...The Rising Cost of Health Care: Effects on Access to Care The rising cost of health care is a trend that is negatively influencing access to health care. According to our course textbook, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, over 46 million Americans did not have health coverage in 2008, and 25 million American adults were underinsured (p. 124-125). For most people, this can be attributed to the high cost of premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the history of the trend of rising health care costs, the influence rising costs have on the delivery of health care, how rising costs create disparities in health care, and two ways that nurses can address inadequate access to health care. Access Trend In the U.S., there are more people today than ever before, unable to access quality health care. “Access is the ability to obtain needed, affordable, convenient, acceptable, and effective health care in a timely fashion” (Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee, 2012, p. 124). This lack of access is attributable to the high cost of health care, which makes it unaffordable for the working poor, and those working for small businesses, to pay for adequate health care. There is an inverse relationship between the cost of health care and good patient outcomes. It is estimated that $7,000 per person, including children, is spent on health care in the U.S., yet the country does not rank in the top 15 of industrialized countries in terms of good health...
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...Problem Rising health care costs is a major concern for many nations, societies, and individuals. However, health care costs are far higher in the United States than any other developed country. Over the past 3 decades, health care spending in the United States have increased ten times, from $236 billion in 1980 to an estimated $2.4 trillion in 2010 (Kim, Tanner, Foster, & Kim, 2014) . More than one-sixth of the United States economy is spent on health care. Health care costs have been rising continuously faster than the overall economy and personal incomes for decades. Even though the U.S spends more on health care than any other country in the world, it is still ranked the lowest amongst the developed countries around the world. The goal...
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...The debate about health care involves issues concerning the right to have healthcare insurance as well as those 65 and older, obesity epidemic, smoking and how each of these topics affects health care in the United States. The number of people with health insurance has steadily increased among with the elderly, who face additional challenges when it comes to seeking health care. The projected increase of Americans classified as obese or who smoke has also had an impact on our health care system. The rising cost of health care and health insurance will have a great impact on the future of the economy. Today’s health care system is increasingly complex regarding cost-controlling measures and the affordability of insurance premiums. The...
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...HC1: The rising cost of healthcare is one of the greatest challenges facing the United States that will continue in the coming generations. Reducing the cost and improving the quality should be a top national priority, but despite the many attempts to reshape healthcare market place and improve delivery in the past years, current trends have proved otherwise. There is no doubt that America has benefited from the Affordable Care Act, which reduced health care spending and insured more than 90 percent of the population, but unfortunately, this slowdown has ended and healthcare spending has recently risen above inflation and wage growth (Rother, 2016). Recent statistics has shown that the U.S spent $1.3 million to 2.5 million between 1999 and 2009 o healthcare (Auerbach, 2011). HC2: The continuous increase in healthcare cost affects the...
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...The Driving Forces behind Rising Health Care Costs Leslie Parvin HCA/210 August 23, 2013 Jon Lasell The Driving Forces behind Rising Health Care Costs Even though some experts disagree the high cost of health care is not a serious problem, the high and rising costs are a major issue, because of the high cost of new technologies and the aging population. Furthermore, the most expensive health care system in the world is right here in the United States, with the per capita health expenditures far above those in any other countries. However, to help the sky rocketing costs of health care, insurance companies came out with plans like HMO’s to help manage care organizations that provide comprehensive health care services for a predetermined annual fee per each person enrolled. The rising health care costs have become a huge concern for almost everyone, including the general public, federal and state governments, and employers who purchase health care for their employees. Hence, there are several reasons to explain the high and rising costs of health care. According to Bodenheimer (2005), he stated, “High health care costs might derive from factors outside the health sector rather than from characteristics of the health care system itself” (p. 849). One of these factors outside the health sector is the rising costs of health care for the aging population. According to the Pew Research Center (2010), as of January 1, 2011 approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers,...
