Influence of Cost on the U.S Healthcare System
Influence of Cost on the U.S Healthcare System
Introduction
In the United States, the health care system is incorporated by private sector, public sector and non-profit organizations. It has been inferred that the United States has incorporated the highest spending on healthcare per capita with the 17.2 percent of its GDP in the year 2011, which is also the highest in the world. It eventually indicates the inclination of the United States towards enhancing the wellbeing of its citizens by means of providing the effective means of healthcare services (Grol et al., 2013). The current paper enlightens the effect on cost on the healthcare system of the United States and discusses the impact of the current healthcare reforms.
The healthcare system was dominated by the physicians and their clinics since the mid-19th century to early 20th century and the effectiveness of the healthcare services was dependent on the patient’s financial capabilities. In 1915, the health insurance companies initiated its operations to provide financial assistance to the patients, whereas the compulsory insurance campaign was incorporated in the year 1916, in which worker’s wages were deducted to ensure the provision of healthcare services in the long term. However, it was overlooked due to the prevalence of World War I and hence, it was implied in the year 1919. Moreover, free medical assistance to the underprivileged citizens was offered in 1933 (Sultz & Young, 2006).
After World War II, the focus of government towards strengthening the health insurance industry was increased and the workers were provided with the health insurance from their taxable income. The research prospects in medical sciences and development of systematic hospitals were incorporated followed by the events of World War II and hence, the federal government played a prominent role in the development and sustenance of the organization healthcare system. In 1960s, the prevalence of Medicare and Medicaid enhanced the access to the healthcare while increasing the overall cost of healthcare up to $2.7 trillion (Sultz & Young, 2006; Byrd & Clayton, 2015).
Current Healthcare Reform
The major Healthcare Reform in the U.S history has been focused on the increasing cost of health care and insurance premiums. In the year 1994, after the prevalence of Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S healthcare system, the federal health law has addressed the issue related to the increasing cost of healthcare but it has not provided any effective results. In order to address this issue, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was incorporated to enhance the effectiveness of the healthcare system. Under this Act, healthcare organizations and physicians are obliged to transform their practices in a financial, technological and clinical manner so that the improved healthcare outcomes can be achieved (Kocher et al., 2010).
This Act ensures that the quality healthcare services are provided to the citizens at low cost and the prevalence of healthcare services has been increased by enhancing the access to healthcare. The Act has increased the affordability of the healthcare insurance and has reduced the cost of healthcare for the government and individuals. The new mechanism for insurance, premiums and subsidies are provided under this Act that covers the healthcare requirements of its applicants by keeping the healthcare costs standardized and consistent. The subsidy of law provides financial assistance for the individuals to acquire healthcare insurance in the United States. The prevalence of ACA has reduced the number of uninsured individuals by 11.4 million since 2010, whereas the uninsured adults have been reduced 6 percent since 2013. In this manner, ACA has enhanced the cost efficiency of the healthcare system in the United States by means of making healthcare services affordable to individuals regardless of their financial capabilities (Huesch et al., 2016).
References
Byrd, W. M., & Clayton, L. A. (2015). An American health dilemma: Race, medicine, and health care in the United States 1900-2000 (Vol. 2). Routledge.
Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., & Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013). Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley & Sons.
Huesch, M., Ostbye, T., & Michener, J. L. (2016). The Affordable Care Act, State Policies and Demand for Primary Care Physicians. CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper, (2016-010).
Kocher, R., Emanuel, E. J., & DeParle, N. A. M. (2010). The Affordable Care Act and the future of clinical medicine: the opportunities and challenges. Annals of internal medicine, 153(8), 536-539.
Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. M. (2006). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
