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Health Care Spending Paper

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Health Care Spending Paper

HCS 440
October 30, 2013

Health Care Spending Paper
In the United States about 44 million people do not have health insurance. 38 million Americans have inadequate health coverage (PBS). The level of current national health care expenditures increases every year. Is this spending on health care too much or not enough? Where the United States should add or cut from, and why. How the public’s health care is paid for and who pays.
The current level of expenditures of the nation’s health care is presently at $2.1 trillion. This translates to $7,026 per person, and 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (ajronline.org, 2008). Hospital spending accounts for 31%, which is over the national health care expenditures. Physician expenditures are at 5.9%, and this is presently lower than the general expenditure amount due greatly to the 2% Medicare fee for physicians. Medicare Part D is at 19% and caused a quick rise in prescription drugs. Due to the high rate of individuals that joined the Medicare Advantage plan, administration fees were at 8.8% which grew faster than the overall. Due to the vast number of people enrolling in Medicare Part D, Medicaid shrank for the first time in history.
The spending with health care is very high, and continues to climb. This means that the growth rates in health care persist to surpass the overall Gross Domestic Product, and will eventually exceed other spending. The national health care expenditures will not be supportable for the future health care system to run effectively or at all. There has been an adequate increase in Medicare Advantage which has made managed care more important at the present time putting the fee-for-service system at a danger.
Fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid are one cause of the high cost of health care today. Due to health care fraud the United States loses close to $60

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