...Economics Economics can be defined as the science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. In essence, it is the study of the material welfare of humankind (Apollo Group, 2010). Economics in health care is concerned not only with the financial aspects of the system, but how those financial elements impact patient care. Supply and Demand Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. Supply represents how much the market can offer and the correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. The demand for health care is limitless as is evidenced by the number of people who use health care services on a day to day basis. Supply, however, is limited by the availability of medical resources and the skill to administer care effectively. Macroeconomics Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole. Macroeconomic analysis studies the roles of the government, exports and imports, consumption, investment, government taxes, and other factors in an economy. In health care, the macroeconomic market is the entire country’s health care system including the way that it performs in terms of profit, loss and efficiency. Macroeconomics of health is concerned with parallel sets of large scale system issues...
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...Kevin Pine Eco310 Professor Ambrose Test 2 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. Some major reasons that a free, unregulated market in medical care might night be optimal are: Imperfect information, asymmetric information, barriers to entry, and third-party payers. * Imperfect information is a major reason because in medical markets, patients are not fully informed about virtually every aspect of the medical transaction. These patients are forced to rely on their physicians to form a learned opinion on their illness, their diagnosis, and their prescribed treatment. In addition, patients are often confronted with the problem of little to no knowledge at all about prices and the quality differences among alternative providers. This lack of knowledge gives rise to asymmetric information, which leads to two important market defects. First, patients are not able to judge price and quality differences among providers. As a result, providers charge prices that are above the prevailing market prices for a given level of quality. Second, the agency problem, which arises when the physician serves as the patient’s agent, thereby leading the patient to delegate most of the decision-making authority...
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...Health care economics has drastically changed over the course of history in the United States of America. the major contributors that influence the changes in healthcare economics and the advances in technology in healthcare. one must know what the United States has endured to have a clue of where is should be going here is a brief explanation of what the US has accomplished over the years. in the 1960s Social Security has been implemented in Medicare and Medicaid has been signed into law. By the 1970s HMOs came into existence in this is in healthcare costs began to rise. by the 19 eighties pregnant Reagan had decided to sign into law the Cobra Act. Cobra allow workers to stay insure it for 18 months after leaving a job. by the end of the 19 eighties Reagan implementing a prescription drug benefit coverage program would you didn't work well and was repelled the following year. in the beginning of the 1980s President Clinton wanted to require business is to provide insurance to their workers. for Republicans President Bush proposed tax break so that of porting insurance would be easier. by the turn of the century President Bush persuade Congress to a prescription drug coverage to Medicare and an expansion of Johnson's Great Society program for seniors. By 2008 Hillary Clinton camera with the healthcare plan which included the requirement that everyone has coverage. she also decide to take a bid at the presidential nomination and was beat out by Barack Obama. by 2009 President...
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...Health Care Economics Dana Carter HCS 440 November 17, 2010 Tom Flora, PhD Health Care Economics Health care costs have risen steadily for years. “Health care expenditures reported in 2008 exceeded $2.3 trillion” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010, para 1). This figure reportedly will increase throughout the 21st century unless the government, employers, and consumers can work together to stem this out of control growth. The history of health care is short but it provides a small view of how the United States made a simple choice of demand and supply through fee-for-service to managed care, PPOs, and other insurers of health care including the federal government. Fee-for-service in the early 1900s was the norm for the American public. Insurance companies did not provide health care, and if they provided the service it was only available to a few wealthy people. Physicians charged a set price based on the ailment or disease, they were paid in goods or money. In the 60s and 70s it was becoming popular for employers to pay health insurance and employers realized that if they provided this essential benefit, the productivity and profits would increase because his or her employee is healthier. At the end of the 70s Americans were demanding health benefits and in the advent of the demand the cost of health increased. The government entered the health insurance arena in 1965 with the passage of Medicare and Medicaid, which covered people without health insurance and elderly...
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...Health Care Spending in America Teresa Foster University of Phoenix May 20, 2012 HCS/440 Instructor: Michele Burke Health care spending in America has been growing by leaps and bounds and has surpassed the national economy. There are many American's that are without proper health care services, because of losing coverage due to the reduction in employment and the recessing economy. With the constant conflict with the current health care reform, legislators are aware that health care spending needs to become a balanced solution. The current health care system in the United States has many holes to fix, the government has made many attempts to bring spending under control. The theory of bring more managed care and competition into health care can potentially aid in bringing spending in health care under control. Because health care expenses are becoming more of a burden on Americans, the choice of going to the doctor and paying living expenses is becoming more evident in most American households (Altman & Wallack, 1996). Current National Health Care Expenditures According to the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA), it is estimated that health care spending in American has grown annually from estimates dating back to the 1960s. Expenditures include, the net cost for health care insurance, public health services, the cost for medical service and other health related goods, investments that are related to healthcare. During 2010, health care showed an increase...
