Introduction
Nowadays, lots of countries have a quite developed health care system that is available to all people. However, numerous factors considerably influence its development, creating more and more difficulties for people to get the appropriate treatment. The United States of America is one of those countries, the heal care system of which demonstrates good achievements and qualitative services. The level of health care in the United States has excelled indeed; this is why certain changes within the goals of health care may be observed rather frequently. Hospitals offer more and more different services so that people can hardly control their money because they usually want to get the proper treatment and use the best techniques only. The economy plays a significant role in health care and people have nothing to do but find out more possible and be able to afford themselves the best treatment only and to overcome the existed challenges. In this paper, we will discuss the peculiarities of modern health care and the effects of the economy on the further development of health care, and analyze how people may afford all those challenges, created by the economy. With the help of current researchers and reliable theoretical issues, we will present a worthwhile analysis of health care in the United States from the end of the 20th century till the beginning of the 21st century.
Discussion
Health Care: General Ideas and Its Peculiarities in the United States
When we talk about a health care system in the United States, we talk about “highly complex and confusing, highly decentralized and fragmented, and focused significantly on producing outcomes in addition to patient care, such as power and profits” system with its pros and cons (Jonas, 6). Good health is one of the most important factors for any human; without good health, people can hardly enjoy this life, earn money, give births to children, and provide other people with the necessary help. People can make numerous things to have good health. They may “spend money on doctors, give up…favorite foods, devote hours to the gym, and seek out the latest medical advances, all in the name of better health” (Cutler, 10). All these words cannot but prove how important the health care system is. The health care system touches upon all those goods and services, which aim at providing people with a chance to have good health, prevent possible illnesses, and present the necessary treatment.
As the population of the United States grows considerably, the problems connected to healthcare appear from time to time. More than 39 million people, who live in America, do not have health insurance (Access to Health Insurance). Some people do not pay enough attention to the importance of having health insurance; some people cannot get this kind of insurance because of the existed conditions. This is why the costs, which are connected to health care, are increasing terribly. People try to find out ways in order to live longer; their long-living causes growth of health care costs because people want to be healthy and use the best means ever. In fact, Americans face numerous problems within the health care system nowadays. First of all, it is quite possible that, at the same time, a really great amount of people ask for help. Some hospitals still do not have enough opportunities and techniques to provide each patient with a proper medical examinations. Even if a person has health insurance, it turns out to be rather difficult to get proper treatment at the necessary time.
It is also necessary to admit that the health care system is a good source of work for those, who want to earn money and be useful for people. It is not that easy to get a job in the sphere of health care. People should demonstrate their abilities to care, help, and listen. Patients need to be in good hands, those hands, which may not only provide the necessary help but also explain what causes the illness and why the chosen treatment will be effective. This is why the health care system is rather careful while picking out employees.
Health Care and the Effecting of Economy
Health care is considered to be both a social and economic issue. People cannot decide whether social factors play a more significant role in the development of the health care system and its quality or economic issues remain more important and create certain limitations for people. However, it is necessary to admit that health care is one of the first factors, which influence the US economy. Some researchers state that increasing health care costs may easily lead to lower economic growth and even influence employment (Monaco & Phelps, 248). But still, such cost increasing has lots of chances to promote the creation of more working places and proper discipline and quality of the workers. “Health care is one of the few things that are still predominantly produced domestically in the United States, and growth in the health care sector has been one of the primary engines of job creation” (Jost, 199) So, it is quite possible to prove that health care influences considerably economy of the United States of America.
The economy is an economic system of the chosen sphere or country that deals with the creation, distribution, and exchange of various services and goods in a certain area. The health care system of the United States has lots of advantages and positive effects on the health care systems of other countries, this is why the topic of health care’s economy and the ways it is affecting become more and more frequent issues for discussion.
