... HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 1 Measuring The United States Healthcare System Luc John Arnaud HCM 550 Quality and Performance Improvement in Healthcare Colorado State University Global Campus Dr. Gloria Wilson March 27, 2016 MEASURING THE U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM2 The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is based in Paris, France, and it is essentially an assembly that comprises over thirty members (countries) who work with each other and who all share common commitments to democratic states and market economies. The goal of the OECD is to promote and improve economic growth, prosperity, sustainable growth, and expansion of each nation (OECD United States Mission, n.d.). The OECD “tracks and reports annually on more than 1,200 health system measures across 30 industrialized countries, ranging from population health status and nonmedical determinants of health to health care resources and utilization” (Anderson, F., Squires, D., 2010, para 1). The article titled Issues in International Health Policy clearly exposed the fact that the United States of America fundamentally lacks behind the majority of other developed nations as it’s related to the efficiency, effectiveness, and solvency of its overall healthcare system industry. The facts and data within the article come from an analysis of health data from 2006 from the OECD, and one of the most troubling conclusions from the article is the fact that in 2006...
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...national healthcare spending within the United States keeps increasing annually. The overall deficit keeps increasing due to national healthcare expenditures. In 2012, the healthcare deficit was three trillion dollars. Due to services such as medical treatments and health insurance; the healthcare spending will continue to increase. National Healthcare Expenditures In the United States, the overall projections are primarily based on the National Healthcare expenditures. These projections are measured by the form of services or goods provided. Services may include physician care, hospital care, and clinical services rendered. Goods may consist of necessary prescription drugs and medical equipment. The source of funding for the services performed and the required goods may come from Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and out-of-pocket expenses ("National Health Expenditure Projections 2012-2022 ", 2012). Health Care Spending in the United States According to recent studies in the United States, the projected health care spending is to increase by almost six percent between by the year 2022. This is actually a percent faster than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expected. Researchers thought that the healthcare spending would remain around four percent since the economic recovery was very slow at the time in 2013. There would an increase in cost- sharing requirements for Medicare, Medicaid, and the privately insured as well ("National Health Expenditure Projections 2012-2022...
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...Prices of Health Care and Its Effects Medical costs in America are the highest compared to every other country. Many people explain that our costs are higher just because our expensive costs, on going to the doctor more often, or that wet get sicker more. In fact, the opposite is true. The reason that medical costs are higher is because of the prices. Since the prices are higher we as Americans pay more, it’s that simple. When trying to explain the high cost of medical care many people though it was because we use medical services more often as Americans. Research shows that “we spend less time in hospitals than Germans and see doctors less often than Canadians.” (Klein) This is odd, because even though the above is true our medical costs are almost double that of Germany and Canada. We pay more and get less out of medical care. “The United States spends more on health care than any of the other OECD countries spend, without providing more services than the other countries do” (Klein). This just shows that our prices for some reason are just higher than they are in other countries. To understand why this is we must understand why prices in other countries are lower. “In 2009, Americans spent $7,960 per person on health care. Our neighbors in Canada spent $4,808. The Germans spent $4,218. The French, $3,978” (Klein). The reason behind the lower prices in the above countries is because their countries governments negotiate more aggressively with health care providers to...
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...Healthcare Reform. (What's the problem with healthcare in America, rising costs, and why reform healthcare?) Healthcare in America continues to evolve. The United States need healthcare reform because the cost is too high. Rising healthcare cost has caused many to declare medical bankruptcy and also troubled the federal budget. The rising cost of healthcare also has made the cost of preventable health unaffordable which proves perilous for low income people in America. The United States spends billions of dollars annually on things that do not make Americans any healthier. The US burns through 18% of its yearly total national output (GDP) on health care. In 2015, this added up to $3.2 trillion, a figure equivalent to the Germany's economy....
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...Health Care Spending James Brewer HCS/440 April 11, 2011 Health Care Spending In many countries as well as the United States, health care spending is at an all-time high. Within health care, there are several factors, which have contributed over the years to increase higher cost. As spending throughout many countries is a key factor. The United States is above average, resulting in many citizens who are unable to afford the high cost of health care. Although it is difficult to determine the exact cause of why the increase of health care spending has risen, there are a few health care situations to blame. These causes could be health care prices, new and different disease patterns, and consolidation of many corporations, legal systems, new providers, advanced technology, and the aging population. Another cause of rising health care costs is cost sharing. This cause will not diminish anytime soon in the United States. Many people believe that disease management, consumer choice for health care and even evidence-based practice could help solve the problem of spending. These solutions however may not be sufficed to drive health care costs down. ...
