Escalating health care expenses have become a prevailing problem for people over the years to an extent that before someone undertakes a major decision on financial arrangements; he/she has to prioritize health care costs. For instance, when getting a job or transferring to a new one, many first consider whether an insurance cover for medical care is being offered, because people fear to engage themselves in personal medical insurance due to the costs incurred. The 20th century is characterized by the many medical discoveries that led to the improvement of health care although this made it more costly since doctors operated on their terms without any regulation. However, during the Great Depression people desperately needed a public health care system, but many governments could implement one since they did not have money.
It was in 1929 when Baylor University Hospital in Texas introduced a monthly fee in advance to provide health care for those who were interested (Barr, 2001). Soon after, other hospitals and medical facilities followed suit, converting the entire system into a booming business, instead of a plan that was meant to help people cater for the unexpected medical expenses. Although the inadequate plan in place assisted people by providing a predictable means of taking care of their medical bills, the plan matured to a flawed health care system that is responsible for today’s America’s problems with the health care system. A particular program was the Blue cross insurance reimbursement policy, which allowed physicians to be reimbursed for the charges they made on the patients in the line of treatment. This made doctors and hospitals take advantage and hence performed many unnecessary diagnostic procedures and tests to increase costs as they claimed that the money belonged to a third party, not to patients. The system was a good plan to help patients get quality health care, but in place, it led to exorbitant health care services.
Nevertheless, many changes have occurred in the health care sector; many of them attributed to the development of technology, information networks, and computers. For instance, new diagnostics machines, which help physicians to treat patients faster, unlike in the 20th century when they depended on diagnostic procedures based on patient’s information and doctor’s knowledge, thus making the process cumbersome. This has made health care delivery faster and less tiring and hence more patients can be attended to at a go; however, the costs have gone up creating even more health care problems. With the current advancements, patients do not also need to go to hospitals every time they are sick, they can consult doctors from home using the internet via which doctors can diagnose their sickness from the patient’s health database and administer treatment (Williams, 1987). Pharmacists are also available online they deliver drugs to patients and also advice them on therapies. Furthermore, there are mobile surgical theaters from which patients can be operated near their homes instead of having to travel to distant states to receive such special treatment. These surgeries include transplants Vitro fertilization for barren couples, plastic surgeries, and many other operations that were not possible in the 20th century.
Although all these developments have been very helpful in improving medical care and have led to the survival of many dying patients, as said earlier the same developments have been accompanied by soaring health care costs. Also, these changes have led to changes in the medical profession; this is both in roles and also between the medics themselves, especially nurses and doctors. There has been development in the nurse’s profession; their training has enabled them to provide health care that is equivalent to that of doctors at a lower fee. In addition, technology has been a major contributor to the changes, especially in the surgery discipline; it is almost being merged with internal medicine so that those doctors can put their efforts into organ systems treatment. Also, new medical professions have come up such as advanced neonatal nurse practitioners or surgical nurse practitioners, cardiac surgeon’s assistants or transplant clinician’s assistants, and electrocardiograph technicians among others (Krugman, 2008).
Reference list
Barr, D. (2001). Introduction to the U.S. Health Policy: The Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Care in America. CA: Benjamin Cummings.
Krugman, P. (2008). Clinton, Obama, Insurance”. The New York Times, 18.
Williams A. (1987). Health economics: the cheerful face of a dismal science. Macmillan: London.