Introduction: Over the past few decades health care industry in United States is facing three major problems related to quality, costs and access. The health care expenditure in United States has increasing drastically over the years and United states still ranks top in health care spending when compared to other top nations in the world. Despite of having high health care expenditure, Americans have limited access to health care, spends higher costs for the procedures and getting poor health care outcomes. In a recent study conducted by common health care fund, it estimates that United States health care funding is approximately two times higher than top 13 nations in the world. [1] This report also concludes that despite of having high health care expenditure, health care costs in united states is very expensive and outcomes are worst when compared other nations, which spends less gross domestic product on healthcare. To address these limitations in health care industry in United States, on March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the patient protection and affordable care act in to law. [2] Overview of patient protection and affordable care act The patient protection and affordable care is a one of the most comprehensive and expensive health care reform act with an aim of improving health care access, improving quality and reducing costs. There are several provisions in the patient protection and affordable care act addressing these limitations of healthcare
The single most important impetus for healthcare reform throughout recent history has been rising costs (Sultz, 2006). In the book called The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care, Reid wrote that the nation’s health care system has become excessively expensive, ineffective, and unjust. Among the world’s developed nations, the US ranks near the bottom for healthcare access and quality. However, the US ranks at the top for health expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average of $7,400 per person (Reid, 2010). Therefore, Americans are spending
The increase of expenses - As politicians continue their dissension amongst each other, the situation is worsening in our healthcare system. According to the World Health Organization, to achieve universal health coverage, countries need a financial system that enables people access to all types of health services without incurring financial hardship (Carrin, Mathauer, Xu, & Evans, 2011). This idea would be the foundation of innovative ideas that the U.S. could reform its healthcare system, but too many ideas are sabotaging any valid efforts. In the mean time, the U.S. healthcare system continues to deal with issues such as the increasing uninsured Americans (over 49 million), expensive administrative procedures and the inability to measure the accuracy of quality of care, access of care, and the increasing healthcare spending and financing that limit our ability to efficient utilize resources.
Healthcare costs in the United States have been rising for several years and show no sign of stopping. In 2008, the United States spent on 2.3 trillion on healthcare, more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 19801. Although the large amount of money invested in healthcare does translate to better care for Americans, the worsening economic situation, rising costs, and federal government’s deficit have placed a great strain on the system. This includes private employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a private and non-profit healthcare analysis organization, “in 2008, U.S. health care spending was about $7,681 per resident and accounted for 16.2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); this is among the highest of all industrialized countries”1. Concerns for the enormous strain on the financial systems that fund healthcare and the desperate need to provide adequate healthcare for Americans have driven many a President since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, to seek some type of healthcare reform and universal healthcare for all Americans. President Barack Obama succeeded where many had failed and on March 23, 2010, a national health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law. On March 31, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new rules
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.Health care costs are far higher in the United States than in any other advanced nation, whether measured in total dollars spent, as a percentage of the economy, or on a per capita basis. And health costs here have been rising significantly faster
In March of 2010 President Barack Obama reform Health care in America and implement a new law called the Affordable Care Act. “Millions whom previously could not afford to purchase insurance now had care drastically impacting the way health care would be delivered” (Wilson, 2010). “The Us spends 1.5 times more in health care than any other developed country and 2.5 times more than the average. At least $3000 more per person that Switzerland with comparable income yet americans die earlier and live in poorer health. Growth in the US Healthcare is Unstable , health care spending has doubled in the past 30 years rising from 9.2% of GDP min 1980 to 17.9% in 2014. Health insurance premiums have increased 97% the last decade “(Kane, 2012)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a policy of the Health Care Reform that was signed into law by President Obama in the year of 2010. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was created to increase access to health insurance, enhance the quality of health care, and decrease the growth of
United States has no dearth of highly qualified, well-trained doctors and still the US healthcare quality fails to meet the established industry benchmarks. Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) 2001 Report, “Crossing the Quality Chasm”, clearly states that the American healthcare delivery system is in need of a pivotal change. (Committee on Quality of Healthcare in America (Institute of Medicine), 2001). The exasperation level is continuously rising amongst both, the patients and the providers, and yet the problem of delivering and receiving high quality care remains unaffected. In order to address this problem of healthcare quality improvement and affordability, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or Obamacare) was signed in the year 2010. The main aim behind PPACA is to improve healthcare quality and accessibility, at the same time keeping it cost efficient. To facilitate its goal PPACA is trying to achieve the cost effectiveness through reducing the Medicare price growth and regulating the quantity of care by encouraging evidence based practices. This new legislation supports the healthcare system in which the goals of both provider and the patients are better aligned with value as opposed to the quantity of services. Overall the reform under PPACA seeks to establish a direct link between the payments made to the healthcare
Healthcare in the U.S. is a paradox. We have the most expensive, technologically advanced medicine in the world even basic medical care is not uniformly available or it is much too expensive. The quality of care is all too often less than satisfactory and not nearly safe enough.
The biggest problem that the United States health care faces is the skyrocketing prices. The United States health care prices have been rising for decades and are still continuing to escalate. The U.S. has the highest health care prices in the world, even higher than other countries with impressive standards of living such as Germany, and the UK. Studies predict that the health care could possibly consume 50% of the Gross Domestic Product by 2082 (Darling, 2009, p. 89). With the costs steadily rising, the result will be millions more people without health insurance on top of those who are
Introduction: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a comprehensive health reform bill that was enacted on March 23, 2010. Considering it as a landmark change in health policy, it is anticipated that, “the new law will have an immense impact on the US health care reform and policy”.1
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation. Nearly 700,000 Americans go bankrupt each year due to medical bills. There are about 47 million people without healthcare. People sometimes have to abandon their dreams and look for jobs with the healthcare benefits that they need. Health insurance sometimes won’t accept if you have a pre-existing condition or if you have to go to the hospital while you are getting the insurance. The cost to do even the smallest tests or procedures is thousands of dollars.
Healthcare spending in the United States is higher than that found in many comparable high income countries, while health outcomes within the U.S. have not kept up with these expenses. In 2008, as the national and global economy plummeted and the United States’ GDP subsequently declined, spending in healthcare still continued to grow and reached $2.5 trillion in 2009 (Shi 2014). Between 2010 and 2019, it is predicted that healthcare spending will grow at a rate of 6.1% annually, accounting for $4.5 trillion in 2019 and 19.3% of the GDP (Shi 2014). As our spending continues to go unchecked, a larger proportion of our GDP is displaced and there is less money to put towards other areas of investment. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act
US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of
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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