Growth In Health Care

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.

Money plays a huge role in access, therefore it is a vital issue to discuss. Within the current system, lack of money results in lack of health care, which leaves thousands of people without any health care coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people paying for health insurance increased 30%, however income only raised 3% (Health Care Problems). Adequate income is a necessity and unfortunately that is not present. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the average annual premium across the country is $16,000. Currently, the average annual income in the United States is $51,107. Mint Money Management suggests that about 4-6% of one’s total income should be spent on insurance, including life, disability, and health insurance. However, the averages in the United States show that the average person spends about 31% of their income on health insurance, which is not financially beneficial. When this rise in health insurance is not parallel to the inflation of income, innocent people are left without a method to achieve health care. There is a program for those who can’t afford health insurance out of pocket nor have access to it, and that is called Medicaid. Issues still exist with the program. There is only so much funding, which leaves many still uninsured. Additionally, people with Medicaid have difficulty

There are three issues when it comes to the health care cost rising. The first is the rising cost in prescription drugs. The second area of rising cost is the increased technologies when it comes to the medical industry. The third problem

Health care expenses are a never ending headache that create numerous liabilities. Liabilities are created when goods or services are purchased on credit and obtained through short- term and long- term loans. Health care expenses create liabilities such that payments are made late or no payments are made at all. In some cases, the cost of health care expenses are unaffordable resulting in those type of payments. To prevent large health care debt, many individuals seek health insurance. Health insurance is provided by private insurance companies or by the government. It covers health care expenses and provides the necessary health care. Although, health insurance is necessary it can also be very costly.

One of the issues is the increasing cost of healthcare which is dominating the health policy in U.S. this is accompanied by an increase in spending on healthcare. According to projections by the government, the spending on medical care will continue to rise. U.S spends more money on health care than any other nation globally (Holtz, 2013). The increase in the spending is as a result of improved tools for disease diagnosis, better surgical interventions among others. This raises an issue for the policy makers on the maximum GDP percentage that a country has to spend on healthcare, and whether the nation will afford the cost that is continually growing. In contemplating any change in the health policy, policy makers should consider the cost of the healthcare and the ability of the nation to support that high cost.

A key question from policymakers is why spending on health care consistently rises more rapidly than spending on other goods and services. One of the studies3 concluded that approximately 63% of the rise in real per capita

“The amount people pay for health insurance increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of time only increased 3 percent.” (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). The rising cost of healthcare is a huge problem in America today. In this paper I will analyze the different issues and causes for the increase in cost.

In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.

The rising cost of healthcare in today’s economy is in desperate need of reform. The cost of healthcare has affected the number of people able to receive medical care. Individuals are suffering more than ever because of the inability to receive medical attention when it’s needed.

“In 2013 U.S. health care spending increased 3.6 percent to reach $2.9 trillion, or $9,255 per person, the fifth consecutive year of slow growth in the range of 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent. The share of the economy devoted to health spending has remained at 17.4 percent since 2009 as health spending and the Gross Domestic Product increased at similar rates for 2010 - 2013”("National Health Expenditures 2013 Highlights," 2013). The cost of health care spending greatly affects the way that individuals budget

Medicaid is one of the factors that can cause the cost curve to shift. The government funded insurance has a profound impact on the cost curve as it increases the cost of health care to recoup funds to cover the cost of care for Medicaid recipients. Health information technology is a subsequent factor that influences the cost curve. In the age of technology, health care organizations must have updated equipment to aid them in providing faster top notch care. In both of these instances, there needs to be a way to fund Medicaid and technology consequently; these costs are passed on to the consumer causing the cost curve to shift increasing the cost of medical services.

Over the past four decades, medical care costs have grown about 4 percent per year in real terms, and the share of Gross National Product devoted to medical care has increased

Imaging and surgery costs account of a large chunk of the medical bill of a patient, so if there is rise in the imaging and surgery rates, that means there will be more burden on patients as total medical bills will increase.

Healthcare in the United States (US) has been a hot topic for many years, so it is no surprise the current candidates in the Presidential election cycle has it on their agendas. Both parties continuously attempting to convince the populace they know what is best for the nation and its healthcare spending. In recent history, there has been historical legislation passed in the attempt to curb the out of control spending. In this paper I will be addressing several major areas of the current healthcare spending crisis the United States including the status of the healthcare spending in the US, some of the trends with are deficits in national healthcare spending, and finally where I predict the healthcare spending trends of our nation will be leading us in the future.

The per capita expenses as per the healthcare firm has risen at a CAGR of about 10.3%, which was US $43.1 billion to US $57.9 billion from 2008 to 2011 respectively, and a probable increase in the expenditure may reach US $ 88.7 billion by the year 2015. The contributing factors for such a drastic increase are the increasing income levels, increased access to a better quality health services and a high level understanding of the personal hygiene and health issues.