The Rising Cost of Health of Health Care in America Access to health care is a vital component in the health and well-being of a population. Individuals routinely allow symptoms of diseases or ailments go untreated due to a lack of health insurance. As stated by the Kaiser Foundation, one in five adults claim that they went without care in the past year because of cost. The country that has the highest spending on healthcare in the world is the United States. Approximately 17% of the gross domestic product is spent on healthcare per year. American’s pockets are being emptied while the quality and accessibility of care is substandard. Although efforts have been made to combat the rising cost of health care through the Affordable Care Act,
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The Affordable Care Act has many purposes, but some of the most important are to extend health care insurance to the impoverished, increase the quality of care, and lower the cost of care. In addition, the Affordable Care Act requires insurance plans to cover the cost of any wellness or preventive services. This is meant to give individuals the opportunity to prevent the progression of diseases, further lowering the cost of their health care bills. Another vital component of the law is it instructs health insurance companies to accept applicants regardless of his or her pre-existing conditions. In the past, individuals with pre-existing conditions would either be denied coverage or they would be charged a higher premium due to their health status. In the past, there was a limit on the amount of money a health insurer would spend on an individual, but with the passage of Affordable Care Act that policy ceases to exist. Today in 2016, there is no limit on the amount of money a health insurer can spend on a person covered by one of the company’s …show more content…
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) compiled data comparing the percentage of the GDP spent on healthcare in various countries. The United States maintained the highest percentage while Turkey ranked the lowest at 5.6%. The country with the second highest GDP spent on healthcare is the Netherlands, averaging at about 11.8%, which is a grave difference compared to 17% (OECD 2014). Various factors account for this high percentage of the GDP, the most significant include administrative costs and the cost of
The Affordable Care Act has many purposes, but some of the most important are to extend health care insurance to the impoverished, increase the quality of care, and lower the cost of care. In addition, the Affordable Care Act requires insurance plans to cover the cost of any wellness or preventive services. This is meant to give individuals the opportunity to prevent the progression of diseases, further lowering the cost of their health care bills. Another vital component of the law is it instructs health insurance companies to accept applicants regardless of his or her pre-existing conditions. In the past, individuals with pre-existing conditions would either be denied coverage or they would be charged a higher premium due to their health status. In the past, there was a limit on the amount of money a health insurer would spend on an individual, but with the passage of Affordable Care Act that policy ceases to exist. Today in 2016, there is no limit on the amount of money a health insurer can spend on a person covered by one of the company’s …show more content…
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) compiled data comparing the percentage of the GDP spent on healthcare in various countries. The United States maintained the highest percentage while Turkey ranked the lowest at 5.6%. The country with the second highest GDP spent on healthcare is the Netherlands, averaging at about 11.8%, which is a grave difference compared to 17% (OECD 2014). Various factors account for this high percentage of the GDP, the most significant include administrative costs and the cost of