There are several spheres of life, where hiring people is never a problem: education, government, and health care. In his article, Michael Kanell focuses on the jobs within the sphere of health care. “During the past year, about 367, 00 health care jobs were added to the nation’s payrolls – 17 percent of all U. S. job growth” (Kanell, 2008). As the economy is a system that is closely connected to services and goods, employees become a significant factor in the economy’s effect. The more people are hired, the more services will be offered to people and good money will be earned. The representatives of the health care systems all over the world have some kind of communication in order to share their achievements in medicine and help patients to recover as soon as possible. Such communication may be great indeed and save numerous lives. So, in the health care system of the United States, the economy is effecting by means of frequent but, at the same time, qualitative hiring of people, exchange of medicine and even employees. All these exchanges promote good relations between different countries and save lives. This very fact concerning saving lives is considered to be the major one.
Health Care and Its Economy: How People Afford All This
Without any doubt, the American health care system is not that safe. Certain problems and inabilities deprive people of a chance to choose a hospital independently and decide what kind of treatment may be more effective and even more appropriate for a person. This is why people cannot be sure about their health care system and about the positive effect of money spending. Unpaid medical bills, children and even lots of adults without the necessary health insurance, and lack of place at hospitals – all this may considerably affect people’s visits to hospitals and doctors’ ways of treatment. Of course, employees try to find out the best ways only to help patients in order to afford all those inconveniences and present proper services.
“Our health system is mired in a World War II economic model that can only increase the government’s role, but if we unleash the market forces that have transformed so much of our economy, American health care will be cheaper, better, and more accessible for everyone” (Colon, 2007).
These words by David Gratzer, a Canadian doctor, presented in the article by Alicia Colon, demonstrate a clear picture of how the health care system of the United States is still weak and changeable. There is a certain number of factors, which may influence the development of health care and the possibilities of people to have the best services only. These words prove that there are so many things, which need to be done in order to improve the health care system. And the major point is that our society and our representatives from the health care system have enough abilities to complete all the necessary improvements and achieve good results. Nowadays, lots of people die from tuberculosis, pneumonia, and cancer just because they do not have enough opportunities to get the necessary treatment in time (Smith et al., 3). So, to improve our health care system and help people afford proper treatment, it is necessary to take into consideration such issues as time and quality, but not money and social status, because money cannot promote good health all the time. Each person should think about his/her own health insurance before he/she faces certain health problems. With time, it is necessary to provide a child with the same insurance to have all the rights to get the best treatment and overcome the difficulties with the disease.
Conclusion
The modern health care system has its numerous pros and cons, this is why people are not always ready to care about the personal health and the health of their own relatives. This is why certain issues, connected to health care and the economy, have to be considered as soon as possible. It is necessary to admit that even education considerably influences the health care system and its availability to people. This very system in the United States has its own peculiarities: people spend too much time waiting for the required medical examination, some people discover that they do not have enough money to get the necessary treatment, and some doctors turn out to be not that sophisticated to provide people with proper pieces of advice. Because of these peculiarities, people face a serious problem connected to health care and the economy and try to find out the best ways to afford such care at any time.
Works Cited
“Access to Health Insurance.” NeuroSurgial. 2008. Web.
Colon, Alicia. “Saving Health Care in America.” New York The Sun. 2007.
Cutler, David, M. Your Money or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America’s Health Care System. Oxford University Press US, 2005.
Jonas, Steven. An Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System. Springer Publishing Company, 2003.
Jost, Timothy, S. Health Care at Risk: A Critique of the Consumer-Driven Movement. Duke University Press, 2007.
Kanell, Michael, E. “In Ailing Economy, Nurses Have Healthy Outlook.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2008. Web.
Monaco, Ralph. M. and Phelps, John. H. “Health Care Prices, the Federal Budget, and Economic Growth.” Health Affairs. 14.2: 248-259.
Smith, Michael, I., Wertheimer, Albert, I., and Fincham, Jack, E. Pharmacy and the U.S. Health Care System. Informa Health Care, 2005.
Annotated Bibliography
“Access to Health Insurance.” NeuroSurgial. 2008.
