Healthcare_Spnding__Will_It_Increase_in_the_Future

Healthcare Spending: Will it Increase or Slow Down in the Future' Rosa Carrion University of Phoenix Course HCS/440 Professor William Obert September 18, 2011 Healthcare Spending: Will it Increase or Decrease in the Future' Healthcare spending is calculated Healthcare Spending slowed down in 2010 because of problems in the economy having to do with the high increase rate of unemployment. Another reason was the decline of private health insurance coverage due to the recent recession. Healthcare spending is said to make up 20 percent of the federal budget. The United States government projects that between the years 2010—20 healthcare spending will increase by 5.8 percent. How would this affect individuals and the healthcare system'. The Healthcare system is very complex and so is healthcare spending. Healthcare spending has to do with the spending of healthcare goods and services, program administration, private health insurances, public health and the amount of money spent on investments like structures, equipment, and research. Currently the healthcare system struggles because it has to make sure that its revenues do not exceed current expenses, it also has to make sure it stays above its operating cost in order to compensate stakeholders. This is why organizations need to forecast in order to give them an idea of what is ahead, and give them a chance to plan for a future emergency. According to the National Healthcare Expenditures (NHE) in 2010 the United States reached 2.6 trillion in healthcare spending and grew 3.9 percent, but the number was still down compared to 4.0 in 2009. The reason for this was the poor economy. Forecast Summary It is projected that by the years 2011-2013 healthcare spending will grow faster because it is believed that there will be improvements in the economy, because it is speculated that the unemployment rate will go down. Another reason that healthcare spending will grow is because there will be an increase in employer insurance enrollment. It is also projected that out of pocket spending will also increase by 3.9 percent. If the economy changes yes there will be improvements in healthcare. Right now in 2011 there are many people still unemployed; People that rather stay home sick than go to the doctor so that they won’t have to pay expensive copay at time of service. Some employees opt to not enroll in any insurance because of the high premiums. You can’t blame people for acting this way, when everything around them seems to increase except for their salary. Hopefully during 2012 and 2013 we will see those improvements. It is projected that by the year 2014 healthcare spending will also increase it is estimated by 8.3 percent. The reason given for this is that it is said in this year the Affordable Care Act Coverage- Related Expansion is taking effect. This act will allow Medicaid to increase its enrollment by 19.5 million people meaning that there will be an increase in service delivery. Is Healthcare spending too much or not enough' Depends on who you ask and their economic status' Everyone has their own idea of why they believe healthcare spending is enough or not. There are opposite view points. Many believe that healthcare spending should be high because of all new advances in technology coming out so often due to research. Research is not cheap and can cost millions of dollars but without it we won’t be able to find significant findings like cures for Cancer or other types of disorders. On the other side many people believe that too much money is spent of experiments that will never be used when the money could be used to help people right now. Healthcare spending is necessary in order to keep up with new advances in technology and many other innovations. Because of new healthcare reform the public healthcare needs will be paid for, but at the expense of the tax payers. In 2014 the government will allow also more people to enroll in the Medicaid program allowing healthcare spending to increase. In the years 2010-2020 overall healthcare spending will grow to 5.8 percent. It is said that by the year 2050 the elderly will be the largest target population in the United States because they are living longer. My Opinion In my opinion as a recently unemployed single mom, I feel affected by the economy and the healthcare system. Even though I am without work my son’s insurance premiums have gone up. My employer dropped me from the healthcare plan and I could no longer afford the expensive medication. I feel trapped because even though I receive unemployment benefits they are not enough to pay for these medications. The out of pocket amounts for these medications are quite high in the 100s and there is no way that I or another person that is unemployed can afford them. I tried to enroll in Medicaid, but I was denied because they said I received too much money from unemployment. I felt betrayed because I felt that I had paid by dues every year by paying my taxes and that the first time I needed help I was denied help. How do I really feel about healthcare spending' I believe that it will always increase especially now that there is a new wave of immigrants in the country and more services to keep up with the demand. I also believe that the economy will get worse no matter what the National Health Expenditure believes it is going to be. I also believe that the forecast listed above is just an estimate of healthcare spending no one really knows what the future is really going to be like. But predicting what could happen can save a lot of time and can help organizations prepare by having a strategic plan in case something goes wrong. I also believe that in order to cut healthcare spending organizations make to make the right choices and only buy what they need to use. In order to cut down cost organizations need to stop being wasteful and only invest on products that will increase productivity in the workplace. Healthcare spending affects all of us in a direct and indirect way. It affects us consumers, organizations, and the world economy. Even finding solutions becomes complex. This is why the local, state, and federal government need to work together to provide adequate healthcare to individuals and employees. I also believe that the government should do more to enforce regulations and report regulations this I believe can produce cost savings to the economy as a whole.