Today, the United States has what many consider to be the worst health care system in the world. The United States has the most expensive system as it accounts for nearly 17.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (The World Factbook, 2013). This amounts to a cost of $8608 per person (Health Expenditure per Capita, 2013). The extreme cost of health care make it the leading cause of bankruptcy throughout the United States, and the reason why there are over 48.6 million people who are uninsured with no access to health care at all (Howard, Access and Underserved). This high cost has not translated…
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.…
Expenditures has an impact on the health care industry, looking at this article “Health expenditures increased from 12.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 13.5 percent in l997 (Levit et al. 1998), and they are expected to reach 16.6 percent of GDP in the year 2007 (Smith et al. 1998). The devotion of a large percentage of the total GDP to health costs is a concern because such dollars are then not available…
The national debate over health care reform in the US has been going on for decades. Although the debate continues, the landscape of health care in the US is certainly about to change as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) was enacted on March 23, 2010. Many politicians, economists, health care providers and average citizens have weighed in on the topic with opinions as diverse as the country. The question is, will this reform be the cure for our ills or a bad pill to swallow? This paper serves as an examination of the economic and social impact of reform on the system of health care services and the delivery of same. In order to know where we are going, it is vital to know where we have been, therefore the background of national health care is reviewed and hypotheses about the impact it will have on the hospitals are made. In concluding the discussion of health care reforms’ impact on hospitals, it seems as though there will be both positive and negative implications and outcomes. It is the author’s contention that there will be a need to reestablish guidelines for service and delivery as well as cost containment of health care services. It is likely that the country will see a new model of health care.…
Healthcare is a very important government issue not just here in the Unites States, but all over the world. It is something that has a large affect on every person. There are 200 countries in the world, but not all 200 countries have their own healthcare system, nor do they all follow the same system. There are four major models of healthcare systems Beveridge, Bismark, National Health Insurance, and Out of Pocket Insurance. There are many components to a healthcare system aside from who pays for health insurance. Details such as co-payments, loss of jobs, and bankruptcy all have to be taken into account. Each country chooses the model that they believe best suits them, and some countries choose to mix different concepts from the models or to make slight changes to create their own plan.…
A searchable compendium of healthcare report cards, designed especially for consumers, and which includes comparative data on quality designed especially for healthcare organizations and providers by type of provider, is offered. This organization also provides access to different types of data primarily used for quality and utilization purposes. For instance, it sponsors the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). This project provides access to a family of databases which contain public and private hospital care data, but accessing this data set requires an agreement in which limitations and provisions of data usage are summarized, and users (organizations) are required to cite AHRQ when using the data in reports. Finally, the AHRQ supports the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey in its provision of data on the cost and use of healthcare services and health insurance across the United States. This data’s main components are household data, which focuses on patients and their providers, and insurance data. Such data can be used for private planning, and to help policy makers have a better understanding of the nation’s healthcare needs and how best to meet them (Bronnert et al., 2010).…
When we evaluate the interests associated within the healthcare industry, we must take into consideration the value it has on today’s society and economy. This issue has been heavily debated in that…
The U.S. devotes a much larger share of its national income to health care than any other country in the world. However, the gross over-spending has not yielded the healthiest population (OECD Health data, 2009). Our economy is continually growing at a lesser rate than healthcare spending. The need to restrain this unsustainable growth in health care costs is often overlooked in favor of reform focused on expanding access to care. Attention must be focused on restructuring the payment process with the goal of reducing costs without sacrificing quality.…
With that in mind most of the gross domestic product (GDP) went to health care spending. By 2008, 16.2 percent of the gross domestic product was used on health care. According to CMS the GDP normally grows at a slower rate than the total health spending after and during a recession and why the GDP findings were anticipated. The positive aspect is that the hospital spending growth has been the slowest since 1998, and Medicaid spending was also down. According to Werber Serafini (2010), “The growth of spending for physicians’ services, nursing home services, and retail prescription drugs was also down, and private health insurance premiums and benefits grew at their slowest rate since 1967, according to…
What is the current level of the health care expenditures? Over the years, while the nation’s spending on all goods and service has increase of 7.4%, the amount spent on healthcare has risen at a rate of 9.8%. As a result, Americans just cannot afford health care and still maintain other diversions of one’s lifestyle. Meanwhile, other efforts to continue overall costs have the effect of making care in acceptable on a regular basis for all of us – even for those who can afford it. Also, if federal government spending remains at a steady pace of GDP, the increasing cost of Medicare’s budget will smother out all other spending. The third case scenario is that the exhausting cost of healthcare for employees, students, retirees, and their families is pushing some of America’s most economically fortune 500 companies to become uncompetitive in today’s fair market and trade.…
Over the past 30 years, the American healthcare system has been plagued by the continuous rise of healthcare costs. These costs include but are not limited to insurance premiums, co-payments as well as prescription drugs. One of the significant reasons for the increase in healthcare costs is that nowadays people are living longer lives than they did in the past and the prevalence rates of contracting chronic diseases and developing life threatening injuries are causing the United States healthcare system to suffer a financial crisis. There are three major industries in the healthcare sector:…
United States expenditure on the healthcare system is much more than any other developed country in the world. Despite spending trillions of dollars there are more than 29 million Americans who lack the health insurance. US healthcare system works as a market place where multiple stakeholders including government agencies, public and private insurers and other investors work in liaison to provide healthcare to US citizens. This creates an essence of a business model where healthcare is considered in terms of profits and loss as oppose to service for the destitute. The US healthcare spending has been on the rise since the past many decades attributed to the changing landscape in medical technology…
With this lowering of the deficit, our nation’s income will be increased as well as living standards. Financial burdens from healthcare services seem to be inevitable. Whether it is the government, employers or individuals paying the costs, the financial aspect of healthcare seems to be on a steady rise. “The (health reform) legislation has no immediate effect on the underlying structural factors that drive health care costs” (Kovner & Knickman, 2011). With the Affordable Care Act in place there has to be an implementation to cover the economic aspect of the act. “Key provisions of the ACA that intend to address rising health costs include providing more oversight of health insurance premiums and practices; emphasizing prevention, primary care and effective treatments; reducing health care fraud and abuse; reducing uncompensated care to prevent a shift onto insurance premium costs; fostering comparison shopping in insurance exchanges to increase competition and price transparency; implementing Medicare payment reforms; and testing new delivery and payment system models in Medicaid and Medicare” (The Affordable Care Act: A Brief Summary,…
The United States healthcare system is quite expensive, having a unique and advanced system when compared with the other industrialized nations of the world. It actually does not have a universal coverage but in the recent years, the amendment of Affordable Care Act tried to enact healthcare coverage for almost everyone. However, implementation of ACA made almost 20 million individuals insured, reduced inequality, made Americans financially secure, and healthcare more comprehensive. But, on the other hand, the National Health Spending is still unclear; insurance continues to be expensive, health system lacks clarity, and whether this act was effective and made Americans healthier still remains a question.…
The HITECH act will promote the meaningful use of health information technology and electronic medical records. This will enable the development of a nationwide infrastructure allowing the electronic use and exchange of information. The Patient…