U.s. Health Care System

The U.S. health care system faces challenges that indicate that the people urgently need to be reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps even for those with access to insurance coverage.

The first characteristic of the US health care system is that there is no central governing agency which allows for little integration and coordination. While the government has a great influence on the health care system, the system is mostly controlled through private hands. The system is financed publically and privately creating a variety of payments and delivery unlike centrally controlled healthcare systems in other developed countries. The US system is more complex and less manageable than centrally controlled health care systems, which makes it more expensive. The second characteristic of the US health care system is that it is technology driven and focuses on acute care. With more usage of high technology,

The cost of healthcare has and will continue to rise in the United States. Some factors that contribute to those hikes are due to the consumer demanding more complex services from health care providers. Things such as new technology, equipment, research and testing procedures, along with pharmacy, and the number of uninsured are all dynamics of the increased cost in health care. The U.S. health care system relies heavily on third-party payers; these payers include commercial insurers and the Federal and state governments. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, the National Health Expenditure grew 3.6% to $2.9 trillion in 2013, or $9,255 per person, and accounted for 17.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Id.

The United States health care system is one of the most expensive health care systems in the world, yet ranks last in performance when compared to other wealthy countries health systems. Among those countries the United Kingdom ranks number one because it is more effective and accessible. The United Kingdom’s universal coverage allows for a higher performance of quality care, access and efficiency as compared to the US which ranks at the bottom of the list due to its absence of universal health care. The United Kingdom spends around “$3,405 per person” whereas the “United States spends around $8,508” ("Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally," 2014) yet still fails to succeed in providing efficient health care to many Americans.

It’s time that people know the truth about the American health care system and the harsh realities that come from associating with a free market health care system. We should also know about the different health care system offered in other industrialized countries. The Documentary “Sicko” shows us the lives of many people American and Non-American and their experiences with healthcare / health services ranging from U.S, Canada, France, England and Cuba. In all these countries, the only one that requires its citizens to pay for health care is the U.S. Health care in the U.S is dominated by the free market and private enterprise / HMO organizations and their thirst for profits, because of this I feel like health care should be owned by the

The United States health care system is problematic. On average the U.S. has 440,000 deaths a year from care in hospitals due to accidents and hospital acquired infections; harming patients and the pocket books of families and insurance companies with unnecessary cost and procedures (Allen). With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) the government is hoping to decrease these unnecessary cost; cutting down on medication administration, providing more preventive care, and merging many different healthcare members’ jobs into one position in order to cut cost on staff. There has been great strives with the new reform of health care, but there has also been downfalls and uncertainty. Preventive care has come to the forefront; this will help save patients and money for all those in the market for healthcare, so everyone. While preventive care is great, it is leaving many health care members are questioning what is next for them. The ACA is moving into the general public, but with immunizations already being taken over by drug stores, people are worried about the stability of job opportunities outside the hospital. As a nursing student myself I have concern of what the job market will be when I graduate; because when I started it was in high demand and now many student are struggling to find jobs. Therefore, I have concerns with the ACA and that some provisions will need to be reevaluated.

Preventative care is the key to improving the plight of millions of Americans with regards to their standard of care. This is not to say that a large scale health care reform is not necessary, it is. However, whether the United States moves to a single-payer system or completely to a fee-for-service path, preventative care is still crucial. By keeping people out of hospitals and emergency rooms, health care professionals could lower the nosocomial infection rate which balances between 3% and 12.5%, even in developed countries (Health care-associated infections, n.d.). Another example of a preventative measure would be to lower the rate of obesity. This would effectively reduce the source

The Canadian system is often considered the model for the U.S. health care system. Both countries ' health care systems are very different-Canada has a single-payer, mostly publicly-funded system, while the U.S. has a multi-payer, profoundly private system but both countries appear to be similar and suggesting that it might be possible that the U.S. to clone the Canadian health system.

There are more than 43 million people right now in the U.S. that live below the poverty line (Poverty Talk, 2016). There are 43 million Americans who struggle to make ends meet, provide for their families, and receive adequate health care. Those under the poverty line have a difficult time maintaining specific needs; I am especially interested in the effect that socioeconomic status has on the health of an individual, particularly those in a lower socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status focuses on either an individual or a group within a hierarchical social structure; it focuses on a combination of variables including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence (Dictionary, 2005). The variables I will mainly be focusing on are income and wealth. While most working Americans have their healthcare paid for by employers, what about the 4.9% of unemployed Americans? The American health care system works on two different plans, Medicaid and Medicare, these plans were designed with the elderly, disabled, poor, and young in mind; I will be focusing specifically on factors of health for those with little to no income. Access to healthcare is another important factor that has a direct relationship to overall health of an individual. Research has shown that those with a lower socioeconomic status have a lower overall physical and mental health. The argument can be made that health is directly impacted by socioeconomic status with income being the biggest

“Today, many if not most obstetricians do not attend births: they perform fetal extractions through the vagina or through an abdominal cut.” Faith Gibson (p.37)

We don’t have just a single body which takes charge of healthiness in this country. Both physicians as well as insurance firms get a ridiculous amount of incomes from consumers. The government control to some extend through the financing of Medicare and Medicaid but relies on the private sector for the provision of services (Shi, L., & Singh, 2010).All arguments on finding solutions to insurance problems enthuses unlimited urge. Problems like making health care facilities accessible, organizing coverage’s, and to rein in expenditure by federal, organizations, and individual entities repeatedly stands out.

The United States is one of the richest nations in the whole wide world. It’s health care is the biggest, strongest and more efficient business in the United States of America. Today’s health care has come so far from the past setting and it has differed. Due to the advancement in technology, health care in the U.S. has come both simple but complexed. Health care is now a managed care system. Managed care is supposed to be a system they came up with to help control things like the cost of health care, primary care providers and the service you receive. “Managed care is changing so rapidly (Landon et al. 1998) that most currently available studies are already out of date.” However, the rise in cost for health care service are still

The United States has a broad history of diversity and challenges that no other country has faced. One of those challenges has been providing healthcare for its citizens. Healthcare in the United States started out with many religious groups that wanted to help those in need. This form of care for the people of this country has grown to a healthcare system that accounts for 3.2 trillion dollars of the nation’s gross domestic products (CMS (2016). This staggering number has grown each year and clearly shows the impact that it can have on the economy.

The United States of America is without a doubt one of the largest, most diverse countries in the world. The U.S is universally known for it’s ground breaking medical research and scientific technological advances. Paying nearly 2.6 trillion on medical related services (Silverman & Demak, 2011), the U.S continuously exceeds their financial budget each year, ranking them #1 for the highest healthcare spending in the world. Ironically, Americans are among the few who are not guaranteed medical coverage. For Americans healthcare insurance comes in many forms, some receive it through job benefits or government programs such as, Medicaid and Medicare, while others are among the many not financially covered at all. There are many potential issues arising from the U.S healthcare plan such as high insurance cost, unfair selection and denial of coverage, and high rates of uninsured citizens.

The United States healthcare system is one of the most expensive systems in the world with 16% of its gross domestic product (GDP) assigned to it, it is expected that this spending may increase up 20% of the US GDP by 2016.1 Unfortunately, despite the large amount of money delegated to this system there are still widening gap in health disparities existing in the US, based on geographical areas, race/ethnic groups or class.2 Other factors such as genetics, social circumstances, environmental exposures, behavioral patterns, and lopsided access to opportunities encourage such disparities.1,3 The number of people that do not have access to healthcare in the US is alarming, for instance in 2005 about 40 million Americans did not receive healthcare services because of their inability to purchase health insurance policy and/or pay out of pocket.1