Increased Life Expectancy: Understanding Economic Determinants for Effective Health Policies - Research Paper

Introduction

Compared to the previous generations, Americans are today experiencing increasing life expectancy rates. There has been a significant increase in the population of older Americans due to the aging of baby boomers. Such disparities have resulted in the need for elaborate health care within the country (Abel-Smith, 2018). Various economic determinants need to be understood to develop effective health policies within the state. For instance, there needs to be an appreciation of the effects of the non-medical determinants such as the consequences of medical innovations on the length and the quality of life as well as other socioeconomic factors (Schulz & Eden, 2016).

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Furthermore, there is a need to involve the patients and the ordinary citizens in decision making relating to the quality of healthcare as well as the financial correlates. Currently, the US experiences a broad range of business concerns that influence health care in the US. This paper shall describe the various financial factors that influence the provision of quality health care such as the funding sources, the reimbursement methods, economic factors, business influences, as well as the cost containment and its influence on the role of a registered nurse.

Funding Sources

Most importantly, clinical outcomes are significantly affected by the source of healthcare financing. Financial resources that are channeled for health care dramatically determine the quality of health care and the advancement in technology within the health care sectors. In most countries around the world, taxes have often been used in funding health care. However, tax-exempt bonds are the most critical sources of healthcare funding and are influenced by the credit rating of the health institution such that institutions with higher scores are likely to receive more tax-exempt bonds than the least rated ones (Schulz & Eden, 2016). It is also argued that the patient's satisfaction, hospital performance, and the health outcomes have to be maintained through taxation even if there are financial strains.

General tax helps in addressing non-health objectives such as responsiveness, equity as well as quality during financial downs. Such positive outcomes could be vital in increasing the competitiveness of a health facility, thus having a positive influence on economic growth. The concerns that often come along with the reliance on taxation to finance the health care services is the corruption likelihood with which the process may go together (Abel-Smith, 2018). For example, corruption often inhibits the administrative capacity of tax collection, especially during economic downturns. Employment contributions have also been recommended as one of the sources of financing healthcare (Schulz & Eden, 2016). However, all these financing sources portray incompatibility with the quality of health care services, rising life expectancy as well as universal health coverage.

Reimbursement Methods

In most cases, various health care facilities are reimbursed from the government-sponsored programs such as the county indigent programs, Medicare, Medicaid among others. However, a significant source of funding to run the health care facilities in the private insurance revenue. Such funding bodies often ensure that there is adequate reimbursement to cater for the cost of private payers and the services to the patients (Abel-Smith, 2018). The Medicare program which often targets the elderly within the society contributes to funding of the health care through paying for a given amount to a hospital (Schulz & Eden, 2016).

The Medicaid program has also been supported by the federal government to help healthcare facilities in a variety of ways ranging from the diagnostically-related cases, payment for individual supplies and services and the per-diem payments among others. Most importantly, the government plays unilateral role of setting the payment levels which are often lower in different states than the total cost of care (Abel-Smith, 2018). The fragmented health care system within the United States often leave the hospitals with the daily balancing act of trying to maintain their services to the community while making both ends meet (Singh, 2015). Even though various health care providers deal with some insurers, each of these insurers has their requirements to reimburse funds for adequate health care provision because health care is a right of all the citizens rather than a privilege (Schulz & Eden, 2016).

Economic Factors

Economic factors influence the likelihood of a person to make financial investments in their health. Furthermore, the lack of elaborate policy details have substantial economic impacts on insurance coverage and the costs of healthcare in various health care facilities within the United States (Singh, 2015). For instance, different economic theories presume that the weak enforcement of mandates by individuals tends to rise the healthcare premiums leading to a resultant lowering of coverage and destabilizing health insurance exchanges (Abel-Smith, 2018). Furthermore, the young enrollees without a mandate would opt not to purchase the health insurance coverage on exchanges.

Moreover, there has been a notable public health triumph in the United States primarily the due to the decline in the tobacco use in the last 50 years the reduction in the tobacco use has resulted into subsequent decrease in the number of health cases caused as a result of tobacco smoking. The decline in tobacco smoking can be attributed to the increasingly stringent policies against smoking in public venues such as beaches, restaurants among others which have made smoking of tobacco more expensive to the local citizens. However, even as the debate on achieving high performing health care systems, there is a need to appreciate the influence of economics in shaping the healthcare, health insurance as well as the health care outcomes within the United States (Wager, Lee & Glaser, 2017).

Business Influences

Although it has been agreed by several stakeholders that multi-sectorial partnership is vital in addressing the healthcare concerns, there is inadequate understanding of the role of the employers in such organizations (Wager, Lee & Glaser, 2017). Corporate social responsibility plays a crucial role in the motivation of the workers towards investing in better health care systems within the various organizations.

Involvement of the business sector plays a vital role in the reduction the cost of health care thus leading to subsequent increase in the productivity of the workers within the business sector. Improvement of the quality of healthcare requires much more than affordable and quality healthcare (Abel-Smith, 2018). There has been significant increase in the mortality rate in the United States within the last decade than never before. The need to improve the productivity of the employees within the business sector plays significant role in encouraging a holistic approach to dealing with community healthcare within the United States and beyond.

The role of business in improving health care also varies with more substantial companies having a higher bottom-line return than the smaller ones (Singh, 2015). Registered nurses within the healthcare institutions should have a clear understanding of the concerns surrounding the cost of health care provisions as well actively participate in managing the health care resources (Abel-Smith, 2018).

Conclusion

In conclusion, financial factors such as the funding sources, the reimbursement methods, economic factors, business influences, as well as the cost containment and its influence on the role of a registered nurse greatly influence the provision of quality health care within the US.

References

Abel-Smith, B. (2018). An introduction to health: policy, planning, and financing. Routledge.

Schulz, R., & Eden, J. (Eds.). (2016). Families caring for an aging America. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Singh, D. A. (2015). Essentials of the US health care system. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons.