¶ … health care in the United States has been the source of heated debate for a number of years. Although the publicity surrounding the issue has been considerable and made to look like it is a recent problem facing the nation, the problem, in reality, has been on the horizon for nearly a century. During President Woodrow Wilson's administration, efforts were unsuccessfully made to pass national legislation regarding the delivery of health care in the United States and the issue has appeared periodically on the national agenda ever since (Lepore, 2009). Finally, on March 23, 2010, among massive controversy, the Affordable Care Act, through the massive efforts of the Obama administration, became law.
Despite the passing of the Affordable Care Act, health care in the United States remains dismal for a large percentage of American citizens. Although there were a number of significant provisions in the Act that took effect nearly immediately such as extending the coverage of coverage for adult children on their parents' policy until age 26 and the extension of coverage for children in general, most of the bill has little or no effect on most uninsured until calendar year 2013. The fact is, that despite the fanfare and debate, the Act still leaves over 17 million Americans uninsured.
The Affordable Care Act is a step forward in the delivery of health care in America. Even the most ardent supporters of the Act would argue that it is not a panacea for what ails American health care but, assuming it withstands court challenges presently pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, it does soothe some of the problems but others remain.
The Affordable Care Act plugs some of the more obvious problems but there remain considerable other ones that need addressing. There is no shortage of available approaches to the delivery of health care in the western world and the American system has appropriately borrowed some of these ideas in formulating its own but, presently, what are the restrictions on health care that are most problematic (Shi, 2003)?
One of the other arguments offered in support of the American health care system is that the system works far more efficiently than systems such as Canada or Great Britain where long individual waits for medical service are reported or where waits for specialized services are measured in months instead of weeks like in the United States. The short wait times in the United States can be misleading. First, it must be remembered that he wait times in the United States are being compared with countries that nearly all have universal health coverage. In the United States one quarter of the population lacks health insurance coverage and, therefore, are much less likely to seek health care. Additionally, even those who are insured in the United States tend to avoid medical treatment because of the out-of-pocket costs involved. In countries where universal health care is available, individuals are seeking treatments that are completely left out of the American system.
Health care in the United States is also restricted by the fact that the available pool of physicians are not getting the job done. First, there are far too few primary care physicians available to make the system work effectively. The reasons for this are numerous but the primary reasons are the relative low pay and prestige afforded such physicians. As a rule, medical students have historically been drawn to higher paying specialties such as orthopedics or surgery…
This situation was also due to slower growth in prescription drugs. Other categories that reported slower growth include: physician and clinical services, home health care, and other professional services. Regarding prescription drug spending, the value increased 5.8%. For the previous year, the increase was of 8.6%. The reason for this category's evolution is Medicare drug spending significant deceleration, along with generic drugs increased use. Use of brand name drugs was
Healthcare Management Australia's health care system is funded and administered by the national, state, and local government. The initiatives by these levels of government are also supported by private health insurance schemes (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The Australia's Medicare is funded and administered by the medical services, prescription pharmaceuticals, and hospital treatment. The Australian and territory governments deliver population health programs, community health services, health and medical research, mental health
Health Care Past, Current, And Future The health of any nation should be a top priority for leaders and elected political representatives, but in the United States it took several centuries for the nation to begin to come to terms with providing health care for its citizens. This paper covers the gradual implementation of health care services and doctor training facilities in the U.S., and also covers the recent attempt by
While many insurance companies may have limits in place, those limits are easily raised when requested by doctors (Maschue 2012). Under the current Medicare and Medicaid plans, however, the government sets specific amounts that doctors and hospitals may bill and any amount over that will not be paid. This limit leads to many doctors refusing to accept government patients or reducing the amount of care for those patients (Maschue
In February 1950, under House Resolution 58, The Senate Committee on Small Business was established. The name of the committee was changed to The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 1981, but still functions in much the same way it has since its inception in the early 1950's (Committee Homepage, 2009). To its credit, the group has held hearings on a multitude of different small business related issues,
Part One The American healthcare system is in a crisis situation, with exorbitant spending unbalanced by “poor health outcomes, including shorter life expectancy and greater prevalence of chronic conditions” versus high income countries with universal healthcare systems (Squires & Anderson, 2015, p. 1). The Affordable Care Act was an attempt, albeit an incomplete one, to reform the way healthcare is structured and financed. Universal health care is a concept that has
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