Health care costs have become a major issue in the United States, both socially and politically. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 50.7 million people, or nearly one in six U.S. residents, were uninsured in 2009 (Kaiser Health News, 2010).This is because the high cost of health care has driven the cost of insurance out of the reach of many Americans. Contributing factors to the continuing increase in the cost of health care are the generally unhealthy…
Health care reform is a not only an ongoing topic of debate statewide, but nationwide as well. Health care reform is a popular topic right now all over the United States. This paper will discuss the various ways that health care reform measures have expanded or inhibited access to care as well as how these changes effect the utilization of healthcare. Also covered will be universal health care, a discussion of what this consists of and how current care identifies or contrasts with it (University of Phoenix, 2013).…
For the past decades, politicians and insurance companies could carelessly proclaim that the United States had the best healthcare system in the world, but as its major deficiencies have become more apparent many people have found it harder to accept this claim. It is reported that around 59 million Americans are without health insurance and are aware that our health care system does not work for everyone. This has caused a growing recognition that the major problems of rising costs and lack of access constitute a real crisis. However, the search solutions have not been easy or clear cut. The problems of our health care system have been responded to with various makeshift solutions rather than analyzing the system itself as a whole to take…
For some time now, Americans have been wanting to switch to a universal health care system. A healthcare system where all Americans will have access to the proper health care that is affordable and fits their needs. Some solutions that can be implemented are replacing for-profit insurance companies, reforming the health care system, and hiring insurance companies that have slow cost growths. These are excellent solutions because there are a substantial number of Americans who do not have health insurance and desperately need it. However, we should not put a national health care system into effect because our current health care system is in a corrupt state and has to be addressed before we can move forward.…
Managed care is a type of system that was formed to help control the costs and quality to health care services; this will give access to services to specific groups of covered patients. The system was created to help the patients (customers) to receive services without having the full financial burden (University of Washington, 1998). The managed care services’ goal is to be able to help individuals and their families by providing health care services that is affordable. This type of managed care will help employees or individuals by requiring a set fee to be paid to the physician for visits, a co-pay and monthly premium to be paid to the insurance company. This will lower the amount that the patient has to pay. There have been many demands that have been needed in the managed care system; changes have had to be made to keep improving the health care services to help it to continue to grow. This paper will cover how the managed care began, in addition to how the system has grown and the changes of the system.…
A skilled nursing facility as of the present time versus a skilled nursing facility 20 years ago was very different. The following will compare and contrast the operation of a skilled nursing facility 20 years ago with the operation of Sandrock Ridge Care and Rehab now. The information systems in the workplace and how data was used 20 years ago versus how it is used now will also be identified. Finally, two of the major events and technoligical advantages that have influenced current Health Care Information Systems practices will be described.…
Serious diseases were of primary interest to early humans, although they were not able to treat them effectively. Many diseases were attributed to the influence of malevolent demons, alien spirit, a stone, or a worm into the body of the unsuspecting patient. These diseases were warded off by incantations, dancing, magic charms and talismans, and various other measures. If the demon managed to enter the body of its victim, either in the absence of such precautions or despite them, efforts were made to make the body uninhabitable to the demon by beating, torturing, and starving the patient. As time progressed and man got smart so did Healthcare. With the advancement in healthcare the way the services where…
US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of spending. Obama Cares purpose is to put consumers back in charge of their health care and aid in driving down the cost of spending in health care. The reform will also strive to put forward a delivery system that operates better for all involved thereby decreasing organizational burdens and assisting in the collaboration towards improved care. If the reform is successful, it will lead to measureable improvements in care outcomes, and in the health of the American general public overall.…
The main goals of U.S. Healthcare Reform (Affordable Care Act) are providing universal healthcare access to uninsured and underinsured, controlling/minimizing the escalating costs of healthcare and improving the quality of healthcare. In terms of access, around 47 million Americans are uninsured. In terms of cost, healthcare cost represents more than 17% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) which is still growing rapidly over time. In terms of quality, despite of new technologies, new treatments and new drugs, there is a lot of discrepancy in healthcare based on certain factors such as in which region you reside, how much you earn, etc. Fundamentally, healthcare reform affects all Americans whether working or unemployed, young or elderly,…
In 2006, an estimated fifty million people lacked medical insurance in the United States of America (Pibel). Uninsured Americans were charged significantly more for basic services and died when medical care could have saved them. Unfortunately, it’s not only the uninsured who suffer in this desperate situation. Of the more than one million, five-hundred thousand bankruptcies filed in the United States before President Barack Obama’s administration, about half were a result of medical bills; of those, three-quarters of filers actually had health insurance (Pibel 1). On March 23 of 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law. Also known as “Obamacare,” this law primarily functions to decrease the number of uninsured Americans…
The health care system in the United States has several major problems. Among all of them, insurance policy is the core issue. The Unites States is the only developed country, except for South Korea, that does not provide healthcare for all of its citizens (Farrell). According to the research, there are still 50.7 million people uninsured, which is 16% of the United States population (about one in six people), or the combined population of 25 average-sized states, such as Oklahoma, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, and Kansas (Parker-Pope). The main cause is that the price for health insurance is too high. Many people are not able to pay insurance premiums and over these years the situation has been getting worse and worse. During the past eight years, insurance premiums have nearly doubled, resulting in health insurance moving farther out of reach for millions (Farrell; Klein).…
It is no secret that there is much controversy surrounding the health care system in the United States (US). The hybrid public-private nature of the system has resulted in many inequalities for users. These inequalities include access to primary and preventative health care, access to affordable health care and the uneven outcomes of health care interventions. Even more challenging is the lack of agreement of government and policy makers on how to address these difficulties. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted in 2010 with a key goal of expanding the accessibility of healthcare coverage to more people in the US. While the PPACA reshapes the landscape of…
The Affordable Care Act is an effective policy that has insured a large portion of the United States’ population. In 2004, approximately thirty-two million people younger than sixty-five had insurance and in 2010, when Obamacare was passed, 44.8 million people of the same age group were insured with Medicaid (“Health Insurance Coverage” 1). The rising number of insured Americans shows the indubitable benefits Obamacare has brought upon the general public. In other words, had the government not passed Obamacare, millions of people would be uninsured. In agreement with this idea,…
Although the United States spends substantially more on health care per person than other industrialized countries, it scores only average or somewhat worse on many qualities of care. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act coverage of preventative health services ensures that preexisting conditions will be covered by health insurance companies and preventative services will have no out of pocket costs for the insurers. This act should help keep U.S. citizens keep and stay…
The structure of the U.S heath care system is certainly a topic greatly debated. Whether it is discussing the cost of health care, poor outcomes, shortages in health care workers, underutilization of other health care workers, the lack of access to care, or growing demand by consumers for health care that offers choice, quality, convenience, affordability and personalized care. It is not a secret that the United States spends more money than any other nation on health care, but only ranks 34th in the world in life expectancy and has higher mortality rates in infants than any other nation that is developed.…