Pros And Cons Of Healthcare Costs

Works Cited Bradley, Elizabeth H., Lauren A. Taylor, and Harvey V. Fineberg. American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less. 2013. Print. This book is interesting.

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).

Living a healthy life is a struggle to some American citizens, being able to afford to be healthy poses a significant challenge to some Americans. With the costs of a hospital visit potentially being greater than a thousand dollars, many Americans choose to forego treatment and hope they recover from their ailment without medical attention. To combat this issue, president Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to encourage Americans to sign up for health insurance to be able to afford healthcare. The ACA provides subsidies to low income families and individuals, fines businesses who do not provide health insurance to full time employees, expand existing federal and state health plans, and sets a standard for health insurance policies. Additionally, since the introduction of the ACA into the American healthcare system, insurance premiums have not increased at the same rate they have previously.

The government in this regard might consider increasing the taxes in order to meet the cost of healthcare. The increase in taxes will have a negative implication in the society; for instance, the prices of basic commodities will increase making life difficult, especially to the low social class individuals. Additionally, employees in the private and public sector will experience the impact of increased taxes through reduced net salaries; this may attract a negative reaction from the

This brings out a good point. Business large or small would still be able to help employees with their medical expenses by contributing to programs such as Health Savings Accounts, Health Reimbursement Accounts without repercussion. These programs are already under the IRS guidelines (IRS, 2014). We can make Universal Healthcare work for the American

One of the most sensitive subject in the United States today that is most discussed and debated revolves around the issue of our healthcare system. Unlike the many developed countries, the healthcare system in America is not public, meaning that our country cannot provide free or affordable healthcare services to its citizens. So everyone has to pay out of pocket for their treatments or for their visits to the doctors office. Healthcare is one of the most expensive thing in the U.S, our country spends so much money on healthcare than any other country around the world. Over the last decades, no other aspect of the healthcare system has lost its shine as much as aggressive health care.

Millions of Americans are constantly reminded of the horrible effects of the Affordable Care Act anytime medical care is required. I have witnessed many families and individuals struggle to cover the extra financial responsibility imposed upon them: Susan Gardiner, a fellow Kroger employee, states her health insurance costs have significantly increased following the approval of the Affordable Care Act; consequently, Ms. Gardiner routinely experiences financial hardships as she requires frequent medical care. Americans simply cannot cope with the Affordable Care Act’s inherent attribute of exorbitant insurance premiums and deductibles. In an attempt to decrease medical costs for an impoverished minority of Americans, the Affordable Care Act,

Prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), few people anticipated employer-provided health care would disappear as a major player in the United State healthcare arena. However, ACA adoption and has put more than 169 million employees at risk for losing their workplace coverage. Several studies indicate employer-based coverage will decline rapidly over the next decade as the traditional US system is displaced by the healthcare exchange system. While consumers grapple with finding affordable coverage options and providers adjust to the new norms, there is another wrinkle in the mix. In January, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced the agency's push toward value-based and alternative reimbursement models.

The affordable care act presented the United States with the most extensive overhaul since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960’s. The act was a response to staggering statistics on the price of healthcare and the resulting uninsured rate within the United States. The affordable care act uses Individual Mandate and Health Insurance Exchanges to combat major factors causing high insurance cost and low insured rates. As with most reform, the public has not been one hundred percent unified on the potential effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act.

46.8 million Americans were reported as uninsured in 2013, which equivocates to one sixth of the population. Those without insurance have revealed that they risk “more problems getting care, are diagnosed at later disease stages, and get less therapeutic care” (National Health Care Disparities Report) and those insured risk losing their insurance. Inadequately covered citizens are often working-class individuals who simply cannot receive insurance due to uncontrollable inconveniences and therefore jeopardize having medical coverage. In these instances, Americans have a chance of being diagnosed with diseases that they had no opportunity to prevent or could not diagnose them at an early stage of the illness. Patients have suffered unnecessarily due to lack of health care, and “18,000 Americans die every year because they don't have health insurance” (PNHP).

Universal Healthcare The term universal healthcare stands for any healthcare system that is managed by the government. It may cover programs such as government hospitals and other health facilities. Universal health care ensures that all the citizens can access preventive and rehabilitative healthcare services that they need. Government management in the system includes payment or subsidizing of medical services.

In addition to the dismay of many healthcare professionals, patients, and citizens who are uninsured, several flaws about the current healthcare system show the necessity for reform. The three flaws that exacerbate the current healthcare crisis are: the tax code and tax breaks, the lack of preventable care and adequate care of chronic diseases, and administrative costs. A single payer, universal healthcare system can resolve the major flaws of the

In order to maximize employee participation, the employer must manage employee demand while reducing the number of health benefit plans offered. An employer can enhance the attractiveness of benefits associated with direct contracting by increasing the cost differential between directly contracted and insurance-sponsored services. Finally, employers can mitigate redundant utilization of services by managing employee co-pays and deductibles. Direct contracting improves patient comprehension of pricing and quality measurements, thus increasing price transparency. Both employers and providers begin to share an interest in maintaining employee-patient

(par. 2), “one local hospital charged an uninsured patient $29,000 for an appendectomy that would have cost an insured patient $6,783.” (par. 5), and “the uninsured account for only 2 percent of its patients, but 35 percent of its profits” (par. 5). The details and numbers build an appeal to logos and influence the reader that health care is a

The United States no longer posses the ability to effectively drive down premium costs through the means of insuring healthy people. For example there is a town with ten houses, and, on average, one house a year burns down. If no one in the town pays for insurance they have a 10% chance of their house burning down each year. If everyone in the town pays insurance they spread the risk because no matter whose house burns down no one will have to pay anything as the insurance company will cover the cost of the house that burns down each year and make a slight profit. This is the same logic applied to the whole medical insurance market.