Essay Sample on United States Healthcare System

Introduction

The healthcare system in the US is a composition of a private and public patchwork of highly fragmented systems. The public and private insurances cover the citizens and this is according to the arrangements they have made with their employers. There are also government-sponsored programs and they include Medicaid and Medicare that provide insurance covers to populations that come from vulnerable groups. However, the introduction of the Affordable Care Act 2010 has not got all people covered and this is a challenge to the government (Lee, 2015). The project discusses the economic foundation of the USS healthcare system, evaluation of different models to understand the economic system and challenges it encounters compared to other developed economies.

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Description of the Economic Foundation of the US Healthcare System and the Role of Economics

The cost of the healthcare system in the US is relatively expensive compared to other countries. For example, in 2010, it spent $2.6 trillion on the sector and this is estimated to be 18% of the gross domestic products. Other developed countries like the UK are able to provide the healthcare services at low cost and spend 9.6% of its GDP while Germany spent 11.6% of its GDP in the same year. Initially, the cost of the sector was not that high but it has expanded in the last 30 years (Bipartisan Policy Centre, 2012). There is rapid growth in the expenditure in the industry and this is unsustainable to the US economy. There is a gap between wealthy people and economically challenged populations groups due to limited access to quality healthcare systems because there are people insurance has not covered despite the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Economics plays a significant role in the healthcare system. The financiers, government and the consumers analyze the trends and determine the demand for the service. It helps the government and private financiers to predict the amount they will spend in the sector and develop sustainable programs.

Models of Economics and the Role of Economics in Healthcare

Beveridge model is the first one used in the healthcare sector. With this model, the government is responsible to finance the healthcare through its taxation system. It is applicable where the government runs the healthcare sector including healthcare facilities and doctors. The second model is the Bismarck. It is the system that uses the insurance systems which are contributed by employers and employees and this is the model applied in the US. The third one is the out-of-pocket model. With this model, people get money out of their pockets to finance their healthcare needs (Lorraine, 2013). It is applicable in many countries and the quality of healthcare services differ between the rich and the poor because of the affordability. These models help to explain the role of economics in healthcare because they help to understand the best way to finance the sector to sustain its performance. Also, they give an insight understanding of how equilibrium works in the sector. For example, using the out-of-pocket model means that as the demand increases, people have to contribute more so that they balance the equation. Also, when using the Beveridge model, the government will avail adequate facilities and medical staff to meet the demand of the healthcare services.

Role of Production of Health and Demand and Supply for Medicare, Health Insurance and the Relationship between and Demand for Healthcare

The first importance of this concept is that it helps to plan and allocate resources to each facility effectively. The concept helps to analyze healthcare demand for various diseases and predict the future so that the Medicare team provides quality and sustainable services. Therefore, it helps to plan about the allocation of resources (Hunsuke, Hiroo, Koichi, Shishuke & Katsuhiko, 2017). The same case applies to health insurance. As the demand increases, the contributors will increase more funds to meet the needs of the people. Also, there is a relationship between income and demand for healthcare. For example, assuming that health is a normal good, it means that an increase in income increases demand because people will go for regular checkups and seek quality healthcare services. A decline in income leaves people with no money to spend on healthcare thus lowering the demand.

Economic Benefits and Challenges of Individual versus Population Health

Individual health is very crucial because health professionals focus on individuals needs and not as a group. Also, it helps to develop a personalized approach to medication which is efficient since there is one on one communication between the service provider and the user (Randy, 2018). However, the challenges include a large number of personnel required and secondly not many people in the society can afford to pay for the system. The similarity between these two approaches is that they focus on the specific needs of people or individual but they differ in the implementation process.

Comparison of the US Healthcare System and Other Developed Countries

First, the US healthcare system is very costly and expensive. In 2010, the US spent $2.6 trillion on the sector. It is equivalent to 18% of the gross domestic products. The UK spent 9.6% of its GDP while Germany spent 11.6% of its gross domestic products (Bipartisan Policy Centre, 2012). On the other hand, Japan spent 9.5%. Therefore, the cost is high in the US. Regarding quality of healthcare, the US lags behind on measure of the quality of healthcare compared to other countries and this is an opportunity to capitalize to reduce the cost of healthcare (Goran, Suzanne, & Ognjen, 2012). In Germany and the UK, it is the responsibility of the government to provide healthcare services while in the US it is a combination of the private and public sectors and this limits the number of people accessing the healthcare services.

Conclusion

The healthcare system in the US is consuming a significant amount of resources from the budget. Its budget is expensive and not sustainable if the government is not going to take the necessary measures to capitalize on the available opportunities. For example, the country spends more than countries like the UK and Germany. The system is fragmented and is financed by private and public entities. The government should take necessary steps to promote equality and reduce expenditure in the sector.

References

Bipartisan Policy Centre. (2012). What is driving U.S healthcare spending? America'sunsustainable health care cost growth. Available at: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/BPC%20Health%20Care%20Cost%20Drivers%20Brief%20Sept%202012.pdf

Goran, R. Suzanne, G & Ognjen, R. (2012). Comparisons of health care systems in the UnitedStates, Germany and Canada. Mater Sociomedica 24(2): 112-120.

Hunsuke, D. Hiroo, I. Koichi, T, Shishuke, F & Katsuhiko, T. (2017). Estimation and Evaluationof Future Demand and Supply of Healthcare Services Based on a Patient Access AreaModel. International journal of environment research and public health 14(11): 1367.

Lee, T. (2015). Backgrounder: Making sense of the U.S Healthcare system: A primer. Availableat: http://evidencenetwork.ca/backgrounder-making-sense-of-the-u-s-health-care-system-a-primer-2/

Lorraine, W. (2013). A view of healthcare around the world. Annals of family medicine 11(1):84.

Randy, V. (2018). Healthcare trends for 2018. American Health and Drug Benefits 11(1): 48-54.