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...Technology in Rising Health Care Costs. What should or shouldn’t be done. Neha Para, MPH Student 5453-001 US Health Care System University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center December 8, 2010 Abstract Health care costs are a longstanding concern to policymakers. For years, health care spending has been rising faster than the rate of economic growth, raising the question of what factors are responsible for rising health care costs. This paper explores published articles that report results from research conducted on technological innovations in health care and its relation to rising health care costs. The cost increases have a significant effect on households, businesses, and government programs. Health care experts indicates the development and diffusion of medical technology as primary factors in explaining the persistent difference between health spending and overall economic growth, with some arguing that new medical technology may account for about one-half or more of real long-term spending growth. Rising health care expenditures lead to the question of whether we are getting value for the money we spend. On an average, increases in medical spending as a result of advances in medical care have provided reasonable value. An alternative viewpoint holds that although new technologies represent medical advances, they are prone to overuse and thereby excess cost. Most of the suggestions to slow the growth in new medical technology in the U.S. focus on cost-effectiveness...
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...You are presented with a 52-year-old female patient. She is experiencing acute discomfort from gall stone symptoms for the fourth time in 8 years. The condition has responded to nonsurgical treatment in the past, but each subsequent time is a slower and more painful recovery. She is underinsured, and the cost of a surgery would be beyond her means without some sort of write-off or assistance. However, her family makes too much to qualify for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Examine this case, using each of the following principles in turn as a possible guide to your actions: 1. The principle of utility: Bring about the greatest good with the least harm. The principle of utility is determined by the rightness of the act on someone’s happiness. Therefore, after examining the case and using the principle of utility, I would make sure that the action I perform should in turn make the patient happy. Furthermore, if the female patient wanted me to perform surgery to fix her gall stone condition, I would try to come up with the best possible solution to get her the surgery she wants. The surgery would improve the well being of the patient and she will be more comfortable after the surgery is over knowing that she will no longer have to deal with her gall stones. 2. The principle of equality: Everything is distributed equally. `The principle of equality means that everyone gets treated equally, and no one person should be favored. Thus if I were dealing...
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...Berenice Delgado Vernon Thacker, Maria Quimba HLT 305- Legal and Ethical Principles in Health Care Ethical Principles As days, hours, and seconds past by, we are growing older. This is an inevitable reality that no one can stop from occurring. No matter what we do or how we go about doing it, the process of aging is set and stone. Throughout this essay I will portray how I personally and carefully will examine a patient’s case that is suffering from gall stone pain. I will examine her case by analyzing six chief principles that include; the principle of utility, equality, need, contribution, effort, and autonomy. To begin with, this patient is fifty-two years old and has been dealing with gall stone issues for eight years. It is her fourth visit to the hospital because she is suffering acute discomfort. Fortunately, she has been treated with medicine in the past and has not had to undergone surgery. Unfortunately, each time she is treated the process takes longer and the pain is intensified. Due to the fact that her family makes sufficient money, she is not eligible for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). For the reason being that she is underinsured, if she partook in surgery it would be extremely expensive without obtaining any type of write-off or assistance. Now that we comprehend her case, it is time to determine how one can decide which treatment option is best. In more detail, it is essential to comprehend the principle...
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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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...* Home Page » * Other Topics Rising Health Care Cost In: Other Topics Rising Health Care Cost Courtney Sheegog May. 8th, 2013 Hca/210 Rising Health Care Cost Assignment • What are some of the driving forces behind rising health care spending? One of the driving forces behind rising health care spending is Technology and Prescription drugs, chronic disease, aging of the population, Administrative costs. For several years, spending on new medical technology and prescription drugs has been the leading contributor to the increase in overall health spending. (Healthcare reform .Gov. ,2011). Longer life spans, and greater prevalence of chronic illnesses. This has placed tremendous demands on the health care system, particularly an increased need for treatment of ongoing illnesses and long-term care services such as nursing homes; it is estimated that health care costs for chronic disease treatment account for over 75% of national health expenditures (Kaiser Edu.org, 2010). How do HMOs affect health care costs? HMO's often emphasize their ability to contain costs through oversight of physicians' decisions or by implementation of a capped payment scheme that aligns physicians' incentives with those of the healthcare plan. HMO's do have lower hospitalization rates and shorter hospital stays and use fewer expensive tests and procedures than traditional health-care providers. Some people also argue that the increasing use of managed care generates positive externalities that...
