ECON 202- Health care in the United States

Health care in the United States

Amount spent on health care in the United States.

About 3.6 trillion dollars are spent on health care in the USA. The amount is representative of 2018. Compared to other nations, the proportion of the Gross Domestic Product spent on health care in the United States is higher(Schrek, 2020). The Organization of Economic Growth and Development revealed that the United States spent at least 16.9% of the Gross Domestic Product on health care in 2018 (Schrek, 2020). Sweden spends a lot of money on health care. France, the same. However, compared to the United States, the part of GDP on health care of these nations is about 11%.

The basic structure of the health care system in the United States

The insurance companies, providers of health care, and hospital-based systems combine and work in synergy to provide health care. Public health insurance providers and private health insurance companies provide health care insurance coverage. For example, Medicare and Medicaid. In the private sector, the employer provides insurance for their workers. At least 56% of the private health care insurance in the United States is payable by the employer. Statistical research reveals that the employer incurs $ 16 253 yearly as insurance costs. To ensure that the whole family is covered, 73% of the premium is covered by the insurance service provider, while 83% of the premium remains covered to cover an individual. Therefore in the United States of America, it is more expensive to insure a family than an individual.

Unique challenges that health care presents from customer standpoints

The consumer in the United States has continued to face many challenges. These challenges include; the inability to find a good doctor and the cost barriers to health care. Some consumers from low-income families find it completely difficult to access high-quality health care due to exorbitant costs(Medifind, 2021). The low levels of transparency of the United States and increases in medical errors make it impossible for the health care benefits to be fully realized by the people.

Interventions by the government

The key health care interventions introduced by the government have been the introduction of health care insurance schemes for the benefit of the people. The Barack Obama-led government introduced the Affordable Care Act, a legislative piece that expanded the people's health care insurance (Gruber & Urbanowicz, 2018). The health care insurance costs were brought so low that more people could afford the health care. Specifically, the middle-income families in the nation will have added protections. The Affordable Care Act also prevented the insurance companies, specifically those driven by profit, from avoiding a situation where they seek to benefit from the sweat of the citizens by arbitrarily raising the cost of insurance. Even the patients with pre-existing health care conditions were taken care of.

Why the United States cannot replicate Singapore's model.

Singapore is a health care model that has largely been successful, and there are nations in the world that benchmark this model so that an improvement of the same can be replicated in their systems. However, for Singapore, the government streamlines health care systems but does not actively spend on it because it is the contributions of employees and the individual taxes who pay for the health care. This model where the government has direct control in payment for health care cannot be successful in the United States because of the ageing population. It requires nations to be a little bit conservative and rigid in their authority. The health care spending in the United States is so high that people would be forced to save more if the nation was to implement the Singapore model. (Klein, 2017)

Impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on health care delivery

For the single-payer, it becomes increasingly difficult to book for and get operations for elective procedures such as surgery. The rates of hospital visitations went down, and people opted to be treated at home(Health care Emergency Preparedness Information Gateway, 2020). The home treatment scenario complicated the health care outcomes. The COVID 19 outbreak also led to delays in organ transplants because there were organs found to be infected while on transit. This situation prompted the medical community to devise close monitoring of the situation.

References

Gruber, D., & Urbanowicz, P. (2018). Obamacare: Coverage without Cost Containment. Telehealth and Medicine Today, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.30953/tmt.v2.57

Health care Emergency Preparedness Information Gateway. (2020). COVID-19 Healthcare Delivery Impacts. https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/covid-19-healthcare-delivery-impacts-quick-sheet.pdf

Klein, E. (2017, April 25). Is Singapore’s “miracle” health care system the answer for America? Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/25/15356118/singapore-health-care-system-explained

Medifind. (2021). 8 Major Problems with the U.S. Healthcare System Today. MediFind. https://www.medifind.com/news/post/problems-us-healthcare-system

Schrek, R. (2020). Overview of Health Care Financing - Fundamentals. MSD Manual Consumer Version. https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/fundamentals/financial-issues-in-health-care/overview-of-health-care-financing