Population and Individual Health Measures and Healthcare Costs in the United States - Essay Example

"Population and Individual Health Measures and Healthcare Costs in the United States" is a good example of a paper on the health system. Sex is one of the key measures that influence the provision of healthcare. While the availability of healthcare is equally important to both sexes, the feminine gender requires more medical attention compared to the masculine gender, and this affects resource allocation to care services across gender. Age is another used measure in providing healthcare, with the older population requiring extra medical attention than other populations do. Equally important is the ability of individuals to take healthcare insurance policies. While age and sex determine the specific healthcare services that individuals require, the ability to take necessary healthcare insurance policies to determine individuals’ ability to access services that they require. The three measures, therefore, remain critical determinants of the provision of healthcare in the modern era (CDCP, 2014).

Compared to other developed countries, healthcare costs in the United States are significantly higher. One of the identified factors to this disparity is the lack of a common healthcare insurance plan for everybody. Unlike in other countries where the government sets or oversees the pricing of healthcare services, the US depends on for-profit health insurance companies to cater to both essential and elective healthcare. The complex healthcare of the US, which means that there are separate healthcare plans for groups such as Native Americans, veterans, and children under the age of 16, has also contributed to the high costs of healthcare. The administrative costs of the country’s healthcare system are also far higher than the costs in other developed countries are. Studies indicate that approximately 25% of the US healthcare cost is associated with administration, a figure that is alarmingly high (WHO, 2014).

Peer Response

The article points to the importance of variables in healthcare and how they can be used as health improvement measures. Sex, weight, height, and third-party payer are identified as key variables in healthcare. By discussing how these variables can be used as performance improvement measures, the article incorporates both individual and population measures in assessing measures used in providing healthcare today. In this case, while weight and sex represent population measures, third-party payers represent an individual measure.

To address the issue of escalating costs of healthcare in the US, the article proposes the adoption of the single-payer approach. According to the article, the simplicity of this approach can significantly reduce administrative costs. While some scholars have argued against this approach, I believe it can provide a better approach to administration than the current system offers. This is in turn, would reduce administrative costs, and allow for the improvement of healthcare services. The article, therefore, suggests that the US should look at how best to adopt the Canadian-style health plan as a way of further cutting on administrative costs. Personally, I feel this great step could help the US to not only reduce its healthcare costs but also to remain a global leader in the provision of quality healthcare.