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...Costs Of Healthcare Christine Amargo HCA305 The U.S. Health Care System Sherry Grover June 9, 2014 Everyone wants to have access to health care and in order to access it they need insurance, but unfortunately not everyone can afford health insurance. The United States spends more money on health care than any other country, but raise the cost of health insurance to the citizens. Health care should be affordable if the government is willing to spend as much money as they are on it. Health insurance should be able to affordable to all classes lower, middle, and higher. The citizens of the United States has the right to know why their insurances cost are going up and if they are going to get more bang for their buck. The reason why healthcare cost is rising each year is because no one is managing the spending. Money is being spent between all accounts of healthcare and shared amongst each other. There needs to be a line where companies stop spending and try to manage the money they have if they don’t the cost of healthcare will just keep rising. The primary issues of healthcare cost are access to healthcare, and affordability of healthcare. The United States health care spending has been growing rapidly for many years, but many citizens are without appropriate health care. This is affecting the two governments major health insurance Medicaid and Medicare and the private insurance companies. As the health care spending rises, the citizens will be faced with difficult choices...
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...National Health Care: “Proposal to the U.S. Government and U.S. Citizens” The United States of America (the United States) health care system has been described as most advanced and competitive, but at the same time inefficient and fragmented. According to the United States Census Board, health care system in the United States is ranked thirty-seventh in the world. More than 54% of the American Citizens are dissatisfied with the current health care system, but we also spend more than the citizen of other nations: we spend 15.9 percent of GDP on health care compared to other advanced countries in the world like France, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Australia (U.S. Census Bureau). Assessing the performance of the health care system is the most difficult task. Public and Private Health Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP. U.S. and some selected countries: (from Kaiser Family Foundation) A few years ago, when my mom turned forty years old, she discovered that she has a blood pressure problem. Prior to that she did not have a medical insurance when she found out about her problem. After discovering that she has a blood pressure problem, she applied for medical insurance in five or six health insurance companies, but they rejected her application because she had a preexisting medical condition. Finally, Kaiser Permentant Medical Insurance, accepted her application; however, they charged her twice the amount of monthly payment for her medical insurance. Around last...
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...The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is an essential part of an ongoing debate about our nation’s healthcare. It’s something that affects everyone, young or old, rich or poor, and it’s a law with several goals, such as helping people afford healthcare, lower the cost of medical care, reduce the increase of healthcare spending, and many more. It’s an important law that has helped millions pay for healthcare, and has more benefits than disadvantages. Controversially, it requires everyone in the country to have a health insurance plan, or pay a fine. Many argue that this is unfair. Health insurance can be extremely expensive, and not everyone wants it. According to the eHealthInsurance Resource Center [1],...
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...Health Care Through the decades there have been many public policy topics in our society that have a very large impact on the county as whole. They are reasons why American have either prospered and have been set back into recessions. Health is one of the most talked about public policy topics. Health care is topic that affects local and state governments for many reasons. First of all, health care is insurance for people that are injured or ill. Each county has their own type of health care. There are many different types of health care organizations that are offered to people all over the world. Some of these organizations include: the health maintenance group, provider group, and a proposal that combines aspects from both the health maintenance group and the provider group. The most important type of health care insurance is a universal health plan. Universal health care is what will eventually save Americans a large amount of money and it will also guarantee that every American is insured. The number of uninsured citizens has grown to be above 40 million people. Health care is becoming unaffordable and we can eliminate wasteful inadequacies. A centralized national database can be established to make life easier for doctors, and medical professionals will only have to worry about the patience and not who’s paying for the medication for people. There are many people today who do not like the idea of universal health care and refuse to get it. America is known for having...
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...job opportunities for high skilled workers residing in rural areas. Additionally, further advancements in drugs and medical technology lead to the new innovations, products and new areas of marketing. Health spending is essential because it fulfills personal and social needs for medical service that are set in place to better health, increase productivity, and save lives (Squires, 2012). In comparison with the many other sectors of the economy, a significant portion of the health care is publicly funded. When viewing other countries, we notice that they have adopted a universal healthcare system. This means that the systems are financed through taxes. In the United States, there are systems in place such as Medicare and Medicaid (Squires, 2012). Medicare is an insurance program for persons who are either elderly or disable. Medicaid is insurance coverage for families who have low-income. It is public funds that assist people with health care in these two insurance programs. There are also tax policies that promote and provide support to employer-based health insurance and delivery systems such as, Veterans Health Administration. Due to the fact that the public sector has a lot of pull in regards to healthcare, it has become had to make sure that we are gaining value for the time and money spent. From decade to decade we have seen the United States health care spending increase. It was reported in the year 2010 that the U.S. had healthcare expenses that cost $2.6 trillion dollars...
