Health Care Utilization
Health Care Utilization
Health care in the United States is teetering on the edge; it will either turn into universal health care or become too expensive for the majority of Americans. Recent health care reform has been developed to lower the cost of health care and make it more widely available. However, health care in the United State may start trending towards becoming a universal system. There are many arguments to both sides of health care reform and universal health care.
The Affordable Care Act is one of the most recent and controversial of the health care reform acts. The Affordable Care Act was created to lower the costs of health care for patients, providers, and the United States government. The Affordable Care Act is estimated to “reduce the federal budget deficit by more than $100 billion over the first decade and by more than $1 trillion between 2020 and 2030” (Orszag & Emanuel, 2010, para. 3). On top of saving the government money the Affordable Care Act also expands the access to health care. Starting in 2014 patients cannot be decline health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. This will allow patients who have been without health insurance for at least six months to get insurance no matter their income (The United States Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Allow all patients to get health insurance will help lower the cost of premiums for those who already have insurance because providers will not have to charge more to cover the costs of the uninsured. The new health care reforms also extend access of health care through the creation of the Health Insurance Marketplace. This program allows individuals to compare private insurance plans and see if they qualify for government assisted programs such as Medicaid or other free or low-cost options. The marketplace will allow Americans to find the right health insurance based on the criteria that they need.
On top of controlling the costs and extending access of health
Health care in the United States is teetering on the edge; it will either turn into universal health care or become too expensive for the majority of Americans. Recent health care reform has been developed to lower the cost of health care and make it more widely available. However, health care in the United State may start trending towards becoming a universal system. There are many arguments to both sides of health care reform and universal health care.
The Affordable Care Act is one of the most recent and controversial of the health care reform acts. The Affordable Care Act was created to lower the costs of health care for patients, providers, and the United States government. The Affordable Care Act is estimated to “reduce the federal budget deficit by more than $100 billion over the first decade and by more than $1 trillion between 2020 and 2030” (Orszag & Emanuel, 2010, para. 3). On top of saving the government money the Affordable Care Act also expands the access to health care. Starting in 2014 patients cannot be decline health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. This will allow patients who have been without health insurance for at least six months to get insurance no matter their income (The United States Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Allow all patients to get health insurance will help lower the cost of premiums for those who already have insurance because providers will not have to charge more to cover the costs of the uninsured. The new health care reforms also extend access of health care through the creation of the Health Insurance Marketplace. This program allows individuals to compare private insurance plans and see if they qualify for government assisted programs such as Medicaid or other free or low-cost options. The marketplace will allow Americans to find the right health insurance based on the criteria that they need.
On top of controlling the costs and extending access of health
References: Koh, H.K., & Sebelius, K.G. (2010, September). Promoting Prevention through the Affordable Care Act. The New England Journal of Medicine, (363), 1296-1299. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1008560 Orszag, P.R., & Emanuel, E.J. (2010, August). Health Care Reform and Cost Control. The New England Journal of Medicine, (363), 601-603. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1006571 The United States Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan. Retrieved from https://www.pcip.gov/ World Health Organization. (2013). What is Universal Health Coverage?. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/features/qa/universal_health_coverage/en/index.html