...INNOVATIVE HEALTH FINANCING SYSTEM Introduction Health care costs are escalating rapidly in many countries. This reflects several factors, such as aging populations, changing disease patterns, high-cost technology and prescription drugs. But, it is also a consequence of health financing systems. Traditional indemnity insurance, which guarantees third-party payment for service provided, contributes to these cost pressures since patients and physicians are shielded from the real cost of those payments. In an effort to contain costs, governments, employers and insurers have modified payment schemes and coverage. This increasingly leads to rationing, restricted consumer choice and, in some cases, denial of care. Singapore’s ‘3M’ health financing system combines universal medical savings accounts (MSAs) with unique supplementary programs to protect the poor and address potential market failures in health financing. The results have been impressive, with excellent health outcomes, low costs and full consumer choice of providers and quality of care. This note describes Singapore’s experience and its possible application to other countries. Background Despite Singapore’s small size, with only 3.22 million residents in a land area of 660 square kilometers, the country has been a stellar economic performer, rising from impoverishment only 40 years ago. Its per capita GDP increased from US$427 in 1960 to US$24,740 in 2000, one of the highest in the world . In the 1990s it...
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...Laura Newton Introduction Healthcare spending in the United States plays a vital role in the US economy. The healthcare field is a growing professional. There is millions of dollars that are spent on healthcare each year. From research, drugs, new technology and patient care it is the driving force of the health care system. Health care has provided lots of jobs and a means of survive for many Americans. With insurance companies driving up the cost of premieres and the new Affordable Care Act into place health care spending will only continue to drive the price up. With all of the demands for cues and people wanting to leave longer there has been a major impact on Health Care spending. Health Care Expenditures Over the last several years the U.S. health care expenditures has been on a rise. Heath care has risen so fast that many Americans have not been able to keep up even with their earning in order to be able to afford healthcare. “The U.S. spends 16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, compared with 8 to 10 percent in most major industrialized nations” (2014, The Commonwealth Fund.). According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects that the increase in health spending will outpace the GDP over the next 10 years. (2014, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid). In recent headlines the healthcare rate has been at a slow rate of 3.7%. Although that may sound good however the quote for the National Healthcare Expenditure from the Center of...
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...standards to follow in order to establish health care insurance for people in different communities. The state contributes about 40% of all the expenditures on health while the public health sector delivers 80% of the population. Many resources are concentrated in the private health sector. These resources see to the health needs of the remaining 20% of the population. Public health consumes around 11% of the government’s total budget. The way the resources are allotted, and the standard of health care delivered, varies from country to country. Although there are similarities between South Africa and the United States regarding healthcare, South Africa remains at a lower level than the United States because of funding, education, medical supplies, and equipment/ machines to complete diagnostic testing. South Africa has a private and public healthcare system. There are more than 200 private hospitals owned by different private physicians or large corporations. Private hospitals have 24,537 beds while public hospitals have 110,143, according to David Hidler of PHNP. Public health care is free to pregnant women and children under the age of six. Other patients receiving care pay on a fee for service basis. This means that the patient’s pays for only treatment received while under the physicians care. The gross inequity between the two sectors has led health ministers to threaten regulation that requires the private sector to obtain a “certificate of need” from the Department of...
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...Medical Malpractice and Quality of Care: With the increase in costs of malpractice insurance for doctors, how is our quality of care affected and what can be done about it? Rising malpractice insurance affects everyone seeking medical care and should be a cause for serious concern. At first, the health care industry saw rising premiums as only a temporary backlash from a couple of lawsuits with multimillion dollar jury awards. Therefore, health care administrators, insurance companies, and public officials worried little about planning for the snow-balling crisis that exists today. People blame greedy lawyers and generous juries for the problem; however, I feel that more than one cause led to our current situation. Today, administrators and lawmakers debate the best solution to this dilemma. Many suggest that by merely capping monetary damages awarded, malpractice rates will stabilize. I disagree. I believe that monetary caps must occur to help with the costs, but I also feel that patient/public awareness is essential to the stabilization of insurance premiums. After the first multimillion dollar award in a medical malpractice lawsuit, physicians still felt safe because they believed juries would place little or no emphasis on non-economic damages – awards unrelated to medical costs, lost salary, etc. However, the lawsuits kept coming and the awards, especially for non-economic damages, kept escalating. According to the New York Times, “the average jury...
