Reducing the Cost of Healthcare Expenditures

Reducing the Cost of Healthcare Expenditures Abstract The purpose of the research paper is to analyze methods for lowering government spending, including both state and federal levels, on healthcare expenditures. This will be accomplished by analyzing two popular methods. The first method includes reallocation money in programs to help reduce cost. The second method focuses on fixing the person and solving the root of the problem. There are many who favor and resist each argument, each with having valid points. The best option of the two is to be determined by the study of peer reviewed (academic) journals, online articles and various news sources paired along with the opinions of authors, healthcare professionals and doctorate professors. Introduction and Background Federal, state and local levels of government play a crucial role in the literal and figurative health of our economy. If you only consider the three main health insurances provided by the government: Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP you will notice that it takes up twenty five percent of our national budget. With expenditures growing at alarming rates it is imperative that we are able to reduce these cost. Healthcare did not become a major part of the federal pudget until the later part of the progressive era. President Roosevelt really advocated for health insurance policies but most of the planning and organizing was left to the discretion of the state. When the Depression hit, it brought about a change in priorities. Focus was primarily on welfare, social benefits and unemployment. Lack of concern for comprehensive health insurances lead to the creation of private insurances like Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Social Security act was passed but overseas affairs captured the attention of policy makers. As advances in health care, technology and medicine begin to occur prices also began steadily to rise. Which in turn left us in with a very unstable healthcare system. Those who could afford private health insurances were taken care of, the rest of the medical cost of the poor were covered by the federal government, and those who fell in between had to make due. These events lead to President Lyndon B. Johnson signing Medicare and Medicaid into low, allowing comprehensive coverage for millions of Americans. By 1975 Medicaid expenses rounded up to thirteen billion dollar while Medicare accumulated another fifteen billion. Both of these figures were higher than experts predicted. Which in turn has allowed for the programs to go over budget since the early years of their existence. Now our main goal to dramatically reduce the debit that we have accumulated over all these years. There are many ways that this can be done. With the all the advanced technology we have it is possible to keep people healthy for longer periods of times. However it is very expensive for people to seek the care that they need to remain healthy for as long as possible. The goal is to a harmonious balance between bettering the person and cutting cost. Support of Controlling Cost Budgeting is hard, but when the people of a country depend on it, it must be done. There are many approaches and ideas about how to reallocate funds and other resources in order to save money in the healthcare field. Rapidly increasing cost put immense pressure on budgets ultimately affecting the effectiveness of the services that are provided. Many of these options that deal with cutting of money call for standardization across the country and the need for stricter guidelines. One proposal is to cut cost in areas that are not relevant or of necessity. This would accomplished by increasing regulations in hospitals and having them abide by stricter guidelines. With increased regulation hospitals would be encouraged to â€Å"off-peak use of facilities and equipment and to avoid costly cosmetic surgery† (Bloch p.123). This method would limit many practices to only dealing with basic situations. Hospitals and other healthcare providing facilities currently expect to receive a certain amount from the patient and the remaining portion from a health care provider or another party. Therefore practices would not have to deal with complex and expensive issues that cause them to lose money. Their many focus would be on procedures that they are confident they would be reimbursed in. The bottom line in this method is to plain cut anything that provides uncertainty as far as reimbursement is concerned. The second popular option that is â€Å"addressing and labeling the quality of care† (Baucus p.5). There is no doubt that everyone wants the best care that they can possibly receive. The definition of best care differs in different parts of the country. What’s good in the South might be considered mediocre in the West. This solutions proposes that we look at practices across the country and determine which ones are most successful and cost efficient. Then we would require hospitals around the country to go by those procedures. This would allow a universal from state to state and would trim the grey areas of comparison. If all states would adopt this organizational structure â€Å"Medicaid spending would decline by thirty percent. (Baucus p.7). When hospitals, doctor’s offices and insurances are unable to pay their bills the burden eventually falls on the state and the loss takes an unforeseen punch on their budget. With options such as these, there is a smaller chance that these losses will occur. Providing stricter guidelines and addressing the quality of care are options that can make positive impacts on our budget immediately. Without protocols in place doctors are less likely to accept welfare patients because they fear that they will not be repaid. Since 2001 Medicaid spending has increased by thirty- three percent (Wilson p.150), by simply implying these procedures we could offset this trend within three years. Support of Health Promotion Health Promotion is anew area of care that focuses on ones holistic lifestyle and preventive care. Many universities and colleges are offering programs and major in this rapidly growing field. Even insurances are jumping aboard the bandwagon and offering this as a part of some health insurance plans. This method of lowering the deficit offers a more individualized approach with benefits that will be reaped in the long run. Michael O’Donnell, health promotion advocate and editor of Science of Health Promotion, appeared before congress to answer their question if health promotion can help the deficit. His response is as follows â€Å"There are eighty-three studies which show people with unhealthy habits have higher rates of cost, there are an additional fifty studies that show health promotion reduces those cost and promote absenteeism of those habit after going through a program and most importantly there are thirteen studies that show the savings that are produced by this program are greater than the cost themselves.