...Provide an introduction. The United States (U.S.), health disparities report to be a continuance area of focus among racial, ethnical, and physical disabilities groups than any others (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). Health disparities affected the social and environmental attributes to the sickness of a population (CDC, 2014). More than ever, effort are being made to target the fundamental causes of health disparities in the U.S. One of the underlining causes of health disparities is the lack of access to medical and preventative services. In the U.S. access to adequate medical services, require health insurance coverages in which 42.0 million that of 13.4% of the U.S. population without coverage (United States...
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...most industries. Because each step of the strategic planning process builds on the last, it is important to complete the steps in the order listed above. Learning Team A will go through the strategic planning process for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SWOT Analysis of BlueCross/BlueShield Health insurance is something that all Americans should think about before buying. There are many health insurance companies; some larger than others. When buying health insurance, consumers may want to consider the type of coverage needed, and the price of the coverage. As the cost of health care increases, health insurance rates increase also. BlueCross/BlueShield is one of the leading health insurance companies in America. Even though Blue Cross/Blue Shield is one of the leading health insurance companies, the company must offer affordable healthcare insurance policies and a variety of benefits and coverage to accommodate every individual’s needs. When talking benefits and coverage, this company must consider their members: whether the members are employed, self-employed, or retired and the benefits and coverage should be made to fit their needs. Higher healthcare rates can cause Blue Cross/Blue Shield to increase their insurance rates, which poses higher rates for the members. Because of the service Blue Cross/Blue...
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...Health care reform was a major topic of discussion during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. As the race narrowed, attention focused on the plans presented by the two leading candidates, New York Senator Hillary Clinton and the eventual nominee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Each candidate proposed a plan to cover the approximately 45 million Americans estimated to be without health insurance at some point during each year. The difference between the plans was that Clinton's plan was to require all Americans to obtain coverage (in effect, an individual health insurance mandate), while Obama's was to provide a subsidy but not create a direct requirement. After the Presidents inauguration, the President announced to a joint session of Congress in February 2009 that he would begin working with Congress to construct a plan for health care reform. In March of 2009, President Obama formally began the reform process and held a conference with industry leaders to discuss reform and requested reform be enacted before the Congressional summer recess (Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, 2010). Members met for a series of meetings to discuss the development of a health care reform bill. Over the course of three months, this group, consisting of Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), met for more than 60 hours, and the principles that they discussed...
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...assess the impact of the health care issue you selected in microeconomic terms. Most existing work on the price elasticity of demand for health insurance focuses on employees' decisions to enroll in employer-provided plans. However, any attempt to achieve universal coverage must focus on the uninsured, the vast majority of who are not offered employer-sponsored insurance. A survey was conducted to survey assess the willingness to pay for a health plan among a large sample of uninsured Americans. The experiment yields price elasticities substantially greater than those found in most previous studies. We use these results to estimate coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act, with and without an individual mandate. We estimate that 39 million uninsured individuals would gain coverage and find limited evidence of adverse selection. In the United States, the economy shapes the complex interactions among employment, health coverage, and costs, as well as financial access to care and health outcomes. In economic downturns, few employers drop health coverage or restrict employee eligibility. More commonly, they reduce costs by changing benefits and cost-sharing provisions. Employees in low-wage jobs, working in small firms, and those in certain industries have been far more likely than others to have been uninsured when they lost their jobs, but this recession is affecting a broader swath of the workforce. Research on the effects of economic cycles on health status is confusing...
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...Impact on HMOs Katria Anderson HCS/440 ECONOMICS: THE FINANCING OF HEALTH CARE November 18, 2013 Jeanne Hutsberger Major The Economic Impact on HMOs Health care insurance has always been a hot commodity for people in the United States. Over the course of the past decade the demand has become even greater. Health care reform has implemented laws that state the employers must offer health insurance. Because of this companies are looking for ways they can offer insurance with the lowest possible impact on their administrative budget. This is no easy task, but there are insurance companies that offer plans that will work for all parties involved. In order to offer companies plans that will suit their employees and not break the bank close attention to detail must be paid to the company’s overall state of health. An in-depth analysis is conducted and health conditions are looked at with much scrutiny. Although it appears to be much to go through for health insurance coverage, it is an absolute necessity. “Insurers have to determine a premium price based on risk factors balanced over the entire group, using general information on members of the group, such as age or gender” (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2013). Castor Collins Health Plans has taken on the task of deciding on offering coverage to one of two businesses. The businesses are Constructit Construction and...
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...Policy Analysis Paper The fate of uninsured Veterans: A policy Analysis University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing Define the problem and assemble the evidence Too many Veterans in the United States lack health insurance and are ineligible to receive care provided by the Veteran’s Health Administration. According to American Community Survey (ACS) conducted in 2010, one in 10 of the nation’s 12.5 million veterans under the age of 65 is uninsured. A veteran is defined by federal law as any person who served for any length of time in any military service branch. Contrary to the presumption of most, not all veterans qualify for free healthcare through the Department of Veteran Affairs. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) operates as a branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs and is the largest health system in the nation. It is recognized for its commitment to providing high-quality population specific healthcare. The VHA also works closely with academic medical centers across the nation. Haley and Kenney (2012) identify eligibility for health care provided by the VHA as being on veteran status, service-connected disabilities and income level. Other factors include demographic location and cost sharing requirements. Health insurance coverage for veterans as with other groups of nonelderly adults has heavy dependence on access to employer sponsored insurance (ESI) and the costs of obtaining it. It must also be considered that the majority of...
