Health_Care_Spending

Introduction: Health Care Spending Health care is something that is always going to be around because it is needed by all entities. Health care is a resource that is not readily available to all due to the issue of affordability. Many people try to find the most affordable health care insurance, but sometimes economic hardships do not allow for people to get insured or remain insured; therefore leaving many people with out health care insurance. The government has tried to help many people by providing those who qualify with Medicaid, and Medical but those who don’t qualify are still left uninsured and with the burden of overwhelming medical bills. Even though health care is at times unaffordable it is still an entity that is used by all people. Often times people cannot afford to pay for health care expenses or health care insurance, therefore leaving many people with massive health care bills. According to Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011, health care spending is rising faster than incomes in most developed countries, which raises questions about how countries will pay for their future health care needs. The issue is particularly acute in the United States, which not only spends much more per capita on health care, but also has had one of the highest spending growth rates (Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011). Both public and private health expenditures are growing at rates, which outpace comparable countries (Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011). Despite this higher level of spending, the United States does not achieve better outcomes on many important health measures (Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011). The sad reality is that health care spending around the world is generally rising faster than overall economic growth, so almost all countries have seen health care spending increase as a percentage of their gross domestic product (GDP) over time (Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011). In the United States, which has both a high level of health care spending per capita and a relatively high rate of real growth in spending, the share of GDP devoted to health care spending grew from 9% of GDP in 1980 to 16% of GDP in 2008(Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011). This 7 percentage-point increase in health care spending as a share of GDP is one of the largest across the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD (Strunk and Ginsburg, 2011).   Is the United States Spending Enough on Health Care Currently the Unites States is spending a significant amount on health care. In 2010, the U.S. spent $2.6 trillion on health care, an average of $8,402 per person (Strunk and Ginsburg 2011). According Kadlec 2008, to it is projected that by 2017 19.5% of the GDP will be spent in health care. According to Kadlec 2008, no nation can afford to spend 19.5% of GDP on healthcare. It is quite obvious that today many people, business, and families cannot afford the current health care that is being offered. The United States is spending 46% and 37% more per person per year than Canada and Switzerland respectively (Kadlec, 2008). According to Kadlec 2008, none of the well-developed industrialized countries in the world keeps its citizens uninsured or force them to declare bankruptcies for medical expense (Kadlec, 2008). Even though the Unites States is spending so much money on the health care system there are still people who are left uninsured, and they are left with massive debt from medical bills, so something is not right (Kadlec, 2008). Many policy experts believe new technologies and the spread of existing ones account for a large portion of medical spending and its growth (Kadlec, 2008). Therefore the Unites states need to take a closer look and reevaluated the health care spending. It is great that the Unites States is spending so much on health care but what good is it if people are still being overwhelmed with medical expenses. The Unites States needs to gear their health care spending towards helping the public, and help make health care more affordable for people. Health care should be something that is affordable for everyone. Where Funding should be directed Funding now is being directed into researching new technologies and marketing the existing medical technologies (Kadlec, 2008). The funding should be directed towards helping health care insurance affordable for people. People are being left without health care insurance, and their medical bills are racking up and the government is doing nothing to assist these people. More money should be geared towards finding a solution to make health care more affordable, and help people find affordable health care insurance. Also there should be some funding for preventative care, because if more people were aware of the consequences of smoking, drugs, and drinking, or even living an unhealthy lifestyle people would have the opportunity to change their life styles and live a health life. If people had the knowledge to live a healthier life this would help decrease illness, and overall decrease medical expenses for some people. Health Care Spending At this point health care spending is at an overwhelming $2.3 trillion. Where hospital care and physician and clinical services combined account for half (51%) of the nation’s health expenditures (Kadlec, 2008). Although there have been efforts to contain health care spending, according to Kadlec, 2008 there has not been any long term effects of healthcare containment. Some effort that have been made to help contain health care spending are; greater government over sight of health care regulations, increase competition and price transparency in the sale of health care insurance. Also the refocus of the medical model delivery system, for the focus to be on the patient and to improve the quality of care for the patient. (Kadlec, 2008). Future of Health Care If spending continues at this alarming rate, health care will be something that is not attainable by people. Health care now is somewhat still attainable for people, but if the cost keeps raising most people will be without health care. The government’s help or assistance with program such as Medical and Medicaid will most likely not be attainable either because there will be no means to continue to fund these types of programs. The health care crisis is not going to get any better due to the fact that more people are living longer and more people will require more health care services such as long term care, and more medical visits. The health care system needs to start brainstorming a way to get the medical model to refocus back on the patient and the overall well being of the patients. Right now the government is able to assist some people with Medical and Medicaid, but that will only last so long if the government contains with this type of spending, and not looking at the issues of making health care more affordable for people. Conclusion Health care is something that is always going to be around because it is needed by all entities. Health care is a resource that is not readily available to all due to the issue of affordability. Many people try to find the most affordable health care insurance, but sometimes economic hardships do not allow for people to get insured or remain insured; therefore leaving many people with out health care insurance. The government has tried to help many people by providing those who qualify with Medicaid, and Medical but those who don’t qualify are still left uninsured and with the burden of overwhelming medical bills. Often times people cannot afford to pay for health care expenses or health care insurance, therefore leaving many people with massive health care bills. At this point health care spending is at an overwhelming $2.3 trillion. Where hospital care and physician and clinical services combined account for half (51%) of the nation’s health expenditures (Kadlec, 2008). Although there have been efforts to contain health care spending, according to Kadlec, 2008 there has not been any long term effects of healthcare containment. If spending continues at this alarming rate, health care will be something that is not attainable by people. Health care now is somewhat still attainable for people, but if the cost keeps raising most people will be without health care. The government’ help or assistance with program such as Medical and Medicaid will most likely not be attainable either because there will be no means to continue to fund these types of programs. References Bradley C. Strunk, Paul B. Ginsburg (2011). Health care costs: Key information on health care Costs and their impact. Kaiser family foundation. Alison Kadlec. 2008. National health care expenditures. Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. Baltimore, MD