EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated that "The health of the individual is almost inseparable from the health of the larger community and that the health of every community in every state and territory determines the overall health status of the nation." It has now become clear that our economy in terms of healthcare insurance is not healthy; the healthcare system in the United States spends 1 cent of every healthcare dollar in the prevention of diseases and 99 cents on the cure. Our healthcare system is the most expensive and yet arguably among the least cost effective in the developed world. Despite the highest per person health care spending among the Organization for Economic Cooperation
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It is a patchwork of loosely connected financing mechanisms varying in terms of sponsorship and provider type. It also reflects the age, health and economic status of the specific patient groups that are being served. Considering the growing number of Americans who are uninsured for health care and the low ranking of the United States among a variety of health indicators, one may say that it is a disappointing financing system. These observations provide a basis for supporting our position for a national health care system. Where possible, comparisons will be drawn between the United States and other countries. Special focus will be paid to similarities in the public and private financing components of the system, reimbursement of various provider categories and trends that we may expect to see in the future.
Overall, the role of health insurance as a financial channel will be mentioned. Monetary business objectives will be contrasted with the altruistic goals of health care as a humanitarian service. The benefits of shifting health care management altogether to the government will be discussed, emphasizing its positive effects on the businesses of the employers and the performances of the employees in the United States. EMPLOYERS BENEFITS National Health Care System benefits employers by lowering their current health care costs. Companies need the National Health Care System now more
The U.S. health care system is way more complex than what meets the eye. A major difference between the health care system in the U.S. and other nations, is that the U.S. does not have universal health care. Lack of a universal health care opens up the doors for competition amongst insurance, physicians, technology, hospitals and outpatient services.
<http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?f>. "Health Care Benefits. " America 16 July 2012: 4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
Similar to the discontinuity of care, the employment-based nature of the health insurance system of the United States poses a major problem for the effectiveness of the health care safety net. In this system, one can be a highly responsible working adult and find that one cannot obtain health care for one’s family. With the increasing cost of health care and inflation in medicine, employers are forcing
Contrary to what many people believe, America’s health status is not quite “up-to-par,” to say the least. Over forty-seven million people in the United States lack health insurance; that is more than 15% of our nation’s population! At first this disturbing truth seems impossible to believe, being as America is one of the most technologically advanced and economically developed countries in the world. “We spend trillions of dollars per year on medical care. That’s nearly half of all the health dollars spent in the world. But we’ve seen our statistics. We live shorter, often sicker lives than almost every other industrialized nation. “We rank 30th in [global] life expectancy” (Adelman 2008). Knowing this brings rise to the question: why are
One of the issues that is widely discussed and debated concerning the United States economy is the healthcare system. Unlike in the majority of developed and developing countries, the healthcare system in the United States is not public, meaning that the state does not provide free or cheap healthcare services. This paper addresses many of the factors contributing to the rising cost of healthcare.
The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.
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”.
One of the must have necessities of a human being is the provision of sound health care and every government, both national or local is obligated to offer this essential service to all the citizens without favor or any discrimination of any kind. Where else it is paramount that every employer to make sure the health and the safety of the employees are given the first priory. This will make sure the employees who are injured during the work are taken care of, and they are relieved the burden of the cost of health care. Thus, it is common to find most companies get the services of insurance companies and other organizations which provide health care programs for workers such as IndUShealth to make sure the welfare of the employees is in safe
Per Shi and Singh (2015), health care financing is a critical function in a quasi-national health care delivery system through insurance coverage, fee-for-service reimbursement, focus on prospective payment, whereby financing is shared between private and public sources. Moreover, government incurs approximately forty-three percent (43%) of all health care expenditures in the United States.
In the US, we now spend about $8,300 per person on health care. We have a system that is productive in some ways but bad in others. While we may have the best technological advances here in the US, we lack in the access to care that our patients can receive. Prior to the ACA there were close to 45 million people uninsured or underinsured. With the ACA now in place there are more people who can afford access to care but now we have a smaller amount of providers to handle this demand. Though, the US is trying to head in a new direction with health reform it still doesn’t compare to the other structure models.
Health insurance has been a topic of discussion lately due to its impact on the nation 's health status. Recently, President Obama passed the health insurance reform so as to facilitate the accessibility of health to the majority of the US citizens including the uninsured. In the US most of the organizations both private and public have provided a medical cover for their employees and this paper will discuss the impact of this provision on the economy based on the population health, the impact on both private and public healthcare spending and finally the paper will focus on the impact of employer-health insurance on the future generation.
Like many college students I have to pinch pennies to make it through school. Every last penny counts when budgeting my monetary supply. As a result of this I have found that I do not have enough to spare to pay for health insurance. Unlike most college students I am over the age of 23 and thus not covered by my parents insurance. Since I am only employed part time I am also not able to obtain it from work. This puts me in the company of the more than 42 million Americans who do not have health insurance. It is past time that the United States join the rest of the industrialized countries that have already decided to provide their citizens with health care. I believe a single payer health care
The healthcare system plays a key role in the economic stability of our country, as every year trillions are spent in attempt to combat disease and health issues that plaque humanity. As it makes up a significant amount of the expenditures in the economy, so the costs associated with health care of those in pain from illness and injury, including lost productivity, increased need of assistance in living and also the cost of death in some cases, is important to the economic stability and over all standard of living in our country. The key to economic prosperity is balancing the need for care with the costs of illness to keep as many people healthy and well without breaking the bank of collective society. The costs of healthcare have been increasingly problematic in recent years with so many issues surrounding the current system. With the “total health care spending in the United States expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010 and $75 billion in 1970, meaning that health care spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021” (Aetna). With this in mind it is apparent that as we look at the trillion-dollar industry of the medical community it seems that it needs to be a major focus of our nation as a whole and with the many issues come many creative solutions. First let us analyze the reasons behind the current cost and the major problems facing this industry and than discus what
Both articles decry the state of the American healthcare system and advocate for reforms to make access to healthcare cheaper for all Americans. The articles are concerned with the fact that many nations have made the necessary plans and put in place measures to achieve the global 2020 health targets. The articles greatly cite credible sources from the Center for Disease Control, Healthy People organization and the United States Department of Health Services. The articles are recent thus present a proper blueprint for the United States Department of health Services to follow when implementing health
In 1954, Congress passed legislation allowing employers to provide health insurance benefits to employees on a tax-free basis (Sih and Singh 99). This legal provision marked the beginning of the rapidly expanding health care costs still apparent today due to the major incentives provided by the government to obtain employer-based health coverage. The overwhelming popularity of employer-based health insurance has led to a serious market inefficiency resulting from the system of third-party payment. As individuals rely on their insurance companies to pay for their medical expenses, this provides