The effect of economic growth on health care in developed countries The case of the United States - Essay Example

? Effects of Economic Growth on Health Care in Developed Countries with Particular Reference to the United s ID: abc123 xyz Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Historical Background 4 3. Recent Shift of Focus 5 4. Insurance Issue 5 5. Insurance and Economic Growth 5 6. Effects of Insurance Gaps 6 7. Health Care in Some other Developed Countries 6 7.1 Medicare Australia 6 7.1 Health Care in France 6 8. Conclusion 7 9. References 9 1. Introduction Health care is the most important service a country has to focus in all circumstances and economy decides the scale of quantity and quality of these services. Health care is so vital a service that it cannot be over emphasized whether it is peace, war, flood, an earthquake, Tsunami or any other natural disaster. However, the quality and scale of these services is mainly characterized by the prevailing economic conditions in the country. It is not only the money that matters but even in a developed country with ample economic growth rates, health care has to be carefully planned and managed to ensure the desired level of qualitative services. In most of the developed countries the health care services come under the domain of social security and welfare that a government has to ensure. In monetary terms people are either insured to avail the health care services or it is the government who looks after rest of the masses under social welfare and taxpayers’ protection schemes. Often there are several service domains in health care like Primary Health Care, Universal Health Care and Private Health Care services. These services are provided to masses depending on their legal status in the country, their insurance policy or their employer’s coverage policy for health care services. Despite of their status among nations and having achieved enough economical growth rates developed countries still face many problems in provisioning of health care services to their people. The quality of health care services is undoubtedly premium in nature and is as better as they may be in any other part of the world but what matters is the cost at which people are getting these services. In next few pages a detailed discussion is carried out on some basic problems these developed countries are facing in the provisioning of health care services and then we examine the effect of economic growth in eradication of these problems. The discussion are mainly focused on health care services in United States of America, however a comparison is drawn with other developed states where appropriate. 2. Historical Background The absence of a universal health care insurance plan is felt since long in America. The efforts were made to formulate a comprehensive health policy that can satisfy the public and patients, physicians, employers and the insurance providers. However, these efforts seem to be mistimed because the government could not utilized the economic growth in the period of 1990 to materialize its long public demands towards the provisioning of better health care facilities. “The decade of 1990s was characterized by unprecedented economic growth and creation of wealth in United States.” (Shi & Douglas, 2008, p.63). The President Clinton in 1993 presents his national health care initiative, but it could not gain the public acceptance at large scale. The major reason was the slow economic growth and rise in the costs of services and medicine as observed by Shi & Douglas, “However, medical cost escalation and cost of health insurance premium continues to outpace both general inflation and general economic growth” and this degradation of economy has caused reduced health care services offered by the government and private employers, “The percentage of firms offering health insurance has fallen from 69% in 2000 to 61% in 2006.” (Shi & Douglas, 2008, p.562). 3. Recent Shift of Focus In recent years this trend is changed and health care has got more policy focus as compared to the 1990s decade. Health care is budgeted heavily and more research work is being carried out to ensure better quality of health care services in the country. According to National Institute of Health (NIH), “the proposed FY 2008 NIH budget was nearly $29 billion.” (Shi & Douglas, 2008, p.535). The most recent health care reform in United States also show the government concern and interest in the health care infrastructural and system improvement. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 are examples of this interest. 4. Insurance Issue The health care insurance problems have been a long standing issue in America, specially low-income families were the chief victims of the system but not the problem is escalating to other Americans and has become a national issue as more and more Americans are affected by this insurance system. Low-income families usually avoid any insurance at all according to a recent survey, “Of the estimated 48 million American adults who spent any time uninsured in the past year, 67 percent were in families where at least one person was working full time.” (Collins et al., 2006). 