Good Health Care Issue Affecting The United States Essay Example

The nation’s current health care expenditures have continuously risen over the past years. The issue has escalated because many Americans do not have a health care coverage. The government has been in constant search for solutions to control and cut health care spending. The rise in the health care over the past years has made the economy of the United States to decline (Yong, Saunders, Olsen, & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2010). The high health care costs have increased the government spending in the health care. Moreover, it has led to increased number of people who do not have health care coverage.
The high health care costs are caused by the use of new technologies and drugs. Moreover, some of these costly treatments are ineffective and offer fewer benefits. For instance, the lower lumbar spinal fusion that is used to treat chronic low back pain is ineffective (Bodenheimer, 2013). In addition, increased costs of health care goods and services in the hospitals have also led to the aggregate high costs of health care costs. The cost of drugs has also increased.
In addition, high costs are incurred due to intensive marketing of new drugs and devices. The costs incurred are then incorporated into the health care cost making it very expensive. Competition between companies has seen companies employ costly new technologies and drugs.
Besides, the increased use of specialty care also contributes to the rise in the health care costs. Primary care is cheap as compared to specialty care. Specialists conduct more testing as compared to the primary care and after that charge a higher fee. This has increased the desire of patients to visit a specialist.
Consequently, there are high administrative costs in the private insurance cost. Marketing and underwriting costs incurred by private insurance are included in the administration costs, making the costs expensive. Moreover, the existence of many insurance plans in one geographical region increases health care costs by making insurance process complicated.
On the other hand, the increase in expenditure has made the healthcare more affordable to the citizens of America. Moreover, some expensive pieces of equipment bought are effective in treating diseases as compared to the previously used equipment (Bodenheimer, 2013).
In addition, the introduction of the Affordable Care Act has decreased the health care costs. It has achieved this by limiting the amount the private insurance can spend on administrative costs. Private insurance incurs most of the administrative costs (Yong, Saunders, Olsen, & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2010). Therefore, this act has reduced the high health care costs issue to a certain magnitude.
The high health care cost issue can be solved by adopting a consumer-driven plan. Each employee should have a personal health account. Each member will be responsible for managing his/her money. Over-utilization of the health care plan will disappear and members will monitor various prices, service and quality (Hollman, Hayes, & Zietz, 2011). In the long-term, this will reduce the health care costs and will improve the lifestyle of the citizens.
Moreover, the government can make the prices and quality to be transparent. Health care prices and quality vary from one region to another. The citizens will make correct decisions since price information is readily available.
Besides, the government should encourage citizens to go for primary care. Primary care is less expensive as compared to specialty care since it keeps people out of hospitals. In the long run, the health care costs will drop significantly.
The future implication of these trends is that, the health care costs will be more expensive for the poor to afford. Moreover, there will be an increase in the number of people uninsured. This is because the small companies will be unable to provide insurance cover. Moreover, most people will be unable to afford the high insurance premiums.
However, if the government follows the above recommendations the cost of taking insurance cover will reduce. More people will be able to afford the health care covers, and the health care costs will reduce significantly.
There is a need for the government to expand health care coverage to uninsured Americans. This will help increase the country’s economic well-being. Moreover, the costs will shift from the government and
Moreover, the nursing professionals have a responsibility of providing quality care services to patients. Quality services reduce the costs incurred by patients in a country. In addition, nurses should let the hospital management know the nursing equipment and technologies that are inefficient. Moreover, nursing professionals should educate people on various ways they can undertake to reduce the health care costs.
In conclusion, the government has undertaken some steps to solve the high health care costs issue. For instance, the Obama care Act reduces the cost of healthcare making it affordable to the public. However, the high health care costs have continued to rise over the period. This is due to the costly technologies and drugs, increased costs of health care goods and services, marketing of new drugs and devices, and overuse of specialty care. In order, to reduce the health care costs, the government should expand the health care coverage and make pricing information readily available to the public.

References

Bodenheimer, T. (2013). High and rising health care costs. Part 1: seeking an explanation. Annals of internal medicine, 142(10), 847-854.
Bodenheimer, T. (2013). High and rising health care costs. Part 2: technologic innovation. Annals of internal medicine, 142(11), 932-937.
Hollman, K. W., Hayes, R. D., & Zietz, E. J. (2011). A NEW PARADIGM TO CONTROL HEALTH CARE COSTS: CONSUMER DRIVEN HEALTH CARE PLANS.
Yong, P. L., Saunders, R. S., Olsen, L. A., & Institute of Medicine (U.S.). (2010). The healthcare imperative: Lowering costs and improving outcomes : workshop series summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.