The Peterson Foundation stated that the U.S. devotes more of its national income to
healthcare than any other country. Between 2010 and 2019 there was an 8.9% gross
domestic spending annually which was a rise from 16.3% to 17% (PGPF). With
$11,100 being spent per person on healthcare in 2019 vs the second highest
spending country of Switzerland which spent $7,700. The Commonwealth Fund
stated that within the country there was 27.5% of the population without health
insurance in 2018, with the indoctrination of Obama care there were 20 million
Americans that gained health insurance coverage, this also helped patients with
preexisting conditions gain coverage without higher cost. The American progress
also states that they assisted with the cost to lower income families, women
coverage cost was the same as men, which before was 1.5 times more. Younger
adults and children have greater access to care, improvements of access to
prescription drugs, lower cost to senior citizens and protection to disabled people
were enhanced (Progress).
Healthcare cost is based on utilization, the number of services used, and the
price being charged per service, an increase in either the price or quantity of services
used would increase healthcare cost. The U.S. even with having shorter hospital
stays, surgeries like knee replacement and angioplasty when compared to other
countries exceed the cost for each, according to Kaiser Health system. They also
discussed that possible reasons could be from consolidation of hospitals, this can
mean no competition, which results in price gauging, and the inefficiencies of our
healthcare systems. Duplication of care, lack of value-based care, product waste, the
concept of quantity over quality, all these have made the cost of healthcare high.
With the higher cost for healthcare, the quality of life in healthcare outcomes are
sadly no better than other developed countries. We in the U.S. have an opposite
effect, in that we perform worse in some cases like infant mortality, life expectancy,
and diabetes that goes unmanaged, and other chronic health conditions. 30% of the
healthcare cost and spending go towards overpriced, wasteful, and ineffective
services. Changing the way, the federal government pays for healthcare to ensure
that low-income families have high quality of care. With small changes pay-for-
performance initiatives would improve care and lower cost.
a a a a a Currently the cost of healthcare isn’t transparent, we truly don’t know what the
average cost of a procedure is going to be at one facility vs. another. a Making the cost
of healthcare more visible to the patients would mean that they are able to make
more informed decisions on what care they should receive. If patients have higher
out of pocket cost for their care, those who live in lower income communities would
seek the care that they need. They would live healthier lifestyles and the number of
chronic conditions in these low-income communities would decrease.
Reducing what the government pays for would make a decrease in healthcare
spending. Medicare and Medicaid pay for medication that have not been fully
proven to have a high positive patient improvement result. These medications hit the
shelves with little clinical trial that claim to be beneficial for patients with chronic
issues, they are approved and prescribed to patients. This causes patients to use a
medication that has little to no effect on them. With this they would possibly be
placed on multiple medications and have limited chance of improving from their
condition. Value based care is going to have to be the deciding factor for all care, this
would motivate the providers in to improving care.
a a The Peter G. Peterson Foundation also stated that with combining Medicare’s Part
A with Part B ambulatory services in would reduce cost. Making Medicare into a
premium based program, which would mean beneficiaries would purchase
insurance through health insurance exchanges and making state block grants from
converting Medicaid. Shorter hospital stays can lower the cost, once it doesn’t have
any change in health effectiveness, with this change it could improve patient quality
of care and satisfaction. The patient would have more independence and control of
their care and would cost the treatment facilities less.
References:
Calsyn, M., & Gee, E. (2021, November 2). 10 ways the ACA has improved health
care in the past decade. Center for American Progress. Retrieved July 5, 2022,
from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-ways-aca-improved-
health-care-past-decade/
Finding Solutions: Healthcare. Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (n.d.).
https://www.pgpf.org/finding-solutions/healthcare.
Peterson, P. (2020, July 14). How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to other
countries? Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2020/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-
compare-to-other-countries
Tikkanen, R., Osborn, R., Osborn, R., Mossialos, E., Djordjevic, A., & Wharton, G.
A. (2020, June 5). United States. Home. Retrieved July 5, 2022, from
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-
center/countries/united-states