5. Insurance and Economic Growth All time uninsured Americans are a great source of concern for the government. The subsidies in this account are increasing ever since they are offered because of 46 million people were declared uninsured in 2004 census and the number is on the rise since then. Secondly this eats up the major portion of the economic growth and the true effect is yet not achieved at a desirable scale in health care services. “National health care spending is climbing by more than 7 percent per year, outpacing economic growth by a substantial margin. As health care costs have climbed, so has the number of people without health insurance in the United States, even during a period of overall economic growth.” (Collins et al., 2006). 6. Effects of Insurance Gaps These insurance gaps are a serious concern and all available programs like employer plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program have just proved insufficient to bridge the gaps despite all the economic growth gained over the years. Another problem related to insurance coverage is that the employer-based insurance coverage often does not suit to the employee but he cannot choose a insurance tailored to his own requirements. This problem has recently been address in the health care reform bill 2010 and now employee can choose the insurance plan and can change it according to their requirements once in a year. 7. Health Care in Some other Developed Countries 7.1 Medicare Australia Australia provides health care services to its citizens and foreigners with some legal status through Medicare. It is the universal insurance plan that was introduced I 1984 and still in practice. “Medicare ensures that all Australians have access to free or low-cost medical, optometrical and hospital care while being free to choose private health services and in special circumstances allied health services.” (Medicare, 2011). 7.1 Health Care in France France has even more comprehensive health care system which ensures universal coverage along with a mix of public and private health care service. The scale and span of these services is wider than the USA health care services. The quality of health care services in terms of patients satisfaction and choice of service provider are also superior to USA and above all the cost of these service are lesser then America in terms of the share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). France health care system was ranked No. 1 in the year 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO). (Public Health, 2003). 8. Conclusion Health care is the basic requirement and fundamental right of the public in any country, but quality health care services can only be provided if country is enjoying sustainable economic growth. Economic growth is the ultimate requirement if the government is determined to provide the health care services regardless of the social class and affordability of an individual on purely humanitarian grounds. Business should be given a freehand to concentrate on the growth of business instead of provisioning of insurance coverage and other packages because more business means better and secured economic growth. This does not mean the government controlled services rather it should only act as a facilitator and guarantor. Economic growth should be the top most national priority and every possible effort should be made to keep the pace of economy because this will contribute towards the success of health care reforms of 2010. The lessons learnt in the 1990s should be used in the best national interest. The recent reforms should be supported unconditionally because those are now in place after long deliberations and should be given a fair chance. Many learned people from various facets of life have approved the potential of these reforms as Sultz has rightly commented on it, “Unlike opponents of health care reform, respected economists, and system analysts from independent organizations and major universities predict that this legislation will provide tools to improve the quality and lower the costs of medical care.” (Sultz & Kristina, 2011, p.XI). The aim should be the availability of insurance coverage to those 17% of Americans who are still all time uninsured. This petty figure has immense effect on the image of United States that is still far behind other industrial states on the globe in the field of health care services. The ever increasing costs in health care sector know no end and the deprived people are even more deprived today, Medicare and Medicaid have failed to control the cost at any level in health care sector and costs have never gone down. Sultz and Kristina have presented the eye opener statistics, “Overall, health care cost have risen from 5.3% of U.S. gross domestic product in 1960 to over 17.6% in 2009.” (Sultz & Kristina, 2011, p.53). 9. References Arthur Garson, 2000, The US Health Care System 2010, Problems, Principals and Potential Solutions, viewed 25 March, 2011, Collins R. Sara, Karen Davis, Michelle M Doty, Jennifer L. Kriss & Alyssa L Holmgren, 2006, Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem, The Commonwealth Fund, viewed 25 March, 2011, . Medicare, 2011, Service Description, viewed 25 March, 2011, Public Health, 2003, “The Health Care System Under French National Health Insurance: Lessons for Health Reform in the United States”, American Journal of Public Health 2003, viewed 24 March, 2011, < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447687/> Shi Leiyu, Douglas A. Singh, 2008, Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach, (4th ed.). USA, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Sultz Harry A., Kristina M. Young, 2011, Health care USA: Understanding its Organization and Delivery, (7th ed.). USA, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More