Health Care Economics and Public Policy Making

Health Care Economics and Public Policy Making

Introduction

There are many things that are not right about health care system of USA. And one the biggest problem that confronts USA healthcare is that of excessive pricing. The overall spending on the healthcare sector in USA is really large and still the outcomes of are not that satisfactory. Looking at the apparent reasons, obesity was said to be highest in United States, and that can be attributed as a huge factor in the bulging healthcare costs.

Discussion

As per the recent statistics, the current spending is more than 17 % of the GDP, and it is comfortably greater than some of USA's compatriots. The fundamental fact of American healthcare is that America tends to spend more on its healthcare and much of the price differentiation can be contributed to the inconsistency. While in most of the countries, the prices are controlled by central regulatory authorities while in United States, every region and the insurance agreement is said to be negotiating different price. Due to this inconsistency, every insurance agent is said to be setting its own price and wildly different amounts are paid due to it. Even data compilation has become a problem due to it as prices in USA healthcare sector are expressed in ranges rather than a singular figure.

The eventual practice of defensive medicine was also one the prime causes for this price escalation. The physicians in United States are notorious as they recommend tests that are absolutely needless (Reinhardt, Hussey, & Anderson, 2004). The primary reason for this is that they are also cautious against the malpractice lawsuits. They want to make sure that there is no ambiguity from their side. What it does is that it puts unnecessary pressure on doctors to save their ends, and they just want to protect themselves from malpractice claims. All these practices are leading the overuse of the healthcare system.

There is also a case for lack of transparencies in USA healthcare system. The doctors and physicians' in USA charge a lot, and as discussed above, the system lacks uniformity. The private and public insurers are free to charge whatever they want as there is not control or central authority that is taking hold of the things. The contracts of these healthcare workers are separate, and they are not at all related with the contracts of the hospitals. When there are such irregularities in the system, there is a fair chance that there will be secretive and a large number of forces that will drive and control the overall markets

Another malign that is confronting healthcare system in USA is that of fee for service system. The fee for service system implies that whatever treatment that is given, it will be charged separately. These services encourage the wastage of resources, and as they are charging for every additional service, they are bound to overuse them for their monetary gains. While the average consultation in the country like ...