Essay Sample on High Medical Costs: Poor Quality or Justified?

Introduction

The cost of accessing proper medical health is rising daily at a very high rate which is making nations like America, Norway and Switzerland spend the highest amounts on health care. High costs of medical care may be justified by the quality of services provided in the health care sector but we have seen from many indicators that the quality of health care in many nations is very poor but very expensive. Improvement of the health sector has been overlooked every time while the people need to get medical care but the signs are showing that clearly the access to medical care is declining. The only one conclusion that can be drawn from this observation concerning the health sector is that they are spending much more than they are supposed to. The health sector may be spending more than they should because of the high cost of administration. The process of billing and keeping records of tasks are enormous and expensive. Another factor may be the fact that the government has neglected the public health sector and private investors have taken over the market so they can set their value at wherever they want. The private sector charges their hospitals and health care business at very high prices and therefore is not accessible to everyone.

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According to Porter and Kaplan (2011), one of the main factor that has led to high cost of health care is the rapidly growing population in the world (Porter and Kaplan, 2011). The authors suggest that when the population is on the rise, the cost of medical health care also rises drastically. More money is spent on the cost of in-patient services and the aging population of people. Nowadays, aging people need so much health care that they have to in medical facilities. The increase of chronic illnesses has made health care facilities to require complex medical accessories and equipment which are expensive to acquire. Chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, kidney failure, cancer and depression require expensive medicine and equipment. There is also lack of transparency in the medical sector and lack of efficiency. Since the government has neglected public health care, private sectors tend to charge overwhelmingly while the cost of that kind of treatment should have been cheap. They take advantage of the government's negligence and ignorance of the customer.

According to Kaplan and Porter (2011), the cost of accessing healthcare can be decreased by eliminating unnecessary expenditures and still allow health care facilities to provide affordable services of high quality (Kaplan & Porter, 2011). This can be achieved through ensuring transparency when making payments from patients to hospitals and from hospitals to manufacturers. Obtaining medical supplies from suppliers of medical equipment may expose financial transactions that could conflict the interest of both parties. Poor quality and expensive medical health care are encouraged by this situation making the citizens to suffer. According to Kaplan and Porter (2011), there is a wide variety in the cost incurred by patients for the same kind of treatment in the same residential area (Kaplan & Porter, 2011). Patients usually do not know about the cost variations because usually this information is hidden by medical health facilities. Health care facilities should not restrict exposure of their information on costs of medical services and medical devices with other health care facilities. The government should intervene and improve their health care facilities and offer them to patients for free or insure them under very cheap premiums because they pay taxes.

The government should equip their medical facilities properly so that they can manage the rate of chronic illnesses from rising rapidly. Chronic conditions are the most expensive to take care of. If the government devices ways of maybe preventing chronic conditions from being chronic, then the cost of health care can drop drastically because people can do with minor illnesses without seeking medical attention. Secondly, the government can set restrictions that allow doctors and nurses to offer health services to patients based on their own judgment but not based on the rules and regulations set by their hospitals and insurance covers. The government can also set policies to protect its citizens from exploitation by over charged health facilities. For instance, a government may set a policy that none of its citizens should spend more than ten percent of their total income annually while making sure that those without income will pay absolutely nothing for receiving medical care.

The fact that there is lack of competition in the health care sector allowing dominance by the few hospitals that are available. If a metropolitan has only three medical facilities then definitely they will cost higher since you have to go to them anytime you are unwell. A study showed that if a metropolitan area has one hospital and so there is no competition. There is often a likelihood that there will be poor health care services at very high prices since they are enjoying the ultimate benefits of monopoly in the market (Dalen, 2010). However, if there is high competition in a similar metropolitan area the medical services offered will be of first class standards and they will also be tempted to lower their prices so as to attract more customers into their facilities. It is well known that what suffers most is quality when there is little or no competition while stiff competition creates an environment when there is better health care.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ultimate goal of any health facility is improving the quality of services given to customers. The government should provide health care coverage that enables an individual to have medical services anytime they need it knowing that the payment won't have come from their pockets. If the government does so, then sick people will not have to avoid seeking medical care for fear of not being able to pay their bills thus improving the general health standards of the society. When health conditions of individuals in the society have stabilized, the government won't have to spend anything on more medical equipment reducing the general expenditure in the health sector.

Annotated Bibliography

The article evaluates three areas that can be looked into in the bid to reduce the cost of healthcare in the United States. These areas include; advising patients to participate in their own care, cutting unnecessary and harmful care, creating competition in the industry and improving medic care coverage process. The author feels that lack of competition in the health care sector allows dominance by the few available hospitals. There is also a likelihood that there will be poor health care services at very high prices since they are enjoying the ultimate benefits of monopoly in the market. The research offers a great addition to the research detailing some of the measures that can be employed in the bid to reduce healthcare costs.

The study generally looks into various strategies that can be used to reduce the cost of healthcare in the country. According to the author, United States healthcare costs exceed 15% of the gross domestic product and continue to rise. One of the main reasons why health care providers are unable to cope with the trend is that they do not understand how those costs compare to outcomes. This implies that few healthcare providers evaluate the actual costs of treating patients and how they compare to outcomes. Kaplan and porter (2011) also suggest that the cost of accessing healthcare can be decreased by eliminating unnecessary expenditures and still allow health care facilities to provide affordable services of high quality. The research provides great insight into the topic with several strategies that can be implemented to reduce costs.

Melnyk, B. M. (2016). Improving healthcare quality, patient outcomes, and costs with evidence-based practice. Reflections on nursing leadership Sigma Theta Tau International.

The article is a chapter from the book implementing the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Competencies in Healthcare which evaluates how evidence-based practice reduce costs at the same time improving patient outcomes. According to the author, ensuring that caregivers conform to the newly formed Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), competencies can play a significant role in transforming the current state of healthcare delivery and nursing practice. The chapter is significant to the research as it provides evidence-based practice of outcomes that have been tried and tested.

Porter, M. E., & Kaplan, R. S. (2011). How to solve the cost crisis in health care. Harvard Business Review, 4, 47-64.

The research explores some of the strategies that can be used to evaluate the costs of healthcare and ways to solve some of these issues. The author suggests that the development of new treatments and ageing populations are some of the reasons why the cost of healthcare is on the rise. Porter and Kaplan (2011) also imply that when the population is on the rise, the cost of medical health care also rises drastically since more money is spent on the cost of in-patient services and the ageing population of people. The study provides great insight into the research with evaluation of the topic to understand the origins of these costs and mitigation measures.