† With his speech to congress he explained the benefits of health promotion within a matter of five minutes. As we continue to do studies on this area this proof will continue to be produced. The benefits are already showing in the patients who have participated in these programs. One of the first steps in starting a health promotion and holistic care program is â€Å"identifying all of the services the patient might need and is interested in (Guba p. 32). With current insurances plans all part are not utilized. According to most people who are insured they agree that their insurance either provided to much insurance or not enough. Tailoring programs to fit their needs and desires will ultimately save insurances thousands of dollars per insured person a year. Johnson Johnson family company allowed an independent research group to perform a study on the health care benefits and options that it provided to its employees. With their plan employees were encouraged to workout, quit smoking and other habits that were beneficial to their health. As they committed to these task the received a reduction in price of their health care insurance. According to the Harvard Business Review it is â€Å"estimated that wellness programs have cumulatively saved the company $250 million on health care costs over the past decade; from 2002 to 2008, the return was $2.71 for every dollar spent† (Berry). If s basic health promotion plan was able to save a company this much money, imagine the benefits our budget would see in the long run. An Assessment of the Arguments Health promotions and holistic care and reallocation resources both offer promising benefits for our budget however they both contain many flaws. When we consider the first argument, it could also seem as if we are limiting doctor’s discernment in treating their patients. With this option practices would not be reimbursed if they did not follow the protocol verbatim. In the world of medicine many odd and unexplainable miracles happen because doctors use their discretion to fix a situation, there is a real and respectable fear that this would be lost with the cost allocation method. It is a common belief among economist that a â€Å"reduction in medical inflation can be best achieved if regulation is decreased rather than increased† (Bloch p. 120). If this is to be true it would completely deflate the argument advocating for controlled cost. When it comes to health promotion the down fall is the lack of time we have had to study this field. Purposeful and intense researc h in health promotion did begin until the late nineties. While many positives results are starting to reap we are also waiting to see if there is any backlash. Those results will come as my generation continues to growing. Conclusions and Future Recommendations The amount of debit that we have is something that is not to be considered lightly. There is no quick to any problem that will provided long lasting and stable results. With the cost allocation method it seems as if we would be cutting gashing wound, that is in obvious needs of stiches with a band aid. Yes, there would be a quick sigh a relief but the rush would definitely be back before we realized it. Therefore health promotion and holistic care is the best option for our country to cut the deficit. We may not have years of information behind it but what we have been doing hasn’t been working so a new a fresh approach is what we need. For this program to be successful it is imperious that policy makers listen to the concerns and opinions of the professionals with in the health care field. There is a bright and prosperous future with health promotion. The people tend to lose trust with the government when they are forced to do something. If we encourage citizens to perform th ese actives and reward this can catch fire across America. References Baucus, M., Slavin, P. L., Korsmo, J. (2008). Controlling health care costs. Issues In Science Technology, 24(4), 5-9.Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=604a0f71-3dfb-4799-8418-03cf4fab79c3%40sessionmgr115vid=1hid=117 Berry, L., Mirabito, A., Baun, W. (2010). What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs? Harvard Business Review. December 2010. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs Bloch, H., Pupp, R. (1985). Supply, Demand, and Rising Health-Care Costs.Nursing Economic$,3(2), 119-123. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5f565f5a-e3d7-4d26-9322-a8a609ca37e6%40sessionmgr115vid=1hid=117 Guba, Susan C. MD. (2007). Cost-effective, Holistic, Integrative Medicine Program. Oncology Issues: November/December 2007. Retrieved from http://www.accc-cancer.org/oncology_issues/articles/ND07/ND07-New-Perspectives-on-Developing-a-Cost-effective-Holistic-Integrative-Medicine-Program.pdf ODonnell, Michael P. (2001). Special Issue on the Financial Impact of Health Promotion Programs. American Journal of Health Promotion: May/June 2001, Vol. 15, No. 5. Retrieved from http://www.ajhpcontents.org/doi/pdf/10.4278/0890-1171-15.5.v Wilson, J. F. (2009). Will All Health Care Reform Lead Back to Medicaid? Annals Of Internal Medicine, 150(2), 149-151. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=679fd1b8-8c75-49a6-ad06-9b8aa4506a80%40sessionmgr4004vid=1hid=4103

