Health Care Cost

1253 Words6 Pages
Health care costs have constantly registered a rapid increase in the last several years. For instance, health care expenditure in the United States was in trillions of dollars about three years ago. Factually, this was more that thrice the amount spent over a decade ago and over eight times the 1980 medical budget. Medical care has become a major concern that affects mankind in every corner of the globe. Governments, employers as well as citizens continue to struggle to keep abreast with the soaring health care costs. Economic analysts identify health care costs control as the key driver for wider economic stability for any sovereign state. In fact, President Obama made this a primary focus in his intended reforms. Although citizens are the…show more content…
The nature of health care is drastically affected by the growing prevalence of chronic diseases. Health care systems are faced by the demand new medical solutions to these illnesses. The escalating need for treatment of the chronic illnesses calls for long term care services which include nursing homes. In estimation, treatment of chronic disease accounts for over three quarters of health expenditures. This factor runs parallel to the cost of maintaining the aging population. Nevertheless, aged individuals with or without the chronic illnesses contribute minimally to the increased growth of medical care expenditure (World Health Organization:75). This fact notwithstanding, an aging population that suffers from chronic ailments increases medical costs for the healthy majority. In fact, the higher rates of chronic diseases contribute mainly a great deal to the increased medical spending by the…show more content…
A significant portion of citizens rely on insurance coverage through their employers during their working years. To the employers, increased health care spending erodes their profits which leads them to reduce, change or eliminate the health insurance coverage altogether. In fact, some employers have resolved to curtail the practice of hiring fulltime employees so as to cut on medical insurance coverage. In the same light, some organizations have increased retiree contributions to premiums besides increasing cost sharing requirements. Some of them even eliminate the subsidized medical benefits for the retirees. This has seen a decline of firms offering health benefits to retirees in past years, a factor that has created a negotiation frontier among employees and employers. Citizens are therefore discouraged by these trends since they do not expect any medical subsidies from their employers. As a result, they are more reluctant to seek help and resolve to out-of-pocket
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