Lowering Health Care Costs Essay

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.

One cause of the rising cost of healthcare is America is due to people not utilizing preventive health care. Preventive healthcare is important, because it typically can stop an illness from occurring. One reason why people are not using preventative health care, is because

Not only has the cases of preventable chronic diseases increased over the years affecting half of the U.S population, they account for 86% of the health care costs. Programs and policies that address risk factors and causes of these diseases at their roots would not only promote public health but reduce the cost of health care both in treatment and hospitalization.

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

For the last five years of my life I have worked in the healthcare industry. One of the biggest issues plaguing our nation today has been the ever rising cost of health care. If we don't get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to lower the cost of health care in this nation.

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.

The rise of the cost of healthcare has been a hotbutton political issue in the United States in recent years, especially with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. In 1995, the United States spent a little over 13 percent of its GDP on healthcare. By 2013, spending on healthcare had increased to around 17 percent of GDP (World Bank). This trend is projected to continue; healthcare spending will reach some 34 percent of GDP by 2040, with state and federal Medicare and Medicaid spending reaching 15 percent of GDP (Council of Economic Advisors). For comparison, the entire US federal government spent only 20.7 percent of GDP in 2015 (Office of Management and Budget 163) What is driving this

In 1998, the United States devoted 13% of its economy to health care, and this figure rose to 16% by 2008. However, despite this rise in government expenditure on health care, outcomes for patients remained the same (Obama, 2016). The quality of the health care system in general was not great; health care

Healthcare spending growth rate trends show astounding estimates. Since 1960, spending has risen from $27 billion ($143 per capita, 5.1% pf GDP) to amazing $1,678.9 billion ($5,670 per capita, 15.3% of GDP, 2003 data) (HHS, 2005). Recent research estimated that by 2013, healthcare spending will be as high as 18.4% of the Growth Domestic Product. It is important to note that the gradual move from hospital to ambulatory setting has resulted in much higher spending on outpatient hospital services and prescription drugs. The spending growth for these two trends is much higher than the overall healthcare cost growth, which, in fact, increases faster than such important economic indicators as GDP growth, inflation growth, and population growth rates.

Increases in health care spending are not necessarily due to Americans visiting hospitals or physicians more frequently than residents in other countries. Higher health care prices in the United States can be attributed to the increased use of medical technology compared to other countries, the privatization of the healthcare industry, as well as a higher use and cost of pharmaceuticals

The cost of care has been a growing problem throughout developed nations during the last 15 years. For example, across 34 nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average per capita health care expenditure increased by more than 70 percent between 2000 and 2010. However, the biggest spenders — such as

“The biggest problem with health care is not with insurance or politics. It is that we are measuring the wrong things the wrong way” (Kaplan & Porter, 2011, p. 46). Total healthcare expenditures and expenditures as a percentage of GDP have been considerably higher in the U.S. Hospital care, physician and clinical services, and drug prescription expenditures have been the principal components contributing to growth in healthcare expenditures in the U.S. compared to other countries. The study also analyses and compares the growth of healthcare costs. Three different perspectives on the health care “cost crisis” are understanding the value of health care, most health care costs are fixed and healthcare cost covered by health insurance program. In this paper share ideas to help solve the cost crisis in healthcare.

In 2003, health care spending reached 1.7 trillion dollars and 1.8 trillion dollars in 2004. That is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense in this country. (California Health Care Foundation, March 02, 2005, Health care costs 101).

Recently, having looked at what caused the large increase in healthcare spending, it became clear that the best solution to this issue is to implement preventive care education. Preventive care will help lower healthcare spending and provide a healthier population, by decreasing the amount of diseases and disabilities in society. Though there are some who say that this will not completely solve this issue, it is the only option where the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.