Hcs 440: Economic Terms And Health Care History
Economic Terms and Health Care History
Carrie "Shellie" Cobbs
Economics: The Financing of Health Care
HCS 440
George Atkins
December 01, 2013
Economic Terms and Health Care History
Health care in the United States of America is a delicate balance between the supplier and the demander. The supplier is the person or company providing health care services, procedures, or good, and the demander is the consumer who is in need of the health care services, procedures, or goods. Supply and demand between these two sides of health care is how the prices of health care services are created. This equation has been the backbone of providing health care and paying for the services rendered.
The economics of health care is rich in history. Early …show more content…
Health care accounts for nearly 18% of the GDP in the United States of America. Rising health care costs, malpractice suits, costly procedures, and caring for the elderly are contributing factors in the costs of health care. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama and is designed to help uninsured Americans afford insurance and to help reduce health care costs. The ACA will have a tremendous impact on the GDP both negatively and positively. A negative impact can be directly to working Americans who may have their hours cut to part-time if they work in the restaurant or retail sectors. To save money and not have to offer health care insurance to employees some large companies have stated that they will move their workforce to part-time employment. A positive impact will be cost savings to Americans who think they are trapped in their current job and are working for the health care benefits. With the ability to purchase their own health care plan, the individual may feel freer to move to a different position or company with financial benefits to his or her personal economy. When people have more money, they spend more money. In addition, with provisions for Americans with disabilities who may not have been able to move off government assistance …show more content…
When there is an increase in demand for a product or service and the price for the product or service goes down the product or service is considered elastic. An example is prescription medications. When a medication first becomes available to health care providers to prescribe to consumers the cost is significantly higher to the consumer in his or her co-pay and to the covering insurance company. As that medication is increasingly prescribed, the cost may come down because the supply and demand is more affordable for the pharmaceutical companies. Inelasticity is the opposite of elasticity and equal unresponsiveness. As in the example above, but in reverse action, a medication may be expensive to manufacture and may only help a small-targeted group of patients. As a result, the cost of the medication does not come down because there is not enough use to increase the supply and demand to help reduce the cost of manufacturing the
Carrie "Shellie" Cobbs
Economics: The Financing of Health Care
HCS 440
George Atkins
December 01, 2013
Economic Terms and Health Care History
Health care in the United States of America is a delicate balance between the supplier and the demander. The supplier is the person or company providing health care services, procedures, or good, and the demander is the consumer who is in need of the health care services, procedures, or goods. Supply and demand between these two sides of health care is how the prices of health care services are created. This equation has been the backbone of providing health care and paying for the services rendered.
The economics of health care is rich in history. Early …show more content…
Health care accounts for nearly 18% of the GDP in the United States of America. Rising health care costs, malpractice suits, costly procedures, and caring for the elderly are contributing factors in the costs of health care. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama and is designed to help uninsured Americans afford insurance and to help reduce health care costs. The ACA will have a tremendous impact on the GDP both negatively and positively. A negative impact can be directly to working Americans who may have their hours cut to part-time if they work in the restaurant or retail sectors. To save money and not have to offer health care insurance to employees some large companies have stated that they will move their workforce to part-time employment. A positive impact will be cost savings to Americans who think they are trapped in their current job and are working for the health care benefits. With the ability to purchase their own health care plan, the individual may feel freer to move to a different position or company with financial benefits to his or her personal economy. When people have more money, they spend more money. In addition, with provisions for Americans with disabilities who may not have been able to move off government assistance …show more content…
When there is an increase in demand for a product or service and the price for the product or service goes down the product or service is considered elastic. An example is prescription medications. When a medication first becomes available to health care providers to prescribe to consumers the cost is significantly higher to the consumer in his or her co-pay and to the covering insurance company. As that medication is increasingly prescribed, the cost may come down because the supply and demand is more affordable for the pharmaceutical companies. Inelasticity is the opposite of elasticity and equal unresponsiveness. As in the example above, but in reverse action, a medication may be expensive to manufacture and may only help a small-targeted group of patients. As a result, the cost of the medication does not come down because there is not enough use to increase the supply and demand to help reduce the cost of manufacturing the