It is the only industrialize nation that does not provide health coverage to all of its citizens. There is widespread opposition to providing universal health care because of the substantial cost that will be added to the country’s budget that is already heavily burdened. Indeed, while this is a valid and understandable concern, every citizen in the United States has the right to quality health care coverage. The cost of health care has been on a steady rise for the past several years. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, the average cost of family insurance coverage in the United States was $13,000.00 per year in 2009.
Economists estimate about 2 trillion will be spent on medical care in 2007. That is about $6,830 per person, which amounts to 16 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Clemmitt, Marcia (2006, April 7) Rising health cost (vol.16, Issue 13). Recent reports from (Clemmit,2006) recognize the fact that rising health care costs have made health insurance too expensive for many employers to offer and health care itself too costly for tens of millions of Americans.
Judging on the past of health care and the major developments that have been made in the last 150 years, the economics of it all have also changed dramatically. The demand for health care is nowhere near meeting the supply, struggling with retaining employees and offering efficient care all over the world. The health care economy is the most grossing industry in the United States, with a gross domestic product of 3.5 trillion dollars. With results like that, elasticity in health care seems somewhat unheard of. The need for health care is dire, yet the prices just increase.
The cost to providers from medical malpractice is higher medical malpractice insurance. The monetary damage from lawsuits and additional cost due to negligence and wrongful death by a medical provider's errors are making the healthcare system struggle economically. The cost of the healthcare continues to rise each year and medical errors do not help towards decreasing the cost of medicine. Therefore, governmental agencies are enforcing
The industry is faced with financial pressures from consumers, insurers, and governments. Inflation in the industry is much higher than it is within the overall economy. Employers can no longer bear the burden of rising group health insurance costs for its employees. Too many large companies have used bankruptcy law as a shield to reduce or shift some of their legal obligations to provide health insurance coverage to present or retired employees. Stakeholders of health care providers are demanding greater control over costs.
Jonathan M. Saldua Mr. M. May Government AP 3 February 2011 Unfair Health Care in America To tell you the truth I did not know it was this bad. The health care system in the United States of America is shocking; millions of underprivileged Americans are suffering from illnesses that are completely treatable. Health care should be universal; the United States of America is more than capable enough to provide it to everyone. If you would just look at the list of life expectancy for every country, for the past 30 years, you would see that America’s numbers continue to decrease. So what’s the problem?
Since the uninsured are frequently unable to pay for the care they receive, the costs for their care are shifted to government programs or private plans, or to the charity of providers, even if unintended. The costly administrative excesses of private health plans, especially when contrasted to government programs, have been well documented. This fragmented system of funding care places an even greater administrative and financial burden on the providers of health care. (McCanne DR, 2004) Although the exact amount is disputed, most policy analysts agree that replacing this fragmented system of funding care with a single, universal, publicly administered insurance program could recover 200 billion dollars or more, which are currently being wasted on useless and sometimes detrimental administrative
Compared with other developed nations, America lags behind in the provision of quality and affordable healthcare to its citizens. This research paper will discuss some of the challenges facing the industry and solutions that can be applied to rectify them. Rising costs of medical care Healthcare is the leading socio-economic challenge affecting Americans. The ever increasing cost of medical care and insurance in affecting the American way of life in many aspects. Having problems paying for primary healthcare is no longer the preserve of the poor or the unemployed, but is affecting even those with medical insurance (Shea, 2005).
Health and Social Class Our personal health is affected by many factors in our daily lives. The most important factor that affects a person’s health, however, is his or her social class. Economic status often determines a person’s healthcare, and, as a consequence, that person’s overall health. The healthcare options determined by social class are no care, limited care, and uneven delivery of care. These problems carry overwhelming costs to individuals who have scant resources to spare and to the majority of taxpayers, both of whom struggle with the burden of attempting to manage healthcare costs on a crisis-by-crisis basis.
Analyze the main causes of a major problem in our society National Health Care Even before the recession cost millions of Americans their jobs a full 15% of the American population did not have health insurance and the majority of them worked full time (CDC, 2007). Indeed, while Americans equate work with health insurance the truth is that aboot 20% of working age Americans, people between 18 and 64 years of age, do not have health insurance (CDC, 2007). These numbers may seem small. However, additional investigation will show that this is only a small part of the problem in the country. The issue is not that all employers do not offer health insurance, but that Americans view health insurance as something only employers offer.