The need for health care is dire, yet the prices just increase. Inelasticity seems to better fit the industry, with the want and cost disproportioned. The microeconomics aspect of health care has a lot to focus on, most consumers make decisions based on quality, price and quantity. With the price of insurance and uninsured services so high, the quality and quantity could be there, but not the consumer. The price is a driving force for most consumers.
On an international foundation, the development of health care policy is aggressively being influenced by cost considerations. Managed Care is a system that incorporates the financing and delivery of appropriate health care using a wide-ranging set of services. Managed Care for a variety of payers was once seen as an effective approach to backing up health care quality while keeping under proper control costs. The power of nations and communities to pay for this care from available resources is a major of debate. During the past decade, the attractiveness of this access to many employers has faded and prospects for limiting health care costs have been baffled.
The Impacts of the Affordable Care Act: How Reasonable Are the Projections? Jonathan Gruber NBER Working Paper No. 17168 June 2011 JEL No. H3,I18 ABSTRACT The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most comprehensive reform of the U.S. medical system in at least 45 years. The ACA transforms the non-group insurance market in the United States, mandates that most residents have health insurance, significantly expands public insurance and subsidizes private insurance coverage, raises revenues from a variety of new taxes, and reduces and reorganizes spending under the nation’s largest health insurance plan, Medicare.
But over the years there has been a shift to information technology. Within the last couple of years, healthcare facilities use computers to lessen the paperwork load and also the possibility of damage or loss to the medical records kept in storage. This changes how information is managed and stored. Many physicians depend on technology with diagnostic capabilities to prevent further worsening of the patients’ conditions. But understanding technology has been a real problem due to the fact that technology is always changing and evolving.
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.
America has their reservations that a universal health may not work because of its lack of choices and freedoms. There are pros and cons to having a universal health care system. For one, a universal health care offers free health services to people that cannot afford health care the services they need. The cons, is that a universal health care system often results in long wait times for patients and not everyone may receive the type of care that they need. The rising cost of health care has cause the government to step in and control regulations and spending; thus creating a health care reform system.
THE EFFECT OF NURSING SHORTAGE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM By the year 2014, America will be undergoing through one of its historical moments, the provision of health coverage to the nation’s 46 million uninsured people. The aim of the health care reform is to improve access to quality care for all Americans. This implies more Americans will require Healthcare services.” Nurses are the largest group of U.S professionals and constitute a major part of the infrastructure necessary to any health care reform agenda “(1). Unfortunately there is shortage of Nurses to meet the demands of the health care reform. HRSA projects that, absent aggressive intervention, in the year 2020 the shortage will grow to more than 1 million RNs-representing a shortage of 36% (2).
History of U.S. Health Systems The need to supply quality health care for all U.S citizens has been a major concern for the people as well as the government from early on in our nation’s history. The ever increasing costs of health care led to many attempts to institute national health systems, but these attempts were defeated and the development of private health insurance was instituted. Although this has brought health care coverage to many citizens it has left many people without coverage, and has not affected the cost of health care as hoped. More attempts to institute a national health system have been attempted and met with defeat, but according to (Quadagno, 2004) "legislation was successfully passed in 1965 to provide governmental financing for health care services for the elderly and the indigent” this was the introduction of the government programs Medicare and Medicaid. Even with these government programs in place the cost of health care still rose at an astounding rate and other attempts to control costs were implemented.
The Australian health care system is made up of public and private health, has 3 national subsidy schemes, Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and a 30% Private Health Insurance rebate. Life expectancy in Australia is an average of 78 years for males and 83 years for females, which is one of the highest rates among developed countries (Allianz Worldwide Care 2013), so with this in mind the Australian health care system continually needs to improve. Originally Medicare was established on 1 July 1975 as Medibank by the Whitlam Labor Government, which involved free treatment for public patients in public hospitals and subsidised fees to private hospitals. On 1 October 1976, Medibank Mark II was launched where a levy of 2.5% tax levy
Of the many reasons that exist, two are particularly important. The United States has a highly flawed system of funding health care and a flawed system of allocating its health care resources. In the United States, a multitude of private health plans cover the lucrative sector of society—low cost, healthy workers and their healthy families. But public programs must cover the higher costs of the elderly, individuals with permanent disabilities, and some low-income individuals. 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.