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...The Impact of Rapidly Rising Medical Cost In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of: Managerial Economics Summer 1, 2013 Trends in Medical Costs There is no denying that medical costs have not only risen in the past and continue to do so in the present, but this rise is faster than that of other expenses. [1] In this sense the relative costs of medical care have been rising. ‘Health care spending has risen about 2.4% points faster than GDP since 1970 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. [2] The causes of this rise can be traced to many policy reasons that include-increasing role of third party insurers which pay the bills, and the increasing role and scope of government intervention in policy and finances of health care. [3] Experts point out that the main problem is that the final user does not pay the cost anymore and this distorts the market and pricing mechanism of health care. Also, the demographic status of USA is such that the older people are rising in numbers, and they need more care-which raises medical care for the economy. Thus, a combination of wrong policies, and demographic factors, along with the current recession conditions have lead to a galloping of medical care bills for the entire economy. The share of medical care costs in GDP is rising consistently. Indifference Curve Analysis The effects of rising medical care costs are widespread and need a general equilibrium, economy wide modelling. In brief we can...
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...Health Care Spending HCS440 Economics the Financing of Health Care University of Phoenix Jonathan Kilroy Talesha Magby Healthcare Spending Over the past couple of years health care spending has been going up higher and snuggles to keep health care cost low. Insurance companies have gone up more when medical expenses started arriving. When Obama have insurance call Obama care, this requires that everyone to have insurance either through his or her job, Medicare, or Obama care. With health care insurance most American still does not have insurance; however the government over the next year would require him or her to have insurance or his or her taxes would be taking. This research paper will explain the level expenditures in health care, health care spending add or cut of health care and public need for paid in health care. According to the reading, “rising costs led Medicare and insurance companies to tighten reimbursing practices, Getzen. T. E. & Allen B ((2007)). Insurance is rising because health care is so expensive then over the past couple of years. However, healthcare expenditures continue to develop quickly within the next few years. This mean with the health care rising there would...
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...As noted health care spending has been rising for several years across countries around the world. Between now and 2050, the OECD predicted that for average nations, public spending on health and long-term care could almost double as a share of GDP in the absence of new policies to address trends in this sector rising from the current average level of 6-7 % of GDP to around 10% (OECD 2006). That estimate includes the consideration that as people live longer, they also remain in good health for longer. Even including cost containment measures, results have shown that public spending on health care are expected to see large increases, and in less wealthy countries, those increases could be dramatic. The dynamic of these changes has been characterized...
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...affordable and accessible health care coverage and services. Within the past thirty to forty years, the scope and cost of health care coverage and services has drastically changed, altering the manner in which health care was previously managed. There are several factors that have affected the cost of health care coverage over the course of the past two to three decades. One of these factors is the introduction and rapidly increasing enrollment in managed health care insurance plans. Managed care health insurance plans can, in most cases, help to alleviate the rising costs of effective medical coverage. Another important factor that has affected health care costs is the invention and implementation of new medical technologies. As prominent researchers and economic analysts have discovered, there is a distinct and direct correlat! ion between advancing medical technologies and rising health care costs. Medical innovation has been proven time and again to be an important determinant of health care cost growth. It would appear that managed care health insurance plans, which attempt to lower health care costs, and highly expensive new medical innovations and procedures are at cross purposes, pulling against one another in very different directions. Market-level comparisons have found the cost growth of health care in markets with greater managed care penetration to be generally slower than that of non-managed care health insurance markets....
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...impact health care cost, quality, and access? How will we see the use of defensive medicine shift as we move forward with the Affordable Care Act? Cite references to support your DQ post. HLT 205 Week 2 Topic 2 Discussion 2 Watch “TEDTalks: Daniel Kraft – Medicine’s Future? There’s an App for That”: http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://digital.films.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=12129&xtid=48192 After viewing the video, select four topics that were discussed and explain their significance to the future of health care technology. HLT 205 Week 2 Assignment Collaborative Learning Community: CLC Group Project Agreement Details: This is a CLC assignment. Complete the CLC Group Project Agreement form. Only one CLC Group Project Agreement form needs to be completed for your group. Your instructor will assign group members in Topic 2. The CLC Group Project Agreement form will benefit your group’s process by: 1. Creating an opportunity to introduce yourself to ther group members. 2. Clarifying strengths that would benefit the outcome of the project. 3. Defining time commitments that can be made for the CLC. 4. Fostering trust by following through on commitments made to the CLC in a timely manner. 5. Providing a plan for resolving CLC issues before they occur. HLT 205 Week 2 Assignment 2 Health Care Essay: Cost, Access, and Quality Details: An understanding of health care cost, access to care, and quality of care is vital for health care professionals...
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