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...and Economic Analysis 23 April 2013 Abstract In 2010, there were approximately 50 million uninsured Americans. In March 2010, President Obama signed into law a piece of legislation that reformed American’s healthcare industry. The legislation is coined as “Obamacare.” Supporters argue Obamacare provides coverage for our nation’s uninsured while boosting economy. Opponents argue Obamacare will increase healthcare costs and in turn, add to the deficit. The research supports the belief that improving the health status of the American citizens does result in economic expenditures for the United States. There is a relationship between affordable healthcare and the economy. The impact Obamacare has on the economy can be viewed through a simple math equation, a return on investment analysis. The return on investment analysis revealed a positive return on investment. The results suggest American has invested wisely. Investing in the healthcare of the American citizens will improve productivity, is cost effective, and reduces healthcare care costs. The Impact of Obamacare on the Economy In 2010, there were approximately 50 million uninsured Americans. This means that 16.9% of American’s population is uninsured. The numbers are overwhelming and reveal healthcare in American is not affordable. Many argue that the cost of healthcare has doubled in recent years (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Most Americans receive healthcare insurance through their...
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...Economic Issues Simulation Paper Name HCS/440 Economics: The Financing of Health Care February 7, 2011 Instructor Economic Issues Simulation Paper The Castor Collins health plan is a health maintenance program (HMO) that was found in 1999. The company provides health insurance coverage through a system that involves a network of physicians and hospitals. Castor Collins Heath Plan uses the capitation model to fund its large distributed group of physicians and health care organizations. Currently, Castor Collins provides health care coverage to 100,000 subscribers and would like to increase their enrollees. It is the responsibility of the Vice President along with his most trusted advisers, Helen Feuerman, Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Wilkes, Chief Medical Officer, and Adam Hunter, Executive Vice President, Planning and Development, to reach out to new clients; two in particular, E-Editors and Constructit. E-Editors Castor Collins has a major company that is looking for health insurance coverage for their employees. The company E-Editors employs 1,600 individuals, 760 males and 840 females. The employee’s ages range from 35-54. Most of the employees with E-Editors are married so they will need to provide an affordable health care plan for their families. Looking at the kind of work involved for most of the employee’s, Castor Collins found that many of the individuals have a sedentary position. In fact, ninety-five percent of the employees at E-Editors have a position...
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...Obamacare Maegann Harris BUS620 July 1, 2014 Outline I. What is Obamacare a. Unofficial Names i. Affordable Care Act b. Analysis of Obamacare ii. CBO iii. Political Climate c. Pros and Cons II. Economic Growth d. Employers Response e. Small Business Survival f. GDP Growth III. Patient Protection Act g. Summary of Provisions h. Patient Bill of Rights IV. Conclusion Is Obamacare the solution to the real world problem of affordable healthcare? The purpose of this research paper is to understand whether Obamacare will be a solution to our growth or a long-term economic downfall. Does it make healthcare insurance less expensive? How will employers respond to Obamacare mandates? Can small businesses survive Obamacare? How reasonable are the projections? Obamacare also known as the Affordable Health Care Act is a new United States law designed to reform the American health care system. The main focus is on providing more Americans with access to affordable health insurance by improving the quality of health care, reducing health care spending, and regulating the health insurance industry (ObamaCare, 2014). Analysis Studies indicate that Obamacare has increased the underlying cost of individually purchased health insurance in the average state by 41 percent (Roy, 2014). This is an estimate average however, much research indicates that many different counties have increased...
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...It will provide the health insurance planning overview, general information regarding the organization, the existing group health insurance plan which provided by the employer (LHDNM), background of study, the problem statement, research objective, research question, hypothesis, and scope of study, limitation of study, significance of study and definition of terms. Firstly, the title of the research is “The Study on the Factors Influencing The Purchasing Behavior of Personal Health Insurance among The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia‟s (LHDNM) Staff”. There are general overviews of the personal health insurance planning and the background of the organization. After that the researcher will discuss about the background of study, problem statement, research objective and research questions. Besides, the researcher will state hypothesis of the relationship between three independent variables. Then the researcher will attach the scope of study and limitation of study. The next part is the significant of the study and definition of term. 1 1.1 About health insurance planning Health insurance, like other forms of insurance, is a form of collectivism by means of which people collectively pool their risk, in this case the risk of incurring medical expenses. The collective is usually publicly owned or else is organized on a non-profit basis for the members of the pool, though in some countries health insurance pools may also be managed...