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... The essay, “A Universal Healthcare System: Is It Right for The United States?” by Marleise Rashford describes the positive effect of universal healthcare. In the essay she explains how a universal healthcare system will help this country. The United States is the only industrialize nation that does not provide healthcare for its citizens. She criticizes the American healthcare system. “The current American system cost too much, cover too little and excludes too many” according to Rashford. Marleise Rashford emphasizes that money is not the issue why America has not reform its health system. Corruption, lobbyist, and private insurances are the ones responsible for this. The essay mentions that 45 million Americans are uninsured. This essay will analyze and critique Rashford’s essay. I support the universal healthcare system. The United States is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare. The United States ranks poorly compare to other industrialized nations on healthcare. Universal healthcare will cover all the American citizens. It will benefit the underprivileged citizens of this country. American citizens will have a longer life expectancy. Infant mortality rates will decrease. The United States is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare. (Rashford, 4) Corruption, lobbyist, and private insurances are the ones responsible for this. Private insurance premiums rice twice as fast than the...
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...whole. They are reasons why American have either prospered and have been set back into recessions. Health is one of the most talked about public policy topics. Health care is topic that affects local and state governments for many reasons. First of all, health care is insurance for people that are injured or ill. Each county has their own type of health care. There are many different types of health care organizations that are offered to people all over the world. Some of these organizations include: the health maintenance group, provider group, and a proposal that combines aspects from both the health maintenance cgroup and the provider group. The most important type of health care insurance is a universal health plan. Universal health care is what will eventually save Americans a large amount of money and it will also guarantee that every American is insured. The number of uninsured citizens has grown to be above 40 million people. Health care is becoming unaffordable and we can eliminate wasteful inadequacies. A centralized national database can be established to make life easier for doctors, and medical professionals will only have to worry about the patience and not who’s paying for the medication for people. There are many people today who do not like the idea of universal health care and refuse to get it. America is known for having the best medical physicians and people are afraid that it will change drastically if we all share one universal health care plan. Also, if...
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...(2002). Health care costs: Fact sheet. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved on March 12, 2013, from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/factsheets/costs/health-care/index.html The United States department of health and human services has an agency that is dedicated to conducting studies on the cost of healthcare to inform lawmakers and citizens alike. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has done extensive studies on particular ways to target the increasing cost of medical care. This is in recognition of the cost as a barrier to the availability of healthcare to the poor. Ayanian, J.Z. & Van der Wees, P.J. (2012). Tackling rising health care costs in Massachusetts. The New England Journal of Medicine, 367, 790-793. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1208710. Massachusetts is an example of a state on how to enact healthcare reform. Ayanian and Van der Wees (2012) investigate how Massachusetts has handled the rising cost of healthcare. In 2010, the state attorney general found that there was a great variation in the price of medical care throughout the state (Ayanian & Van der Wees, 2012). The state passed a law whose aim was to control medical care costs; Brill, S. (2013, February 20). Bitter pill: Why medical bills are killing us. Time. Retrieved Sept 5, 2014, from http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/. This article investigates the costs by...
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...Health Care Spending Recently the Health Care spending has risen from 2010 to 2011, there is not much hope for the future of health care, and funds that will be or should be available. Health care spending is to continue to rise over the next few years which will make it harder for Americans to get the proper health care they need. Nationally in 2012 the United States spent an estimated $2.8 trillion; however, the health care industries growth has stayed low. Federal actuary analysis has shown that in 2011 there was $2.7 trillion spent nationally; the averages per person consisted of $8,680 spent on health care. These figures show a 3.9% of growth rates in both 2010 and 2011. Not exactly what individuals want to see concerning their health and getting the proper medical care they need (NCSL. 2013). Expenses are paid out to multiple different areas, the major areas consisting of physician and clinical services, Medicare spending, private health insurance, retail prescription drugs, and out-of-pocket spending; it was these areas that percentages rose. Major areas that slowed down in the spending rate were Medicaid and Hospital spending (NCSL. 2013). The graphs below show the area percentages in which accelerated and what slowed. Health care spending has recently proven to be too much, thinking about that $2.7 trillion spent nationally in 2011, is a big part of why the United States is in debt, and cannot pull itself out. With 2014 quickly upon Americans...
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...Generic Prescription Drug Costs Prescription drugs have been causing problems in the United States for a very long time. Pharmaceutical companies are one of the largest profiting global industries. It was in 2009 when drug shortages increased with numbers reaching what many have termed crisis level which raised all prices of generic prescription drugs significantly (Fox, Sweet, & Jensen, 2014). This increase was and still is leaving patients with a life threatening decision; either go on paying for their prescriptions which they cannot afford or stop their treatment all together and risk their illness progressing and leading to possible death. Some have chosen to end their treatment altogether, while other patients have confessed to taking dangerous measures to ensure their refills last longer like cutting their pills in half or skipping doses. The United States drug manufacturers are raising prices endlessly without regulation. Instead of generic brand medication being affordable, they are creating their own monopolies and setting their prices just as competitively as name brands. Instead of buying and stocking manufacturers with raw materials from within the United States, they source raw materials from overseas creating delays and a huge shortage in raw materials has surfaced. Instead of keeping the FDA in the loop as to what is going on in the production process, manufacturers wait until the very last minute to report a problem which goes against all rules, regulations...
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