Introduction
Undeniably, the cost of the Healthcare system in the United States has been increasing rapidly. Despite the introduction of Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) in 2010, the Americans continue to face a rising cost of medication. In fact, according to the report on 2015 healthcare provider outlook, the U.S health care expenditure is likely to increase to about 17.9 percent of GDP by 2018, making health be the largest sector in the U.S economy (Healthcare provider’s outlook United States, para 1).
In this paper, we analyze some of the major facts on U.S healthcare system. Next, the paper discusses some of the causes of the rising cost of medication in the U.S healthcare system. The paper winds up by explaining some of the steps to be taken in reducing the Health care cost.
Major Facts about the U.S Healthcare System
The Amount That U.S Economy Spend On Healthcare
In 2014, the U.S spent about 3 trillion dollars on medication and of the U.S economy devoted to healthcare. Besides, the health spending rate is likely to increase in future (Obama Care Facts para 1).
How Quality And Health Care Cost Differs With Other Countries
While it is apparent that quality of health care in terms of safe, specialized, and patient-centered care is higher than other developed countries, its cost of medication is substantially more. In 2015, the U.S spending on health care was the highest as compared to other developed nations (David para 1).
Spending of Low-Income Earners on Health Care
Notably, though the income of the low-income earners rose, this gain was offset significantly by high healthcare spending. For example, in 2009, the average monthly health care, out-of-pocket costs, and taxes directed to health care in every family rose more than 50 percent (David and Arthur 1631).
The Utilization of the Health Care Expenditure
Mainly, most spending on health is used to compensate the physicians, medicare, private health insurance, and Medicaid.
Causes of the Rising Cost of Medication in the U.S Healthcare System
Increase In Health Care Technology
There is a high link between wealth accumulation and spending on health provision. In essence, as the countries accumulate more wealth, the level of health care technology is likely to increase; this situation leads to an increase in the cost of medication. Fundamentally, as people accumulate more wealth, they usually spend more money on health since they can afford to pay for the cost. As a result, the overall cost of health and government expenditure also increases.
Ageing American Population
The U.S population is becoming older as the number of people aged 65 and above continues to increases. Without a doubt, elderly people have more health problems and are more likely to fall sick than young population. Thus, this aging population requires high medical treatment and attention, which increases the overall health cost and expenditure.
Changes in Disease Prevalence
A common phenomenon that characterizes the U.S health care system is an increase in disease occurrence, especially for chronic diseases like such as asthma, diabetes, and heart diseases. This has been aggravated by the increasing medical research to cure these diseases. Such factors contribute significantly to increasing levels of health spending.
The Steps to Be Taken in Reducing the Health Care Cost
Principally, the government should ensure full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. AFA refers to strategies that aim at reducing unnecessary healthcare expenses, consumer- directed medical care, eliminating fraud and wastage, changing the tax treatments on health benefits, and providing efficient medical care technology (Doonan 749). Such strategies can be used to address the high health care cost concern.
Secondly, it is important to create health reforms laws. Such laws aim to create changes in health coverage that encourage people to obtain health insurance, provide premiums and other subsidies for low-income earners, and expansion of Medicaid health care system (Peter and Ezekiel, 602).
Next, creating a universal patient care delivery system is a crucial step in reducing the cost of medication, especially the low-income earners. Also, it would allow them to access quality health care including right medication, follow-up care, and medical attention.
Most importantly, the health care system can reduce the amount of costs by adopting capitation reimbursement method. In essence, capitation refers to the amount of money paid in advance to physicians for the delivery of patient care services (Slattery et al. 670). It aims to eliminate incentives paid such that more patients can get efficient treatment at low costs. Mainly, the cost per patient reduces since costs will be shared with other members in the system. Also, physicians cannot be able to demand more compensation to cover any additional cost of patient care.
Conclusion
It is undeniably true that the rising cost of medication in the healthcare system is a prevalent challenge that needs to be addressed amicably. Since the provision of low-cost medical care to the patients is one of the common goals of U.S health care system, the government should make clear steps in addressing these factors that lead to increased medication cost. Developing clear strategies and approach such as provision of Affordable Care Act, capitation reimbursement method, universal patient care, and capital health reform laws will be very crucial in providing affordable healthcare to all American citizens.
Works Cited
David , Auerbach and Arthur Kellermann, “A Decade of Health Care Cost Growth has Wiped Out Real Income Gains for an Average US Family,“ Health Affairs, 30:9 (2011):1630-1663. Print.
David Squires. Explaining high health care spending in the United States: An international comparison of supply, utilization, prices, and quality. 2015. Web. <http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2012/May/High-Health-Care-Spending.aspx>
Doonan, Katz. “Choice in the American Healthcare System: Changing Dynamics Under the Affordable Care Act.” Current Sociology 63.5 (2015): 746–762. Print.
Health care provider’s outlook United States. U.S 2015 global health care country reports 011215. 2015. Web. <http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/life-sciences-health-care/us-2015-global-hc-country-reports-011215.pdf>
Obama Care Facts. Health care facts: Why we need health care reform. 2015. Web Retrieved May 23, 2016 from <http://obamacarefacts.com/healthcare-facts/>
Peter, Orszag and Ezekiel Emanuel, “Health Care Reform and Cost Control,” The New Journal of Medicine, August 12, 2010, pp. 601-603. Print.
Slattery, E., et al. “Does the Cost of Care Differ for Patients with Fee-for-Service Vs. Capitation of Payment? A Case–control Study in Gastroenterology.” Irish Journal of Medical Science 182.4 (2013): 669–672. Print.