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...LEARNING TEAM CHARTER TEAM “A” Course Title | HCS/552 HEALTH CARE ECONOMICS | | Team Members/Contact Information Name | | Phone | | Time zone and Availability During the Week | | Email | Astoria Edwards | | 301.356.4747 | | EST M,T,Th, S, Su | | Astoria.edwards@gmail.com | * Maria Pangelinan | | * 6197290652 | * | * anytime | * | * b2mpangelinan@gmail.com | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Team Ground Rules and Guidelines What are the general expectations for all members of the team? A team member that is having difficulty with his or her portion of the assignment should let the team know immediately through the forum and not wait until the last minute. Learning Team “A” must respect each other’s contributions and ideas. Open and honest communication regarding assignments and tasks. Expectations for Time Management and Involvement (Participation, communication with the team, accessibility, etc.) We all have lives outside of this class; however, timely communication is necessary; responses need to be within 24 to 48 hours if possible. All team members will have to agree and feel a sense of reassurance and comfort with the final outcome before the assignment is submitted. All team members need to communicate with each other at all times. Ensuring Fair and Even Contribution and Collaboration What strategy will you use to ensure that all team members are...
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...Terms Comparison Paper HCS 552 May 25, 2015 Terms Comparison Paper According to the American Economic Association (2011) economics studies how people make choices when they want to utilize resources. This fundamental process links economics and health care together because health care professionals use economic principles in their everyday professional behaviors. Health care organizations do their best to use the same concept of economics when they decided how to allocate resources and plan how to use them because it is essential to their survival. Therefore, health care and economics are connected in the sense of sharing the same terms such as resources, quality, and cost. The objective of this paper is to analyze how the terms of cost, quality and resources are similar and yet dissimilar in healthcare and economics. Resource The term resource is defined as the product, asset, or other service with limited availability utilized to generate commodities and services that convene to human requirements and desires (Gretzen, 2007). As a result of these resources can be restricted, many economists, decision makers, and health care providers are forced to find ways to efficiently allocate resources within their organization in order to maximize cost effectiveness. Economic resources are also found to have a substantial and considerable effect on the utilization of medical care (Chung, 2006). Healthcare services are provided to consumers by the utilization of resources such...
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...Health Care Systems of China (Taiwan) and the United States Health Care Systems of Taiwan and the United States Health care is one of the most essential foundations for any citizenship in any country since whether it is effective or not, it definitely affects the standard of living and the life expectancy of a country. According to Johnson and Stoskopf (2009), "A health system as described by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the sum total of all the organizations, institutions, and resources whose primary purpose is to improve health," (p. 3). Therefore, to positively improve a nation, having an effective health care system is crucial. Being recognized as one of the powerful countries in the world, the United States has a great shape of health care programs; however, sometimes it is inaccessible to some of the citizens. On the contrary, as a small country, Taiwan is famous for its health care system although there are still defective parts existing in the current system. To compare the differences of health care systems in Taiwan and the United States, we can observe the three major aspects: ownership, cost, and quality. First of all, Taiwan and the United States have different types of ownership in the health care systems. Thus, Taiwan owns a single-payer system, which is run by the government, forcing everyone to join it and pay. Because of this policy, the coverage of health care is close to 99 percent (Underwood, 2009). In this country, the government-run system covers...
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...types of questions are in relation to healthcare economics. The meaning of health economics is the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of good and services, or material welfare in healthcare. Because healthcare is always evolving there are some factors that have to do with the change, and those are types of medical care and technological developments in the industry. An example in the change in medical care is the quality. Now a day, people can be treated for any type of disease and as long as their insurance covers the specific service then they have a higher chance of being cured. In addition machines we have in clinics and hospitals also increase also affect health economics because most organizations always want to have the latest technology so their quality of healthcare maintains at a high level, however having this also increases their expenses. This paper will further on discuss evaluating the history of healthcare economics and its evolution along with how cash flows within the economic system Health care insurance is something that healthcare economics is based off of. Before when health care was as big issue and an actual business, people would use their own personal money to pay for treatments, services and other healthcare operations. Now a day, insurances pick up the bulk of the services and the consumer pays a copay or co-insurance, this is why cash flow in health care evolves around insurance. The flow of funds is a...
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...approaches are imperative to assist in shaping in healthcare, which comes from sequences of economic ideologies and based on interpretations about the equity and the effectiveness of care that considered as the core components for determining performance of health care system. Duckett (2008) suggests that the requirement of the reformation process of the Australian health care system and the evidence-based research by Marmot investigates about the social determinants of health. Marmot’s Whitehall studies which explain the interrelated relationship between unequal health outcomes, social justice and equality which are depending on the individuals’ social standing. The studies demonstrated that the great gaps of mortality and morbidity...