This article presents reliable information about the reasons why so many people are still uninsured, even those people, who have jobs. “These people cannot afford care but still do not qualify for government assistance” (Access to Health Insurance). Some people have problems with insurance because of certain pre-existing conditions and their costs. The increase in health care costs is caused by long-living. In this article, it is also possible to find out facts concerning health insurance and how to obtain the necessary coverage and possible benefits. The example from real-life help to prove that all the discussed issues are of burning necessity.
Colon, Alicia. “Saving Health Care in America.” New York The Sun. 2007.
Alicia Colon, the author of this article, admits that health care in American is considered to be one of the finest ones, and any health care crisis is not a problem for Americans (Colon, 2007). This writer uses the ideas of a Canadian doctor, David Gratzer, who analyzes and compares the health care systems of New York and Toronto and backs up the works by Michael Moore. With the help of this Internet source, it is possible to learn more about the changes within the American health care system, which happened between the 1990s and the 2000s.
Cutler, David, M. Your Money or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America’s Health Care System. Oxford University Press US, 2005.
People face numerous problems within the health care system day by day: poverty, bureaucracy, and even racial inequality still play a significant role in this sphere of life. Lots of people underline the fact that our medical care is in great crisis (Cutler, ix). This author presents several real-life examples, which help to comprehend how people create problems and try to solve them independently. With the help of this book, we will analyze the development of the health care system, taking into consideration political and economical perspectives. In such a case, it is possible to observe how this sphere of life is connected to others.
Jonas, Steven. An Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System. Springer Publishing Company, 2003.
The author of this book describes how the US health care delivery system has changed. Government and public reforms and technological development have a certain impact on the health care system, and Mr. Jonas describes how this impact may happen. The United States of America spends much more money on the services connected to the sphere of health care than to any other country in the whole world (Jonas, 106). However, the problems with health insurance put the health care of all Americans under a serious threat. This is why it is better to control all activities within this sphere in order to provide patients with fair and qualified services.
Jost, Timothy, S. Health Care at Risk: A Critique of the Consumer-Driven Movement. Duke University Press, 2007.
This author, like many other authors, underlines the fact that the American health care system is still in huge trouble that cannot be solved quickly. Because of the high costs of health care, people do not want to pay much for their health insurance, this is why some of them still prefer financial condition to their health condition. It is not actually correct, and people should know about the ways of how to solve their financial troubles, not at expense of their health. The author admits that “our health care system is very costly, but arguably its benefits greatly exceed its costs” (Jost, 9).
Kanell, Michael, E. “In Ailing Economy, Nurses Have Healthy Outlook.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2008.
This source focuses on the jobs, which are in demand during the 21st century. The author points out that it does not matter how terrible the situation of the country is, there are several spheres, the work in which will be in demand all the time. Health care is one of such spheres and nursing in particular. Nursing may be either private or public; in spite of the fact that “nurses are paid far less generously than physicians and other health care specialists” (Kanell, 2008), people, who learn this profession may be sure to have some job any time.
Monaco, Ralph. M. and Phelps, John. H. “Health Care Prices, the Federal Budget, and Economic Growth.” Health Affairs. 14.2: 248-259.
The authors of this journal article investigate the rising of prices within health care and the impact on the economy. The researches, conducted by these people, help to comprehend that such kind changes in prices may lead to lower economic growth and employment in the future. Lots of macroeconomics interactions like inflation and interest rates are inherent and influential for the health care system (Monaco & Phelps, 249). This is why problems with employment and incomes should be taken into consideration during the analysis of health care.
Smith, Michael, I., Wertheimer, Albert, I., and Fincham, Jack, E. Pharmacy and the U.S. Health Care System. Informa Health Care, 2005.
The peculiar feature of this book is that its authors do not afraid to present the true facts, which spoil the American health care system. The point is that the major purpose of health care is to promote health to people, but modern health care in the United States still concentrates on treatment and diagnosis. This is why many people cannot get the necessary success. The authors suggest “redesigning the U.S. health care system” in order to promote health but not people’s treatment (Smith et al., 18).