...Healthcare-Outline The United States is faced with a myriad of social and economic issues every day. Among these issues, The Affordable Healthcare Act (more popularly known as Obamacare) is a recent policy that has caused a lot of controversy. The Affordable Healthcare Act is a federal, 1 social program that will give all citizens healthcare coverage through government funding via tax revenue (Lazarus, 2011). The argument of whether or not to implement The Affordable Healthcare Act is fiercely debated on by both politicians and ordinary, informed citizens. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to solve this debate, as there are many valid arguments on both perspectives of the issue. One side supports The Affordable Healthcare Act, claiming that Americans need healthcare and many cannot afford it. On the other hand, there are those who do not support The Affordable Healthcare Act, stating that it will hurt the economy, lower the quality of healthcare, and harm healthcare workers financially both reflect a complex issue and a compromise is needed. There are serious flaws with the current state of healthcare in America, and the side that supports The Affordable Healthcare Act has valid points as to why the current healthcare policy should be changed. In 2010, almost fifty million Americans were uninsured (Lazarus, 2011). Healthcare is unaffordable to many people in its current state, therefore, many individuals can potentially be denied quality treatment for serious illnesses...
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...Health Care Spending HCS 440 Economics: The Financing of Healthcare Class Group: BSEW1GQMZ5 University of Phoenix Online Instructor: Geoffrey J. Suszkowski, Ph.D., LFHIMSS 05/11/2015 Health Care Spending “In 2013 U.S. health care spending increased 3.6 percent to reach $2.9 trillion, or $9,255 per person, the fifth consecutive year of slow growth in the range of 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent. The share of the economy devoted to health spending has remained at 17.4 percent since 2009 as health spending and the Gross Domestic Product increased at similar rates for 2010 - 2013”("National Health Expenditures 2013 Highlights," 2013). The cost of health care spending greatly affects the way that individuals budget their spending. It is important the economy can adjust accordingly to individuals about whether health care spending is too much or not enough. Current Level of National Healthcare Spending The topic of healthcare spending in the United States is a controversial one, and most often, the populations' opinions doesn't always agree with those of policymakers. Getting health care spending under control is vital to the economic health of the government and the people of the United States. What makes healthcare expenditures so disgraceful is the large amount of money the government spends on healthcare each year versus the number of people without health care. The amount of money the U.S. government spends on health care each year doubles that...
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...Are government cuts to NHS funding affecting how services are received by the older generations in the UK? Introduction: In recent times, this particular topic has raised a lot of interest and the question on most people’s mind is ‘are government cuts to NHS funding affecting how services are received by the older generations in the UK?’ I have researched and found many interesting opinions regarding this topic including ‘The Local Authority of public health’, who believe “It is feared that this cut will not only affect the public health services but will also have a serious knock on effect on NHS healthcare services.” (Bevan, 2015) This is emphasised repeatedly as according to ‘The Department of Health’ “there has been an estimate on the NHS...
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...mostly comprised of decreasing spending on national defense and an increase on spending of healthcare from 2.9% to 24.9%, also an increase of social security spending from 13.4% to 20.3%. Which is a very large increase in healthcare spending, almost a 100% increase from the year 1960 to 2007; also a very large increase in social security spending. Social security spending is the largest portion of government spending. At the state and local levels most of the spending has remained relatively the same. The only exception is healthcare spending, which has more than doubled from 1960 to 2007. Health spending at state and local levels went from 8.2% to 20.7%. The increases in social security and healthcare costs could be attributed to the aging baby boomer population (approximated at 75 million people). This large portion of the US population has had increasing social security needs and increasing healthcare needs. The decrease in national defense could be attributed to several different things including globalization, diminishing international trade laws, the break up of the Soviet Union and a more efficient/ technologically advanced military. These all may have attributed to the decrease in national defense. There are many more factors that could also attribute to the decrease in national defense spending. 2. Why does redistribution cause efficiency losses? Why might society choose to redistribute resources from one group to another when doing so...
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...Running head: UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE PLAN Universal Healthcare in America Name NUR 109 Fundamentals in Nursing Front Range Community College Universal healthcare is a controversial, yet important topic facing our country today. According to the author, Marleise Rashford there are approximately 300 million people living in the United States and one sixth of them are uninsured.(2007,p.5) That is approximately 50 million without insurance in our country today. Is this number so large because people are unable to afford it, is healthcare not important to them, or are they not using the government’s current medical systems that are put in place for them to use? These are all valid concerns that need to be addressed. The controversy at hand is putting together plan that will be effective, low cost to Americans and a fair reimbursement for working physicians. One huge advantage of universal healthcare program is that each individual no matter their income or pre-existing condition would be covered. That means everyone in the United States would be able to receive affordable benefits including preventative, surgical, specialists visits, rehabilitative services, hospitalizations, long term care and prescription medications. (Rashford, 2007, p.4) The universal healthcare system works through the primary care physician. The physician would be the patient’s overseer and they help plan routine health screens, early interventions, or any...