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...provide all healthcare.” Given this common view, whilst making some reference to methods of providing and financing healthcare in other European countries, discuss whether government finance and provision of healthcare is likely to maximise welfare? Healthcare is categorised as a merit good as consuming it provides benefits to society and to the individual consumer. For instance, immunisation against a contagious disease gives us protection and results in a private benefit as well as an external one, to those who are protected from catching the disease from those who are inoculated. However, few would want inoculation only to protect others. Therefore, the demand for healthcare will be less than the socially efficient quantity. Having great advances in new technologies, treatments and drugs improves our health service’s ability to supply, as well as encouraging demand to such an extent that demand substantially exceeds supply. Unfortunately, this creates long waiting lists and therefore a scarcity of beds available for treatment. If we privatised the NHS, it would allow prices to increase to show how much it really costs to supply. But obviously, this would be very controversial and cause immigration rates to drop. This could be seen as a bad thing for some, due to the fact that many are very productive and willing to work for low wages, whilst others would argue that it is a good thing for the British workforce. However, rising costs have forced a re-think on funding. ‘Comprehensive...
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...Running Head: U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REFORM HS543 Health Services Finance Summer Term 2012 Instructor: Mary Black Course Project Outline U.S. Healthcare System Reform Submitted By Project Outline This project will explore the current state or our healthcare and where it is predicted to cost us in the future. We will also examine the overall health programs and how the uninsured will affect the system entirely. Universal healthcare would alleviate the financial burden on some of the population and provide access to almost all of the country's population; however, this system will cost more. Funding the program will be discussed as well as the taxes and other funding that will help pay for the coverage. Likewise, how this will affect hospitals and healthcare providers. Topic: U.S Healthcare System Reform Outline I. Abstract II. Introduce the Issue (Background) A. An analysis of our current healthcare system 1. A history of major events 2. Impact to healthcare organizations III. Defining the problem A. Political disagreements B. The increase of expenses IV. Literature Review A. Is U.S. Healthcare deteriorating? B. Effects on the profitability of local hospitals V. Analyze the Problem A. Raising insurance premiums B. The uninsured VI. Possible Solutions A. French Healthcare system B. A public option VII. Implementation Plan A. Financing VIII. Justification A. Access of...
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...Running Head: Healthcare System Healthcare System in US [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] Healthcare System in US Introduction United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010). Discussion History of Medicare In 1945, the United States president Harry Truman decided to bring to the attention of the Congress. The message was in an attempt to develop a universal plan that would be applicable to all United States citizens. The Congress contemplated the bill that would establish a healthcare plan. The debate for a comprehensive plan carried on for twenty years. The prolonged wait made president Truman give up on the idea. Even though the president had given up on the healthcare bill, Social Security system and a number of other participants continued the efforts. After two decades of struggle, in 1965, the Medicare and Medicaid plans became legislation after the Congress approved the bill. President Lyndon Johnson’s vision of a “Great...