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...Health Care Economics History Health Care Economics History Over the course of U.S. history, the economics of healthcare have undergone several changes that have all culminated into what it is today. Although several factors come into play in regards to these changes, the primary driver behind these changes have been major advances in medical care techniques and advanced technology such as in the field of diagnostic imaging and surgical services. All these things aside, it is important to illuminate the fact that regardless of the time period, the payment for services and its source have always been a critical factor in how fast and how far healthcare can go. The source of payment for medical services has changed quite a bit over the past few decades. Today, third party payers such as insurance companies pay the bulk load of the healthcare bills leaving only a portion to be paid by the actual recipient from their own funds. In the not so distant past, patients were expected to foot the bills in their entirety for their own pockets. In those times, physicians were considered tradesmen. Their bills were no different than any other tradesmen such as a plumber or carpenter. When their work was done, the patient paid the bill. Frequently, if the patient was unable to pay in cash, physicians would accept non-monetary reimbursement for their services such as livestock or some other farm produced item. This "barter system" worked quite well but as the 20th century came about and...
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...Dr. David Tataw Healthcare Economics February 2, 2015 The economics of health care field studies demand and supply of health care resources, that is, allocation of the resources, within a given health care system. The health care system is defined as “the organizational arrangements and processes through which a society makes choices concerning the production, consumption, and distribution of health care services.”6 Because health care resources are limited, each society has to make decisions in terms of the distribution, consumption, and production of these services. A key factor that shapes the delivery of health care in any health care system is the evolving system for financing and reimbursement for health care services. The types of services delivered and the organizational approaches to delivering services are heavily influenced by how health care is paid for. In this paper I will discuss some values of healthcare professionals understand the discipline of health economics, the importance of considering the complex nature of health and healthcare when examining the economic principles, and the main potential benefits of learning about health economics. In the health care market, patients or consumers, health care providers or producers, and third-party payers are three major players. According to the principles of economic theory, consumers or patients on the demand side seek to maximize their utility or satisfaction, which is largely determined by...
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...To better understand the study of Healthcare Economics, we must first understand the topic at hand. In my research, I found that Health economics is best described as a branch of economics that focused on issues such as the efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior that all play a part in the field of health and health care. Health Care Economics is an applied field of study that allows for the examination of multiple problems that our society is faced with in promoting health care for all individuals who seek medical attention. By applying economic theories of consumer, producer and social choice, health economics strives to understand the behavior of individuals, health care providers, both public organizations as well as private, and...
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...Running Head: HEALTH CARE AND ECONOMICS Impact of Economics on Health Care System [STUDENT NAME] [INSITITUTION’S NAME] [INSTRUCTOR’S NAME] [CLASS] Evaluation of the Impact of Economics on Health Care System In this distressing financial crisis borrowers are finding it harder to access capital for their investments. Due to this factor one of the most important industries in society; health care, is being affected. Economics and economic policies play a significant role in many aspects of everyday life, including the health care system of a nation. Health care systems alone contribute to about 2.5 trillion dollars to the U.S. GDP (Amadeo, 2011). The current credit crisis is affecting hospitals more than any other organization because of the increased amount of uninsured people looking for health care services, staff shortages, and the low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare. Due to this hospitals are facing an increase in debt and are unable to gain more capital or even refinancing their existing loans because it has become more difficult to obtain credit. Recently, reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare have drastically decreased putting a financial burden on hospitals. There has been a significant rise in underpayments by both Medicaid and Medicare, having made an increase from 3.8 billion in 2000 to 32 billion in 2008 (Kiselev, 2010). As a result of these low reimbursements hospitals are having to ‘cost-shift’ which upshots in an augment in...
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...Retail Minute Clinics Donna Glykas February 15, 2016 HCS/490 Yvette Thompson The health care system landscape has changed tremendously over the years. There are so many different options now, where you can get treatment for your health care needs. The one that I find the most convenient and the one that I think is growing very quickly is the minute clinics in the retail drug store chains, like CVS, Walgreens, Target, etc. There is a nurse practitioner on site and they handle all the preventative care and illnesses that the patient needs when they come in, if the illness is more serious than what they can handle they do recommend you to see your primary doctor or to take other measures to make sure your health needs are met. With the minute clinics you do not need an appointment you just walk in and enter your personal information into a computer with a brief description on what you are there for and then you wait to be seen. They take all insurances and even have deals on lower rates for certain services they offer than a regular doctor office visit would have. They take care of children and adults from 18months old & older. The medical practitioners that work with them are experienced and licensed. They offer routine lab tests, wound care, wellness services, and even share the information of that visit with your primary care physician if you want them too. The marketing approach is very effective as well as their services they use the media to reach out to the...
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