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...Finance in the healthcare industry can be a very tricky subject. The primary role of finance in the health services is to plan for, obtain, and make use of resources to increase the productivity and value of the business (Nowicki 2007). Finance is a very important part of the health care industry. It keeps everything on track and in order so that things operate successfully. Without the right person(s) helping to operate the place of business the company can be in a great deal of trouble. When I think of finance I think of cash. In today’s economy cash flow is at its all time low. More people are trying to cut cost and much as they can. This means less doctor visits and sometime not going to the doctor at all. Which means that if your health care business is use to seeing a certain amount of patients and that number suddenly stops that can put some jobs at jeopardy. The role of finance has increased in the healthcare industry. Like I stated previously cash flow is at an all time low. With the high demands of hospitals, long term care, nursing homes, special practices and assisted living, the need for healthcare and funding is growing daily. There is a different age group that is being more catered to due to the aging population around. Funding is necessary for all levels of healthcare organizations, and there are some governmental hospitals/facilities, non-profit, and privately funded that need to be aware of the fast paced changes that are being made financially in the world...
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...Macro Economics Professor Chartier 10/25/2004 Bush and Kerry under the Four Economic Issues As the presidential election date is approaching, it is time for Americans to make the important decision on whether to vote for Senator Kerry or President Bush. This decision may very well depends on the individual as the elected candidate will cause a different impact for each American. This essay will examine the position and programs of each presidential candidate under the four main economic issues in the United States: healthcare, taxation, international trade and environment policy. The first economic issue is Healthcare. As we all know, healthcare cost in the United States is comparatively more expensive than other countries. This is also the reason why many workers in the United States require healthcare benefits. Cost in healthcare is simply too high for an average American to afford if anything happens to them and therefore, many people purchase health insurance. However, having health insurance does not solve the high cost in healthcare because premiums are expensive and not all could afford it. Senator Kerry plans to reduce the cost of health insurance, health care bills and medicine, as well as improving medical efficiency to cut administrative cost. He asserts to cut premium costs by reimbursing business for 75 percent of the cost of catastrophic care since a single catastrophic case can raise the price of health insurance dramatically for a small business...
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...Healthcare, is it still a Benefit? Donnalynn Sullivan Empire State College BME-213754 Organizational Strategy and Performance Instructor: David Morrell December 17, 2012 Table of Contents Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………… 2 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………3 Healthcare, Is it Still a Benefit………………………………………………………………….4 The Reason Behind the Employee Benefit of Healthcare………………………………………5 Controlling Healthcare Costs, the Strategies and the Benefits…………………………………7 The Healthcare Reform…………………………………………………………………………9 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….11 References…………………………………………………………………………………….12 Abstract This paper will address some of the issues and trends in health care as an employee benefit. “Employee benefits range dramatically between jobs and careers. Some jobs, such as those that pay minimum wage, do not provide employee benefits while others provide several benefits. Great employee benefits include a health insurance plan, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance and a retirement fund. Healthcare, is it still a Benefit? Health insurance ranks as the most important benefit that employees seek from an employer. This topic has been on the hot seat for most companies and employers. Health care costs are on the rise and companies are trying to find ways to combat it. How does this affect the employer/company? How does this affect the benefit...
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...Bausch & Lomb What is the impact of the new distribution and sales program on the Bausch & Lomb 1993 financial statements? Address why or why not you would consider the impact “material.” a.) Address not only the impact on sales revenue but also look at the impact on operating earnings (Both Income Statement Issues) and relevant asset balance sheet accounts. The impact on Sales Revenue as well as Operating Earnings is in our mind materially important when looking at the income statement. By selling inventory earlier then it would have in its normal business cycle Bausch & Lomb moved future sales into the current reporting period. In the short term Bausch & Lomb is exhibiting growth in sales revenue that is not really there. Operating Earnings derived from the Income statement is going to be greatly convoluted, and misunderstood by their decision to sell inventory earlier then it was needed. The cost of goods sold will be much higher then it normally would have under normal selling conditions, which could lead to many misunderstandings. Operational managers in the company who use sales and COGS as important indicators in producing goods for Bausch & Lomb may make poor forecasting calls when determining what and how much to make of particular products. Also potential future investors and current shareholders are given a misrepresentation of the true demand for Bausch & Lomb’s product and inventory control. From a balance sheet perspective the Accounts...
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...our healthcare facilities meet the quality and standard that our organization has put in place for us to be successful. Information systems can also improve our goals for our organization. The first step to selecting an information system is to put together a team to develop a process. The first step is selecting a team. This team would be the stakeholders. They would decide which system would help the most in what the organization is trying to accomplish. “The stakeholders of the organization have seen a need in an increase in a certain area which an information system can help and the information system will be brought in to address that particular need” (Johnson, E. pg.1). This will ensure that they are making the right decision for the company. The main factor for choosing an information system is to make sure the system will meet and exceed the goal of the organization. Stakeholders are involved because they know what part of the needs are the most help. They have to make sure that the system is the best choice for everyone who would be affected by the change. Organizations’ goal for selecting an information system is to improve the quality of healthcare, patient safety, and cost effectiveness. It is also a way to cut down on medical errors and wrong medicine assigning. It will cut down on the paperwork that the organization has to store on offsite storage because the storage onsite is full. It is the way to keep up with all of the changes in the healthcare field...
