCA, 2016). In 2012, MedPAC estimated the overall operating margins of SNF’s at 1.8 percent reflecting Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Pay sources of funding operating at negative levels (AHCA, & NCAL, 2016). In addition, AHCA estimated on any given day, 78 percent of residents receiving care in an SNF depend on Medicare or Medicaid to pay for their care (2016). Furthermore, an estimated

Medicaid is a vital lifeline for some 72 million Americans. Two-thirds of all Medicaid spending supports senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Cutting Medicaid would jeopardize the quality of healthcare, long-term services, and nursing home care for tens of millions of Americans. There are significant cost issues in America’s healthcare system that must be effectively addressed, but these challenges will not be remedied by benefit cuts to vulnerable

The world is not perfect. This is the phrase used by almost all humans because not all humans are perfect. These imperfections may include war, poverty, hunger, and much more. One of the world’s problems and at least in this country deals with women’s health. Health care is one of the imperfections here in the United States. Health care in the United States has been in hot topic both in past and recent years. Access and having adequate health care can be a real struggle for women and other social groups in this nation. There are different types of factors in which effect how certain people experience this type of low quality and inadequate health care.

Today we live in a world where the medical system is very advanced and it allows doctors to treat almost any kind of cold, disease, or injury. This sounds good with the exception that people cannot afford those treatments unless they have Health insurance. Medical insurance is not easy to obtain, meanwhile the insurance companies want to make as much money as possible from their clients without spending a dime on them. “There are nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance” (Sicko). It’s not surprising that there are so many people without insurance; for the reason that the insurance providers like to give coverage to younger and healthier individuals, while the people in need of insurance are seen as a harmful to the health provider’s profits and are denied to sign up for the insurance. Michael Moore’s film “Sicko” and Jim Hightower’s issue 14 of the Lowdown show two major problems in our medical system about the so called “Universal Healthcare”. The argument that Michael’s movie makes is that the United States medical system is not as good as the medical system in Canada, United Kingdom, or Norway. You might wonder how the U.S medical system can be worse than those countries when it’s more advanced, well the treatment in those places is completely free including the stay in the hospital! In the Lowdown article we can notice another issue with our current health system such as drug companies spending more cash each year to advertise their drugs then coming up with

The quality of care In the United States Health Care System, unlike a lot of people’s perceptions, is not the best in the world. In fact, Rose Ann DeMoro, the Executive Director of National Nurses United, Which happens to be the nation’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses, wrote in “How US Private Insurance Healthcare is Failing,” “A study published [in June 2011] from the university of Washington in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London found life expectancy rates in eighty percent of US counties were fare behind the standard set in the top ten nations” (DeMoro 2).Also, in a study shown in “Forbes” America’s quality of care ranked fifth out of eleven industrial nations: Australia, Canada,

Mr. Enochs is a 50 year old male that presented to the ED by IVC paper work from Daymark Recovery Services. Patient reported depressive symptoms and SI with a plan. Mr. Enochs stated : "I'm worried about my family and not being able to support them." He reports he has been unemployed and unable to find a Job. Mr. Enochs reports in the past 3 days consistent worrying about his sick wife, kid, and having continuous panic attacks. Mr. Enochs reports racing thoughts. He stated: "my mind never shuts down."Mr. Enochs reports he has been thinking about walking into traffic or falling into a hole at a construction site to take his life. Mr. Enochs stated: "I think if I was dead I could help my family financially." He reported only having 3 hours of

Everyone has their own views on what they think the United States healthcare system should consist of. Consequently, the healthcare system has been flawed for many years and does not plan to change anytime soon. According to Luft (2006), “rapid and wide-reaching technological innovation, the ready access to care for the insured, and clinical and patient autonomy” (p.1). These are some of the strengths the US healthcare system are proficient in providing. In contrast, the weaknesses of the healthcare system outweigh the system’s strengths. Luft (2006) examined and acknowledged the following:

The United States healthcare delivery system is a uniquely developed system that involves various features, components, and services. The US delivery system is massive, with total employment in various healthcare settings of qualified medical professionals that provide key functions to delivering quality healthcare. This essay will discuss the characteristics if the United States healthcare delivery system and how it could be developed from a free market perspective.

1A. Market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services is not efficient. In any given market, the quantity of a product demanded by consumers does not equate to the quantity supplied by suppliers. This is a direct result of a lack of certain economically ideal factors, which prevents equilibrium.