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Heath Care Economics

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Health Care Economics and the Uninsured
School of Nursing

Health Care Economics and the Uninsured
The United States health care system is a large and complex structure organized to deliver health care services to the country’s residents (Maurer, 2013). The system is not systematically organized, but is the result of the interrelationships between numerous influences such as culture, consumers, epidemiology, health professionals, governmental policy, technology, and economics (Maurer, 2013). Due to the various, and, often conflicting, interests on the U.S. health care system, large disparities exist in the delivery of health care to consumers. In fact, according to Maurer (2013), “the consumer is the most vulnerable component and is the most likely to be hurt by ineffective functioning of the system” (p. 63). Because of the ineffectiveness of the current system for so many Americans and the disparities that exist among consumers, the American Nurses Association [ANA] (2008) described the current U.S. health care system as “in a state of crisis” (Executive Summary, para. 1).
For many Americans, the major obstacle preventing them from receiving quality and reliable health care is a lack of health insurance (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], 2012; Maurer, 2013; Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured [KCM&U], 2012). More specifically, the way our health care system is financed, a piecemeal approach of private and public sources, many of the working poor are unable to obtain affordable health care insurance coverage (ANA, 2008; KCM&U, 2012; Maurer, 2013). Health care costs and the cost of health insurance have increased must faster than many working families’ incomes (Maurer, 2013). As a consequence, the United States had 57.7 million persons during 2012 that had no health insurance coverage

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