Over the past several decades, the cost of health care in the U.S. has dramatically increased. Financing health care is done by three major contributors; the government, private insurance companies and the consumers. Since the costs of health care in the U.S. has increased so dramatically, consumers are struggling to pay without financial help. That being said, it is no wonder that both the government and private insurance companies have stepped in to pay a large chunk of health care costs for the consumer.
Financing health care in the U.S. is an extremely complicated topic because of the many different financers we use. There are 3 major characteristics that describe how the U.S. finances health care. The first topic of interest is private insurance. Much of U.S. health care financing comes from private insurance companies. They will cover a certain percentage of the total health care bill. Most people receive private insurance from their employers. It can be purchased individually, although it may be more expensive. The next example of financing in the U.S. is government based. Government programs are directed towards people who are older, disabled, low-income, or those that have government based jobs such as those in the military. The government is a major financial contributor for health care in the U.S. with programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Workers Compensation, and other similar programs. Lastly, the next type of financing for health care in the U.S. is those who pay for health care costs on their own. Those that choose this type of plan are generally in financial trouble and cannot afford private insurance. They usually do not qualify for government programs. For those who are financially well off and choose to not invest in private insurance most likely choose this because they are healthy and feel they will save money this way.
The United States spends almost two trillion dollars a year in health care costs, or about 16% of the total GDP. This ends up being about seven thousand dollars per person a year spent on health care costs. Although that is a rough estimate of what each American spends, it is safe to assume that some are spending much less than that, while others are spending much more. For those Americans spending more, a cost like this could be debilitating to a low-income family. It is very important to have public or private sectors financing health care. A great example is when a family member needs to go to the hospital for a kidney stone removal procedure via supersonic waves (no surgery). The total cost charged by the hospital would be twenty-five thousand dollars for a four hour hospital visit.
Without financial help from the government or a private insurance company, it is safe to say that no family would be able to afford such steep costs. Both private and public insurance programs greatly increase the amount of people who have access to health care in this country. With roughly forty-five million+ Americans without insurance coverage, the U.S. still has a lot of work to do.
It is also important to state that without appropriate financing, hospitals would end up in serious financial trouble. It would be debilitating to the health care system as well. This has a direct effect on the quality of health care consumers would receive. Without proper funding, hospitals would be unable to support a full staff or provide up-to-date technology needed for diagnostic and treatment purposes.
The topic of financing health care is the most important topic in healthcare because without financing, health care would be almost non-existent. It is important to realize that financing health care has lead to major advances in the medical community and should be the first thing to consider when reforming health care in the United States. It also may be the hardest part to change. One may argue that other aspects of health care, such as technology, is the most important topic but without financing health care, hospitals would not have the money they need to bring in new patients, have up-to-date technology and the amount of staff they have now. Everyone needs to focus on the financing aspect of health care in order for reform to move forward.
Kayla Engel
1. Financing Health Care Reform. The New York Times. 2009. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com /2009/07/07/opinion/07tue1.html. Accessed February 19, 2010.
2. Health Care Reform. The New York Times. 2010. Available at: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html. Accessed February 19, 2010.
3. Comparing the House and Senate Health Care Proposals. The New York Times. 2009. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/19/us/politics/1119-plan-comparison.html?hp#tab=15. Accessed February 19, 2010.
4. Shi L, Singh D. Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 2008.
5. A Short History of Health Care. Slate Magazine. 2007. Available at: http://www.slate.com/id/2161736/. Accessed February 19, 2010.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Philosophical and Political Stance
Health care in the United States is in need of a major reform. Our health care system has some giant flaws that are debilitating to millions of Americans. There are approximately 41 million Americans without health insurance. That means, 41 million Americans could potentially be stuck with a bill that they will never be able to afford, and will be forced to file bankruptcy. As a country, most individuals would agree that everyone is entitled to health care, but how does the US finance such a huge market? Financing health care in this country will not be an easy task. How do we provide affordable access to millions of Americans? At the core of the topic of financing, there are three beliefs and three values that need to be addressed.
First up is that health insurance should be available to all. Without health insurance, Americans are forced to pay out of pocket what a hospital would charge for each procedure performed. When these individuals cannot pay for the services, the hospitals are stuck with the costs. They are forced to raise their price of procedures in order to cover the costs. Insurance companies will also not be allowed to turn away people based on existing conditions
This leads to the idea that health insurance should be affordable. If hospitals begin charging more for care, then insurance companies are going to have to pay more to the hospitals. This will eventually raise insurance cost, causing the public to pay more. If the price increases are high enough, people may eventually drop their insurance carriers due to lack of funds, leaving them uninsured.
To help avoid problems such as this, all health care costs should also be affordable. If costs of procedures and hospital visits are more closely regulated by the government, then not only could insurance companies cut costs for premiums and insurance plans, but those that choose not to be on an insurance plan could use health care more effectively. In cases where people leave or lose their job that was currently providing insurance, the government should implement a program that allows those who are currently between jobs, but do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, get temporary coverage for an extended, yet reasonable period of time. This allows individuals seeking employment to have a safety net of health insurance without having job security at that time. If individuals do choose to leave their job and purchase their own insurance, the government should provide them with certain tax breaks that will make the cost of health insurance comparable to the cost of an insurance plan you would be paying for through an employer. This will allow insurance companies to compete for both companies and individuals more effectively.
Lastly, the government should begin strengthening existing programs. As our society rapidly ages, growing costs to programs such as Medicare can be expected. Improvements in these programs will allow effective transitions to changes in our society and without them; the nation could end up paying billions to fix this problem later.
With these six main beliefs and values, cost of access will dramatically decrease, the amount of those without access with also dramatically decrease, and the overall quality of the U.S. healthcare system will improve due to the increased number of Americans now having basic access to healthcare. Financing healthcare in the U.S. is the most crucial aspect of healthcare reform.
As every topic has its importance, without money there would be no system. We live in a world where affordability directly affects availability of not only health care, but everything we own. The perspectives from a financing point of view not only affects those who have will access, but the quality of care they will receive with the access. There are going to be people out there that will believe that the government should not play such a big role in the U.S. economy. But they should know that the government is already a major financer for health care. With programs like Medicare or Medicaid the government is considered a major contributor and regulator in the health care system. It is important that we understand the implications that financing has on the U.S. health care system and realize it has the most direct relationship with health care in this country.
As we are taking ideas from all political parties we would not classify our group as having an affiliation with any particular political party. We would consider ourselves moderates.
Chris Johnson
1. Shi L, Singh D. Delivering Health Care in
2. Cutler D, Feder J. Financing Health Care Reform: A Plan to Ensure the Cost of
Reform is Budget-Neutral. 2009. Available at:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/pdf/financing_health_reform.pd
f. Accessed: February 14, 2010.
3. Antos, J. PH.D. Financing Health Care Reform. 2009. Available at:
http://www.aei.org/docLib/Antos.pdf. Accessed: February 14, 2010.
4. Romney, M. “Health Care for Everyone? We’ve found a way.” April, 11, 2006.
The Wall Street Journal. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008213. Accessed
February 14, 2010.
5. Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan to Lower Health Care Costs and Ensure
Affordable, Accessible Health Coverage For All. 2007.
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf. Accessed February 14, 2010.
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