Debate on Health Care Management - Term Paper Example

The paper is subdivided in sections including the introduction, the main body, the conclusion and eventually recommendation. The introduction introduces the subject matter to be handled in the discussion. The body analyzes various health care scenarios and their implications on the current problems affecting the industry. The conclusion captures the main points discussed in the body and the recommendations highlights the changes to be made on the industry to make it better. Introduction Everybody in the society aspires to receive the best medical care whenever she or he needs.

This is not achievable to everyone because access to quality healthcare comes at a cost. On the other hand, the world is continuously changing but the healthcare system used by majority of Americans was created in the 1940s. During that time, Americans did not change their jobs frequently, as is the case today. In addition, the number of retirees was low, which meant that the retiree benefits were not costly to the employer. This has changed and coupled with increasing life expectancy, employers are finding it hard to offer retiree benefits.

The cost of provision of quality healthcare has been escalating over the years, which means that most people cannot afford it. Enacting of changes such as leading health lives will result in trimming the costs involved in the provision of these services (Shortell & Kaluzny, 2006). Scenario 1: Business as Usual The fluctuations between the government intervention and the market fixes on health care policies affect the efforts at cost containment in the health industry. The government through its health care policies has increased the population of the organized health care plans, increasing the competition in the health care industry.

The government has facilitated this through eliminating certain laws, which banned selective contracting. The managed care systems supported by the United States government imposes prices for purchasing the services and the cost the providers get paid (Fuchs, 1988). Multiple payments, health delivery and insurance schemes as well as the health care being financed by both the public and the government have led to high health costs in the country. This system of health care system is expensive because the government cannot effectively manage the total health expenditure, affecting service utilization and heath care availability (Fuchs, 1988).

The health care providers in the industry strive to maximize the reimbursement of the government for the services delivered to the managed care organizations. In contrast, the government seeks to contain the cost increases in the industry; thus, there exists counteractive forces among the players negatively influencing the efforts to contain costs. The cost containment has remained a primary challenge in the country (Major Characteristics of U.S. Health Care Delivery, n.d). The health care market responded to the government interventions, which increased competition in the industry by initiating price discounts on the health care services that they offered to their clients.

The rising cases of obesity besides the swift expansion of the providers make health care spending to rise. The gains made in managing the chronic diseases through developments and innovations in technology and