Essay about The Modern Healthcare Maze

The Modern Health Care Maze: Development and Effects of the Four-Party System. Kroncke, Charles;White, Ronald F. The Independent Review; Summer 2009; 14, 1; ProQuest Research Library. Pg. 45 This article was written by Charles Kroncke and Ronald F. White. Kroncke is an associate professor of economics and White is a professor of philosophy, both at the College of Mount St. Joseph. I enjoyed reading this article. The authors asked a lot of questions and used relative statistics to back up their opinions. The authors did a very good job in making clear how health care came to evolve and how it should be reformed. Throughout the essay, money and health care payments are a main theme. An interesting statistic that shocked me: “The healthcare industry in the U.S. accounts for 14% of the gross domestic product. Growth in healthcare spending is expected to remain steady at 6.7% per year until 2017. In 2017, health care will account for one fifth of the U.S. economy”. Healthcare is not supposed to run a country. This rise in healthcare needs to be challenged. Where should we really be making cuts? I like that the article expanded on the history of health care in this country. Before the fifties, hospitals were not a place for people to go when they were in an emergency situation, or treated to become healthier. “The first hospitals in the western world were non-therapeutic custodial institutions for the unwanted segments of society: criminals, the poor, the elderly, and the mentally ill”. Some of the first hospitals were operated by religious organizations or the government. As health care expanded into something outside the home, or outside of smaller practices the need for a third party was necessary. The presence of a third party has it pros and cons. “For physicians, third party payment was deeply problematic. It not only threatened their coveted independence and new found cultural authority, but also endangered two highly valued medical traditions: fee-for-service pricing and price discrimination”. Another good statistic that was shown was only 12.6 percent of healthcare payments are paid out of the pockets of patients receiving the care. This doesn’t have to mean that no one is paying their bills, this means that the government, or insurance companies pay for most of their patients bill. Extreme healthcare is almost unaffordable without having insurance. But insurance is so expensive that some people risk going without to rid them of an expensive monthly rate.

Health Care Benefit Crisis: Cost Drivers and Strategic Solutions. Parmenter, Eric M. Journal of Financial Service Professionals; Jul 2004; 58, 4; ProQuest Research Library pg. 63 I found this article in the Journal of Financial Service professionals. This is an academic article. The author, Eric M Parmenter is a credible source. This article discusses the rise of healthcare costs and how it is affecting employers and employees. More citizens are going without healthcare because employers cannot afford to insure their workers anymore. Prices are too high. This article discusses the factors that have contributed to a rise in healthcare cost. Some factors included are the baby boomer generation, technology costs, direct to consumer prescription drug marketing, and poor quality health care. This article also offered solutions to these problems.
US Opinions on Health Determinants and Social Policy as Health Policy. Robert, Stephanie A, PhD, MSW; Booske, Bridget C, PhD, MHSA. American Journal of Public Health101. 9 (Sep 2011): 1655-1663.
This article explores what factors affect society’s health. Booske and Robert completed a random telephone survey from November 2008-February 2009. “Respondents said that health behaviors and access to health care have very strong effects on health; they were less likely to report a very strong role for the other social economic factors”.

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