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...Topic: U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REFORM Course Project T. Wise DeVry HSM 534 Health Service Finance February 23, 2013 Week 7 Professor Alison Williams Background The United States, being the most diverse society in the world, has a long and unsuccessful history of attempts at healthcare reform. We spend almost $2 trillion dollars per year on healthcare, yet not all American people have medical coverage (Barton, 2007). A huge percent of the population have to rely on outside sources, such as benefit health care from an employer or from government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. As compared to other nations, our society has people that are more overweight, live under more stress, and are less in physical activity. Additionally, our healthcare system underperforms compared to with other nations in critical areas such as, access, quality and efficiency (Davis). How did our system get this way? Why are we paying so much while other nations not so much? A history of major events - The U.S. healthcare system is trying to evolve with modern times; however, as time goes on, our current situation becomes more apparent: * In the 1950s, the price of hospital care was growing; however, more attention was diverted to the war in Korea. Many legislative proposals were made, but none could not be agreed on. * In the 1960s, hospital care expenses doubled, and despite over 700 insurance companies selling health insurance, a large percentage of the population...
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...One American’s Perspective Lynn Whitt MHA 776 Dr. Leist December 18, 2013 The National Health Service (NHS) of Great Britain was established in 1948 to create a national health system that would serve all citizens regardless of ability to pay. There were three main objectives established that were critical to the success of the program: (1) equal access to care, (2) provision of preventative and curative care, and (3) services provided at no cost to the patients (Perlman & Fried, 2012). Today, the NHS is still alive and well and is meeting the expectations of the original objectives set forth at its inception. Currently, the NHS is credited as being the single largest publically funded health care system in the world. In 2010, the Commonwealth Fund declared that “in comparison with the healthcare systems of six other countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA) the NHS was the second most impressive overall. The NHS was rated as the best system in terms of efficiency, effective care and cost-related problems. It was also ranked second for patient equality and safety” (Perlman & Fried, 2012). This paper will address the author’s impression of the NHS based on research and information collected and reviewed as well as discusses the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program. As stated previously, the NHS is the world’s largest publically funded health care system. It employs approximately 1.7 million people of which include...
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...Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 The History of Healthcare Reform……………………………………………………………………………..…4 The Problem with the ACA……………………………………………………………………………………………6 The Current Policy………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8 Policy Alternatives………………………………………………………………………………………………………10 Evaluation Criteria………………………………………………………………………………………………………10 Policy Recommendation……………………………………………………………………………………………..12 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13 References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14 Introduction Recent health care reform legislation, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Education Reconciliation Act, which is now being referred to simply as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. Since the 20th century, several United States presidents have faced challenges in passing national health reform into law. Before the ACA was enacted, national health reform proposals under different governments in the United States faced strong opposition from various stakeholders and multiple interest groups. Therefore, the enactment of the ACA is revolutionary healthcare reform in the history of the United States. Healthcare insurance is a program that assists in paying medical expenses through privately purchased insurance or social welfare programs. In other words, health insurance is a system that provides protection against health costs. This newly legislated healthcare reform offers health insurance for...
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...States Even though it will cost taxpayers a small amount more, Americans have the right to free health care. There are forty seven million Americans are without health insurance and the bill will stop insurance companies from denying Americans from coverage. What the government is trying to pass is a new health insurance reform legislation that will give coverage to many Americans who desperately need it. The benefits for the people would be that everyone would have coverage. This legislation would also hold insurance companies accountable and keep soaring insurance premiums down. This would also reduce the deficit and better the economy over time as well as reducing the cost that businesses have. What is Health care reform? Health care reform is a legislation that President Obama has signed into law to improve the United States by offering basic health care to every American. “The Affordable Health Care for America Act is a piece of legislation that will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance; quality affordable options for those who don’t; and bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. And it is legislation that is fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit ” (Obama, 2009, Statement of President Barack Obama on House Passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act). This health reform legislation will reduce the cost of health care for Americans...