Statistics homework

Consider the percent change in housing values over a five-year period for regions of the United States, as shown In the following table. Draw a box plot. Percent change In housing values over five years for U. S. Regions. Region Percent Change Percent Change New England Region 54. 5% West 29. 5 North Central 38. 3% pacific Middle Atlantic 35. 3 48. 9 East North Central 33. 6 East South Central 26. 0 Mountain West South Central 32. 0 South Atlantic 34. 2 4. Two events are mutually exclusive, one with probability 0. 38 and the other with arability 0. 54. A. Find the probability that the first event happens given that the second event happens.O b. Find the probability of the union of these two events. 0. 38+0. 54=0. 92 5. Your store is interested in learning more about customers' purchasing patterns and how they relate to the frequency of store visits. The probability that a customer's visit will result In a purchase Is 0. 35. The probability that a customer has been to the store wealth the past month Is 0. 20. Of those who did not buy anything, 12% had been there within the past month. A. Find the probability of making a purchase given that the customer had been to the store within the past month. O. 1 b. What percent of customers are frequent shoppers, defined as making a purchase and having been to the store within the past month? O. 122 6. Keep Cool Pity Ltd manufactures window alarm-conditioners In both a deluxe model and a standard model. An auditor engaged in a compliance audit of the firm is validating the sales account for April. She has collected 200 invoices for the month, some of which were sent to wholesalers and the remainder to retailers. Of the 140 retail invoices, 28 are for the standard model. Of the wholesale invoices, 24 are for the standard model.If the auditor selects one invoice at random, find the following probabilities: a. The Invoice selected Is for the deluxe model. 0. 74 invoice selected is either a wholesale invoice or an invoice for the standard model. 0. 44 d. Is ‘invoice for deluxe model' independent of Wholesale invoice? No Model Wholesale Total Deluxe Standard 24 148 52 Otto 200 Retail 112 28 140 7. The finance director of a hardware wholesaler has asked the accountant to ring all customers five days before their account payments are due, as a means of reducing the number of late payments.

Air Pollution Short Essay Essay

There are several disadvantages of living in urban areas The first drawback is the high cost of living. Urban citizens have to spend a lot of their income paying their bills of electricity, water and other basic services. Secondly is traffic congestion which is a serious problem. During rush hour, vehicles get stuck in a traffic jam, this makes most road users feel uncomfortable and time-consuming. The latter point is air pollution actually the addition of any harmful substances to the atmosphere. The more vehicles move in the road, the more air pollution These substances include various gases and tiny particles that may be harmful to human health and the environment. The greenhouse effect keeps a portion of the heat received from the sun which leave the atmosphere and go back into space. If you are at ground level, the ultraviolet rays from the sun become a very powerful pollutant, in other words it makes damage not only to humans but also plants and animals are affected, too. Incre ases in air pollution have been linked to breakdowns in lung function and increases in heart attacks. The most vulnerable people that are harmed are people with asthma and other lung or heart disease because their problems will increase faster than other kind of problem.What is Air Pollution? Air pollution is actually the addition of any harmful substances to the atmosphere, which causes the damaging of the environment, human health and the quality of life. With the development in industry, came along the increase in air pollution, which occurs inside homes, schools, offices even in the countryside. Consequently there has been an increase in the death rates resulting from various diseases caused by air pollution varying from breathing problem to lung cancer. Air pollution does not only affect people but it also damages the whole ecological system in which plants and animals are harmed as well. Air pollution has reached such a critical stage where it affects the earth’s atmosphere as it lets in more harmful radiation from the sun. Consequently, our polluted atmosphere is becomi ng a better insulator, thus, preventing heat from escaping back into space. That is why there is a global rise in temperature which scientists refer to as † global warming†. As a result of this rise in temperature the world food supply and sea level will be affected, also there is the probability of increase in the tropical disease. Sources of Air Pollution I_ Human sources: If we try to investigate the major sour

Environmental Planning in Phoenix - 888 Words

Much like the economic laws of supply and demand, there is a public demand for land-use and infrastructure, the ways in which people get from point A to point B affect general planning, for example, biking to school or work in the city of Tempe is common, so the high demand for bike lanes gets incorporated into Tempes general plan. A vital purpose of general planning is to designate specific land-use, for instance a particular area in Phoenix can be reserved for commercial use or private use only, these delineations are useful when trying to separate industrial areas that can potentially contain harmful or unpleasant waste from neighborhoods. Many of the elements in general planning interconnect, for example as just explained ineffective land-use can directly and adversely contribute to the environmental element of planning. If one was to try to summarize environmental planning with two words they would be sustainability and waste management; when people talk about sustainability the y are typically referring to sustainable energy; energy that does not hinder the lives of future generations. Developed countries are entering a progressive era which requires the use of renewable energy and sustainable growth, as CO ¬2 levels sour past the 400PPM range--meanwhile corporations are lobbying for the right to continue polluting our air and water supply, it has become evident that the demand for sustainable energy is higher than ever. 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