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...have revitalized the vision of health IT as a critical component of accelerating improvements in the quality and value of health care for all Americans. Policymakers will be challenged to link investments in the health information infrastructure to the objectives of health care reform. The purpose of this paper is to articulate on why it is important to increase the likelihood of achieving high-value health care with the aid of health IT. Although the healthcare community has been clamoring for integration of its IT systems for decades, the industry is still in a rather elementary stage when it comes to useful and practical systems integration. Many think that the systems don’t support shared identities; they’re too focused on structured data, and that they don’t produce enough common output in a security-friendly way. However, by leveraging the Common Security Framework, healthcare organizations can now better manage risk; save time and expense that would be spent in determining their requirements and in auditing business associates; and increase information protection while better managing information security related expenses. Healthcare organizations in 2008 that was eager to develop health information exchanges (HIE) and regional health information networks (RHIO) also developed creative ways to assemble requests for proposals (RFP); clarify vendor expectations, and manage and resolve governance issues. Vendors received RFPs from states that had high hopes for data...
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...Changing Unionized Labor Forever The governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, is faced with a $137 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year and an expected $3.6 billion gap over the next two years. He is pushing for a bill that has every union worker in an uproar. The bill will cause most state, local, and school employees to pay half their pension costs. The bill will also require them to pay double their current contribution of 12.6 percent to health-care costs. Union workers, with the exception of police, firefighters, and troopers, will lose their collective bargaining power on everything besides wages. However, raises in pay will be from the sole result of inflation. This bill will also require elections to be held every year by all non-law-enforcement unions in order to stay certified. Although not every union worker agrees with the solutions that this bill proposes to decrease the budget deficit, I believe the bill’s requirements for union workers has many key points which will be beneficial for our economy and the majority of American workers. Collective bargaining needs to be weakened in order to help save money, decrease corruption within unions, and help U.S. companies with foreign competition. There has been strong support for the decline of unions and their collective bargaining power recently. However their opposition, who are those in favor of unionized labor, in no way go unnoticed and often cause many problems for the legislation required to pass...
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...some people (in their 20’s and 30’s) go less often and some people (infants and elderly) go much more frequently (Graham, 2008). Because of this tremendous need of health care for every American the National health care spending amount is quite high and continues to grow. Current Level of National Healthcare Spending In 2011 the National healthcare spending was about 2.7 trillion dollars, or broken down about $8,650 per person (McCanne M.D., 2011). These statistics take into account hospital stays, specialty visits, infant well child checkups, etc. Even more astonishing is that this report projected that if the United States continues to spend money on health care this way that by 2020 the National health care spending will almost double being roughly 4.6 trillion, which breaks down to be $13,700 per person (McCanne M.D., 2011)! Current Level of Spending Too Much or Too Little The United States spends more on health care than any other country, and I feel that is way too much. To spend on average $8,650 per person per year on health care costs is an absurd amount of money, and this number is able to go down it will just take a lot of determination by the citizens. It is important that...
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...$592.87 billion dollars. I have learned that the current level of health care spending cannot continue the way it is, or the United States is going to go bankrupt. The current level of health care spending is at an all-time high. This is the one particular reason why the Obamacare came into play. For the most part, it was to save money. The level of national health care expenditures is considerably high in comparison to any other region across the world. “Health spending in the United States is much higher than in other countries – at least $2,535 dollars, or 51% higher than Norway, the next largest per capita spender” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2011, para. 3). In addition in 2009 the United States spent more than 17% of its gross domestic product on healthcare, which is higher than any other developed nation in the world. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts “that, without any revolutions in federal law, total spending on health care will rise from 16% of GDP in 2007 to 25% in 2025, and close to 50% in 2082” (Johnson, 2010, Para. 7). The subject of healthcare in the United States can be a straining one, and it is also an area where what people think is not always what is being done by policymakers. Healthcare spending is over the top of everything. We spend billions of...
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...economy is healthcare system. The majority countries the healthcare system in the United States is not public, meaning that the state does not provide free or despicable healthcare services. However other countries Canada and Great Britain, for example, the government funds healthcare providers through taxes. The United States being a profoundly capitalistic country for another route and passed the burden of healthcare spending on private consumers as well as other institutions such as employers, insurers, etc. Everything would have been fine unless statistics showed dramatic increases in healthcare spending over the years. American healthcare system is the most expensive one in the world; in 2004 America spent about 16% of nation’s Gross Domestic Product on healthcare services, which is approximately $1.9 trillion (Economist, 2006). Furthermore, annual spending continues to grow 10 to 15 percent every year (Davis et al., 2003), which is faster than the national inflation growth rate. However, healthcare spending in the United States requires abrupt analysis and new policy solutions; or else it would become an uncontrollable fund-consuming machine. American economists are now trying to understand the nature of the growing healthcare costs, and to analyze its impact on the overall nation’s economy. Health and Human Services Department identified the major trends that lead to the rapid growth of healthcare spending. These include (but are not limited to) “changes in healthcare utilization...
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