Rising Health care costs: how to control it
In U.S., spending on health care has been growing at a faster pace than spending in rest of economy since 1960s. The government was spending 4.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) at that time, which grew to 16.2% in 2007, and is expected to rise to 20% of GDP by 2017(1). Without any drastic measures, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), these numbers will project to 25% of GDP in 2025, 30% by 2035, and 49% in 2082 (2). The major components of U.S. health care spending are hospitals (31%), physician and clinical services (21%), pharmaceuticals (10%), and other spending (25%) (3).
Technological change and progress has attributed to almost half of the growth in medical spending in recent years (4). Although the
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SUPPORT:
There has been an astronomical rise in concern about high health care costs among people and members of congress. There is an increased awareness that despite the higher costs, health care system is not producing the better outcomes. And as member of the political system, we do not want health care spending to affect other economic indicators.
CONCLUSION:
Despite higher spending on health care, the U.S. health care system ranked last on patient safety, efficiency and equity according to the Commonwealth Fund survey. Our aim should be reduction of high healthcare costs without decreasing people access to health care or sacrificing quality. A collaborative effort is required to work on above recommendations to solve the problems besetting our health care system.
References:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096004/
2. www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/87xx/doc8758/11-13-LT-Health.pdf on 28 August 20
3.
As the government wanted to cut healthcare spending as it is a major part of the deficit.
[Cost] Cost could potentially be the biggest factor of the iron triangle and perhaps the side of the model that leaves administrators most puzzled. With new technology being released quarterly, drug prices soaring, a new aging population that can't be supported by the current workforce, Medicare cutting reimbursement payments and leaning towards insolvency, and the price per service continues to rise it seems as if cutting costs down may seem impossible. Not only have hospitals and clinics began looking for more cost-efficient ways to provide care or, unfortunately which programs to cut, the political arena has been evaluating this as well. Since Obamacare has not lived up to its true potential and glory an alternative method must be identified before the nation's model of healthcare implodes from high costs.
The United States is the richest country in the world, and with that, we also have the best healthcare system. All over the country, American doctors are working hard in order to find new cure for diseases, as well as discovering new way to make treatments more effective. Trillions of dollars are spent every year in the United States in healthcare, leading to many new advancements in the medical field. Furthermore, our healthcare system continues to improves more and more everyday.
Although the US is technologically advanced and has some of the highest caliber medical professionals in the world, compared to many other industrialized countries, it has one of the lowest outcomes in regards to quality of care. Moreover, it has some of the highest overall medical costs (Panning, 2014). In the US, low quality care and high costs have resulted in fragmentation of the healthcare delivery system. Fragmentation of services often results in patient experiences that are poor, with less than desired
Spending on post-acute services in Medicare and long-term care services have grown more rapidly since 1999. Although growing numbers of people receive home and community-based
When one thinks of the health care system, words that usually come to mind are safety, protection, quality care and the like. We live in a very progressive, very industrialized country as Americans. We have made many technological advances in our sciences. In other words, we are a developed country that provides many opportunities to those who reside here. The foundation of our country is based off of equality, fairness, and justice.
First, the ACA has brought about considerable improvements in access to affordable health insurance in the United States. On the basis of their own reports, newly insured Americans are also able to see physicians within reasonable periods of time, and anecdotal reports about restricted access to out-of-network providers, although a concern, have not yet caused a major backlash. Second, the implementation of the ACA has coincided with another important development — a slowdown in the rate of increase in national health care spending. From 2010 through 2013, per capita U.S. health care expenditures increased at the historically low rate of 3.2% annually, as compared with 5.6% annually over the previous 10 years. As a percentage of the gross domestic product, health spending has stabilized at approximately 17%.
Healthcare costs in the United States are constantly rising straining the budgets of families and employers. As a result of the rising healthcare costs, insurance premium rates have been also increased. The premiums rates are increasing more rapidly than income which is part of the reason why Americans aren’t able to have access to affordable health insurance. Although the Affordable Care Act has been passed, there are many people still uninsured. The purpose of the Affordable Care Act was to improve the quality of care, provide more Americans with access to affordable insurance, and minimize healthcare spending in the United States.
Healthcare in the United States is in desperate need of reform. There are several rationales to further explain this proposition. As an illustration, the Declaration of Independence states our unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, every individual should be entitled to healthcare as it preserves life and promotes the general welfare. The federal government should, therefore, enact a program of universal health to better protect and serve all of its citizens.
Health Care in the US is arguably available to all who seek it but not everybody has had the same experience and treatment when walking through the doors of a healthcare facility. In many cases, people are discriminated against due to their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income and are often provided with minimal service. Differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care is majorly affected through these disparities. Income is a major factor and can cause groups of people to experience higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality relative to another group.
The health care system here in the United States is causing thousands upon thousands of people to die each year, simply because they cannot afford health insurance that should be available for everyone. No matter which way its put, America’s health care system is already corrupt in numerous ways. The U.S. is the only advanced country that has never made a commitment to provide medical care to everyone who needs it. (Reid 2) The fact of the matter is, is a person cannot go through life without medical care.
Role of Government in Growth and Decline of Hospitals in the United States The federal government plays several different roles in the American health care arena, including the provider of health care services, the purchaser of care, Quality regulator and sponsor of research, education and training programs for professionals. Each of these roles has both positive and negative effects on the system. This paper elaborates the role of government in growth as well as the decline of one of these arenas, Hospitals. Hospitals have transformed from primitive institutions of social welfare to consolidated systems of health services delivery.
The implementation of universal healthcare ensures that no American would avoid seeking medical attention due to financial constraints. It would improve life expectancy, reduce infant mortality rates, and enhance overall population health. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that the implementation of a single-payer system could save up to $450 billion annually while providing comprehensive coverage to all Americans. However, implementing universal healthcare in America poses significant challenges.
Health care should not be considered a political argument in America; it is a matter of basic human rights. Something that many people seem to forget is that the US is the only industrialized western nation that lacks a universal health care system. The National Health Care Disparities Report, as well as author and health care worker Nicholas Conley and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), strongly suggest that the US needs a universal health care system. The most secure solution for many problems in America, such as wasted spending on a flawed non-universal health care system and 46.8 million Americans being uninsured, is to organize a national health care program in the US that covers all citizens for medical necessities.
Health care cost has seen to increase gradually as years go by. This has been influenced by major factors such as political influence, emerging chronic diseases, new procedures that are coming up including the technologies being invented for treating illnesses, pricing of medicines and treatment is not regulated and when treating ailment their may arise repetition of tests or a patient gets over treated for a particular ailment. The cost of healthcare has increased due to chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes etc. The lifestyle people are living in this generation has led to the development of diseases that are expensive to treat or has led to there being over treatment in such for a cure of a particular ailment.