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...Johnson HCCUniversity NURS 3006 Section 02, The Context of Healthcare Delivery Nov 24, 2013 Financing Health Care in the U.S. Financing healthcare in the U. S. continues to be a major concern, and going forward it could become a monsoon. There are many methods available to finance healthcare in this country, and some people have access to several methods. However, a large percentage does not have access to any methods, and as a result they are uninsured. Among the methods used to finance healthcare are private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. We will discuss Medicare, and some of the issues the federal government is facing with rising health care cost. Money and how to pay for things are always at the forefront of the problems. Unlike other healthcare funding issues Medicaid is funded totally by the federal government. Private insurance is funded by employers, employees and private citizens. Medicaid is funded 2/3 by the federal government and 1/3 by the state government. Medicare is currently funded by tax payers and the federal income tax. The population is getting older, and many baby boomers are nearing 65 years of age and will be eligible for Medicare. If the current trend continues many experts believe the system will be bankrupt within 10 years. As a result, the government will have to increase the federal income tax, or find a way to reduce cost. One of the main issues is that curtailing cost normally means curtailing service and benefits. As services...
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...Health Economics Concepts for health Care Marcus Bright Strayer University Health Economics HSA 510 Dr. Jeff Kaluyu October 27, 2014 Abstract Income Inequality and Rising Health-Care Costs in the United States shows that health costs are the biggest driver of income inequality. This reason has made health care economics to go through multiple renovations leading from money which is the substance of health care economics and that has become vital to economists, policymakers, researchers, and organizational leaders. Today, most employers pay their workers a combination of wages and benefits, the most important of which is health coverage. This too has caused employer’s to hold back on salary increases to keep total compensation costs to cover the high cost of health insurance increases. In health care economics, the gross domestic product (GDP) is of paramount importance and in evaluation of, there is a remarkable rise in the GDP from 5.2% in the 1960’s to 16.2% in 2008, and an anticipation of 19% or more by 2019. It is based on those ongoing increases that this paper will reflect on the concepts that have impacted the world of health care economics in the US. Health Care Professionals and Understanding the Discipline of Health Economics The economics of health care methodologies for funding have continuously been changing since the 1800s. This started with the founding of the American Medical Association in 1847, which promoted scientific advancement, improved...
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...Healthcare History Health Care History The United States health care system is currently getting ready to evolve tremendously through the organization, management structure, and payment structures. The economic component in health care is very important to understand in order to structure it successfully. This papers discusses the evolution of economics in the health care system and the structure of health care funding timeline. History and Evolution Health care economics presents an information framework were efficiency and equity goals are pursued. Furthermore, economics establishes a framework by maximizing benefits using resources at hand. Kenneth Arrow, the person responsible for mentioning the idea of health economics as a discipline, wrote an article titled “Uncertainty and the Welfare Economies of Medical Care” in 1963. The article discusses how the medical care industry benefits society compared to the “norm”. Furthermore, Mr. Arrow wrote about the significance of supply and demand. Arrow discussed that the average person has the characteristic of only seeking medical care when they are suffering from a critical injury or illness. Its not common for the average person to receive routine medical services on a regular basis. As Mr. Arrows discussed supply condition, he quoted “Entry to the health care profession is controlled by licensing. Licensing manages the supply which consequently increases the cost of medical care”. Medical care...
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...irrespective of rising inflation and slowing economy. Emerging countries will account for a large chunk of the world’s growth. These countries promise new and unexplored markets to the world with their rising levels of consumption and cheap labor. However, markets such as India pose unique risks for the businesses and hence impact its economy. Business risks are provoked because of influence of government in transactions which are expected to be purely commercial in the developed countries. State plays a very important role in planning of its economy and if the resources are used by the politicians for their “business” then economy is bound to fall flat. Financial crises are attributed to misbehavior of some kind, greed, fraud and cronyism. As is widely known, political influence is very essential to start a business in India. This is a key concern for the Indian markets. Corruption has serious repercussions on India’s businesses and political environment. Every time a scandal occurs it damages the credibility of the government. The following are the implications of corruption on India’s economy and markets: Corruption reduces competition and efficiency in the Indian economy. India ranked 134th out of 183 countries in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index in 2011, a ranking lower than both China (79th) and Brazil (127th). Businesses face constraints in starting a business, dealing with construction permits and enforcing contracts Corruption raises the cost of doing business...
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