Understanding The Value Of Health Economics

Grossman’s model states that a person utility is based on health (H) and other non-health related goods (Z) that the person consumes. The production possibility frontier for Grossman model shows the tradeoff between home good production (Z) and health (H). Unlike usual production possibility frontiers, an individual needs an optimal level of H to maximize consumption of Z goods.

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.

Health care has been a controversial topic of discussion for all Americans since it was put in effect many years ago. Currently the biggest debate of Healthcare up to date is Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a Health care Reform that is a governmental attempt to make basic health care easily obtainable. However, there are no benefits without cost in situations like this, and upon that are different viewpoints on the subject thus creating political debates discussing if it is ethically correct. The overall goal that Obamacare hopes to accomplish is that through specific changes through insurance companies, industry standards, and patient guarantees a healthier America will be produced. Obamacare has its ups and downs for both the generally agreeing democratic viewpoints and the opposing republican side. Both viewpoints have their own beliefs about how Health care works and Obamacare is somewhat in between on this. Most arguments on Obamacare deal with Medicaid being constitutional and if Obamacare truly reduces the total cost of health care for individuals and in the government.

1A. Market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services is not efficient. In any given market, the quantity of a product demanded by consumers does not equate to the quantity supplied by suppliers. This is a direct result of a lack of certain economically ideal factors, which prevents equilibrium.

The economics of healthcare is not at all simple. What you put in is certainly not necessarily indicative of what you get out, as shown by the striking discrepancy between what we pay and what we get out of our healthcare system. This is demonstrated further by comparing our system to those of France and Italy, who come in first and second, respectively, in WHO’s international ranking of healthcare systems (“World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems”). Counter to what many Americans may believe, a number of European nations do not have completely socialized medicine.

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.

Health care is one of the major political issues facing the nation today. Most industrialized countries have national healthcare system, while the United States only provide coverage for those who are eligible under government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. As the cost of health care to continue to increase, many question the role of the government while other blame insurance companies for increase in premium.

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”.

Cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses are forms of economic evaluation which are useful in health economics for comparing costs and allocating resources. Health economics is widely relevant to governments and the health sector in implementation of new policy, as it concerns the allocation of resources in the context of a limited budget, or 'scarcity'. Economic evaluation is a potential tool for setting priorities in health, though it is only one of many potential criteria, including overall budget and public attitudes and wants. Economic evaluation is already in use in some settings, such as in pharmaceutical company proposals for government subsidisation, but there is room for expansion across the field of

It is essential for the United States government to provide its entire citizen with a free health care. This system ensures that everyone has an access to medical services regardless to his or her social status. It is an important way of preserving life as free health care plan ensures free treatment to the entire citizen. In addition, it can play a big role of ensuring that there is an improved access to health services. Ensuring that all American citizens have an access to the right health care will in turn decrease health care costs. It can also help to stop medical bankruptcies in the entire nation. Lastly, it is one way of reducing poverty as it will lower the debt of the US which would then increase employment.

From an economic perspective, there is an increased recognition of the benefits of society from the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability, and premature death. In addition, financing health care has been focused on medicine and some progress has been made towards health promotion and disease prevention; however, the progress in this direction is very slow due to social and institutional beliefs and values.

Simultaneously, health and healthcare policy plays a tremendous role in the quality of life of every American. Likewise, by the government constantly interceding, health and healthcare is significantly influenced by the political climate and undertakings of administration; therefore creating a conflictual split between republicans and democrats. Health care is regarded as a product rather than a human right shaped by policymaking. Policies establish healthcare service stipulations, which are rooted in local, state, and federal statutes combined with landmark court decisions. Not only does policy focus on healthcare services; but, it also places a substantial emphasis on cost-efficiency and equality.

The change in health profiles of the population and the evolution of medical technology have made more explicit the gap between what medicine can do and what is economically feasible (Fuchs, 2000). Resources to satisfy needs are scarce and every society must decide how better to allocate the scarce resource among the different alternative uses. Economics tries to address the normative question of which allocation of resources is best for the society. The answer to such question depends crucially on the objective being pursued. When comparing different alternatives, under the classical assumptions of competitive markets (the Arrow-Debreu economy) and Pareto efficiency, a reallocation is said to be efficient if no one in the economy is made

Have you ever wondered exactly what the government does for our country in regards to health care? Many have the impression that the government is not really of much assistance to them. However, in reality, the government does more than most people realize. The government actually plays a vital role in health care but most people look past it. I am sure very few people have actually sat down and pondered or even have done research to find out the impact of the government’s role in health care. However, I intend to clear up this misconception. The federal and state governments are the largest supporters of health care services in the United States. Examples of support that our government provides include assisting those

The current research programs in the Centre for Health Economic at Monash University took my interest as the university is providing a wide range of research areas in the field of Health Economics. Furthermore, the researches are mainly centred on economic evaluation, health outcomes and performance in the health care system which help me to get a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of micro econometrics and other statistical methods, while focusing on Health Economics. In addition to my postgraduate experience, during my volunteer work at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Western Australia, I have acquired experience in designing questionnaires in relation to ongoing health programs and analysed the surveys’ data focusing on pre-and post-health outcomes. All these academic and extracurricular activities enhance my interest in Health Economics and therefore I am willing to go for further studies to have a sound knowledge of in this specific field.