Supply And Demand In Health Care

393 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Economic disparities and access to healthcare

The Keynesian concept of supply and demand clearly captures the population trends in health care and foreshadows the diminishing sustainability of the current financing structure. Substantial demand for health care services will not be waning anytime in the foreseeable future. The jump from 4.4 million Americans over the age of 85 in 2000 to 6.3 million predicted in 2025 comprises a significant increase in demand for health care (Williams & Torrens, 2008). Accordingly, total health care expenditures grew from 1.2 trillion dollars in 2000 to 2.7 trillion dollars in 2015 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2017). Conversely, on the other side of the equation, supply is not increasing at the same rate as demand for health care. For example, 60,000 to 70,000 social workers specializing in gerontology are forecasted to be needed in 2020 while less than ten percent of that was available when measured (Hooyman & Unützer, 2010). …show more content…

While these individuals continue to work and pay into the system, the inevitable rationing of health care may be forestalled for a time. Nonetheless, systems will tend to stabilize to an equilibrium state and that cannot occur without health care rationing. Regardless of what government officials may promise, there is a limit to what services can be provided to a nation’s citizens without additional sources of revenue. Increasing taxation reduces the amount of income to be used to purchase insurance which increases the use of social health care which burdens the system to a greater

Show More
Related

  • Organizational Systems And Quality Leadership

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.

    Read More

  • Health Care Proposal Essay

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    The U.S. spending on health care is an outlier compared to other industrialized countries. On an individual basis heath care in the U.S is approximately double what other industrialized countries spend. On a total spend basis, the $3 trillion currently consumed in this sector represents the world’s fifth-largest economy. This high spending on healthcare is unsustainable in the long term. Businesses, individual consumers, and the government are consequently not insulated from the shrinking economic growth due to the ramifications of the high healthcare costs. In a global competitive market the U.S. business will lag behind other industrialized countries unless these high healthcare costs are curtailed. In addition, individuals, even those with insurance face the grim prospect of bankruptcy due to the high cost of care.

    Read More

  • Healthcare in America: At the Top of the List of Social and Eonomic Problems

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.

    Read More

  • A Right to a Healthy Life in Animal Farm by George Orwell

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...

    Read More

  • The Rise in the Price of Prescription Drugs

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the business of drug production over the years, there have been astronomical gains in the technology of pharmaceutical drugs. More and more drugs are being made for diseases and viruses each day, and there are many more drugs still undergoing research and testing. These "miracle" drugs are expensive, however, and many Americans cannot afford these prices.

    Read More

  • Health Care Costs For The United States

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.

    Read More

  • Problems With the U.S. Healthcare System

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.

    Read More

  • Characteristics of the U.S. Health Care Delivery System

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States health care system is one of the most expensive systems in the world yet it is known as being unorganized and chaotic in comparison to other countries (Barton, 2010). This factor is attributed to numerous characteristics that define what the U.S. system is comprised of. Two of the major indications are imperfect market conditions and the demand for new technology (Barton, 2010). The health care system has been described as a free market in

    Read More

  • The Necessity of the Affordable Healthcare Law

    2022 Words  | 5 Pages

    In America the affordability and equality of access to healthcare is a crucial topic of debate when it comes to one's understanding of healthcare reform. The ability for a sick individual to attain proper treatment for their ailments has reached the upper echelons of government. Public outcry for a change in the handling of health insurance laws has aided in the establishment of the Affordable Healthcare Law (AHCL) to ensure the people of America will be able to get the medical attention they deserve as well as making that attention more affordable, as the name states. Since its creation, the AHCL has undergone scrutiny towards its effects on the government and its people; nevertheless, the new law must not be dismantled due to its function as a cornerstone of equal-opportunity healthcare, and if such a removal is allowed, there will be possibly detrimental effects on taxes, the economy, and poor people.

    Read More

  • Economics of the Health Care Industry

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    2. The twin problems of the health care industry as viewed by society are cost and access. First of all, the cost of getting health care is very high and it is getting higher each day. This has been mostly caused by the combination of high cost and an increase in quantity of services provided to the communities. The other problem involves access to health care. American enjoy limited or no access to health care. Many efforts have been done to reform this, but still but still many people are left without access to the care. These two problems are related due to the fact that if the health care industry gets to high off course people no longer will be able to have any access to it. The higher prices are, the lower access people have to it.

    Read More

  • The Rising Cost of Health Care

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Finance And Health Care

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    Financial factors depict a vital role in today’s health care system. Presently, the United States spends on health care services than any other country; trillions of dollars were spent over a five-year period. The rising costs of healthcare continue to grow and affect Americas all over the world. The Affordable Care Act is a law that was passed to make healthcare and health insurance more affordable and available to Americans. “The Affordable Care Act put in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that have improved access, affordability, and quality in healthcare for Americans.” (ACA, 2015)

    Read More

  • Supply And Demand

    1824 Words  | 4 Pages

    The market price of a good is determined by both the supply and demand for it. In the world today supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental principles that exists for economics and the backbone of a market economy. Supply is represented by how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good that producers are willing to supply for a certain demand price. What determines this interconnection is how much of a good or service is supplied to the market or otherwise known as the supply relationship or supply schedule which is graphically represented by the supply curve. In demand the schedule is depicted graphically as the demand curve which represents the amount of goods that buyers are willing and able to purchase at various prices, assuming all other non-price factors remain the same. The demand curve is almost always represented as downwards-sloping, meaning that as price decreases, consumers will buy more of the good. Just as the supply curves reflect marginal cost curves, demand curves can be described as marginal utility curves. The main determinants of individual demand are the price of the good, level of income, personal tastes, the population, government policies, the price of substitute goods, and the price of complementary goods.

    Read More

  • Macro Trends In Health Care

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, is to allow greater access to care, by granting healthcare coverage to the United States universal population. As a result, expanded coverage brought about the inability for the healthcare community to absorb the augmented demand of approximately 11 million individuals nation-wide. The affordable care act ultimately shifted the patient vs provider ratio, otherwise known as the supply vs demand table, wherein demand is expected to increase by 15-24 million in the next 5 years (Carthon, Barnes & Sarik, 2015).

    Read More

  • Essay On Us Healthcare 2050

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    The cost of US health care has been steadily increasing for many years causing many Americans to face difficult choices between health care and other priorities in their lives. Health economists are bringing to light the tradeoffs which must be considered in every healthcare decision (Getzen, 2013, p. 427). Therefore, efforts must be made to incite change which constrains the cost of health care without creating adverse health consequences. As the medical field becomes more business oriented, there will be more of a shift in focus toward the costs and benefits, which will make medicine more like the rest of the economy (Getzen, 2013, p. 439).

    Read More

More about Supply And Demand In Health Care

Open Document