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...Health Care Reform in the US Introduction Health care reform is a general term that is used for analyzing and discussing major health care changes and provisions. Most health care reforms are typically served with the responsibility of broadening the population so that they can receive adequate health care coverage through private or public insurance companies. Also they improve quality of existing health care system and decrease the cost (Weiner & Robert, 2009). The health care reform legislation act of 2009 is a bill that was enacted in USA to direct the health care insurance providers to draft and develop regulations in implementing a comprehensive policy aimed at providing effective and cheap insurance cover to all American citizens. Though beneficial to the public, since the bill was signed into law the implementation of the act has faced numerous economic, social and political challenges. In addition, the political climate is such that real challenges appear to be emerging, including legal challenges at the state level (Farber & Blustein, 2007). Finally, polls are showing that voters are not yet on board. In fact, some voters are unaware that a health care reform bill had been passed. Therefore this paper Identifies and describes the major challenges to health care reform implementation and gives an analysis of how these challenges can be resolved. Reasons and Recommendations for Health Care Reforms There is minimal question regarding the need to restructure the America's...
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...Access to health care refers to the ease with which an individual can obtain needed medical services. Access to comprehensive, quality health care services is important for the achievement of health equity and for increasing the quality of a healthy life for everyone. Individuals who have difficulty gaining access to health care may delay seeking and obtaining treatment, underutilize preventive health care services, and may have a high prevalence of chronic disease risks. Access and Usage of Healthcare Services Disparities in access to health services affect individuals and society. Limited access to health care impacts people's ability to reach their full potential, negatively affecting their quality of life. Barriers to services include lack of availability, high cost and lack of insurance coverage. Health insurance coverage helps patients get into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care, more likely to die early and to have poor health status. According to Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the 2000-2012 National Health Interview Surveys, in 2014, 48% of uninsured adults said the main reason they were uninsured was because the cost was too high. Many people do not have access to coverage through a job, and some people, particularly poor adults in states that did not expand Medicaid, remain ineligible for public coverage. In addition, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid or Marketplace coverage. Medical...
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...Economic Issues Simulation Paper Name HCS/440 Economics: The Financing of Health Care February 7, 2011 Instructor Economic Issues Simulation Paper The Castor Collins health plan is a health maintenance program (HMO) that was found in 1999. The company provides health insurance coverage through a system that involves a network of physicians and hospitals. Castor Collins Heath Plan uses the capitation model to fund its large distributed group of physicians and health care organizations. Currently, Castor Collins provides health care coverage to 100,000 subscribers and would like to increase their enrollees. It is the responsibility of the Vice President along with his most trusted advisers, Helen Feuerman, Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Wilkes, Chief Medical Officer, and Adam Hunter, Executive Vice President, Planning and Development, to reach out to new clients; two in particular, E-Editors and Constructit. E-Editors Castor Collins has a major company that is looking for health insurance coverage for their employees. The company E-Editors employs 1,600 individuals, 760 males and 840 females. The employee’s ages range from 35-54. Most of the employees with E-Editors are married so they will need to provide an affordable health care plan for their families. Looking at the kind of work involved for most of the employee’s, Castor Collins found that many of the individuals have a sedentary position. In fact, ninety-five percent of the employees at E-Editors have a position...
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...Health Utilization and Finance Melissa Dorn Organization Systems and Quality Leadership Western Governors University The United States and the United Kingdom have a lot of systems that are operated the same, such as their legislature and government operations, but the one difference is how they offer healthcare. The US healthcare system is an almost fully private system and the UK healthcare system is socialized. One may ask well what does this mean exactly. And the answer is that in the UK everyone has access to healthcare no matter how poor or rich they may be. The insurance is paid through taxation. In the US, the insurance is mostly private, which means that a person will have to pay for insurance premiums out of their pocket. The quality of the insurance will depend on the type of plan that a person is paying for and there could be high out of pocket expenses. In the US healthcare isn’t guaranteed by the government like in other industrialized nations. In the US the government doesn’t control most insurance systems or how they operate. People in the US who do have healthcare coverage are covered either by private insurance or a public health care system. A lot of unemployed individuals don’t have any coverage at all. Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Veteran Affairs program are considered public health care systems. For some of these government programs, individuals may still be responsible for a premium depending on income. The...
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...ADVANTAGE INSURANCE PLANS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS. Medicare is an insurance program provided by the federal government for people who are 65 years old or older, people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease, and certain disable people. Medicare is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Medicare has become America's leading health care insurance program, providing coverage for approximately 47 million individuals and costing more than $516 billion a year. Medicare nowadays is facing high popularity and an uncertain future. Some experts say that Medicare is expected to go bankrupt in 2017 (Clark, 2009). A Medicare Advantage Plan is another health coverage choice that eligible beneficiaries may have as part of Medicare. The plan is offered by private companies approved by Medicare. MA plans must cover all of the services that Traditional Medicare covers except hospice care. These plans are not considered supplemental coverage but may offer extra coverage such as vision, hearing, dental and/or health and wellness programs. Most include Medicare prescription drug coverage. Medicare pays a fixed amount for the beneficiaries every month to the companies offering the plans. These companies must follow the rules set by Medicare. The motivation to choose this topic comes from an internship or curricular practice training performed during the years 2010 and 2012 on a Medicare insurance agency...
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