Term Paper on "Health Care Economics Medical"

Term Paper 4 pages (1433 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

They have years of training, variable years of experience, but different interpretations of medical care, needs, and philosophies. Some doctors may be cautious and proceed carefully with many tests prior to making a diagnosis or decision; others may believe case A needs B. And act; while still others are guided by their HMOs or administrative concerns. Ultimately, though, while the patient may have the utilitarian authority regarding their own healthcare, most opt to cede that authority to the doctor. The doctor then decides what the demand for care is based on their interpretation of what is best for the patient. Combine this with research, industry data, and new technology and one has a complicated formula.

For instance, in Area A in our hypothesis, the HMO provider of choice has decided that it will lower the reimbursement level for C-sections by 25%. There is a good chance that the number of C-sections will decrease based on the doctor's unwillingness to take an economic hit for a procedure that may or may not be 100% necessary. If the doctor errs on the side of caution and performs a C-section, they will likely lose money; if they opt not to perform a C-section, they take the chance that the patient will develop complications, further taxing the system, but still within guidelines for the HMO.

Of course there is always a conflict between the medical decision and price; no one can predict exactly what will happen to a patient since medicine is both an art and a science. Conflicts in demand for care can be mitigated with sound ethical training, state standards for minimum care, peer review, and through the educational process of nurses and doctors. Insurance companies are complicit too, and must be willing to reimburse for fair services based on medical need, not financial performance.

Part 4 -- How has the elasticity of supply of medical services affected the government's cost of expanding healthcare to the poor and uninsured?

Changes in supply and demand of medical services occur as a result of physician, nurse, and healthcare shortages or surpluses. Because we are a country in a varied managed care environment, every product (service) has a low price quotient and every non-covered product or service has its own price elasticity. Typically, medical services were inelastic as a growth industry since fee increases would correspondingly increase revenues. But enter the era of recession and managed care, and we have a marketplace that is resistant to pricing pressures even though in some areas there are too many physicians, but not enough care, not enough nurses, and overpriced procedures and equipment.

What this means to doctors is that they are earning less, working more, and paying more for administration, support and protective insurance. Funding healthcare when the elasticity of medical services changes, though, becomes more problematic. As healthcare costs increase geometrically, and Medicare and Medicaid have budgets that are exponentially out of sync, then government funding for healthcare programs for the underinsured, the uninsured and the poor may falter. If money from taxes goes to simply keeping a system alive, then there are no funds to expand care, even though it is needed. And, while expanding care to the poor and uninsured would be a preventative measure, and therefore less expensive, the irony is that these individuals often use Emergency services that are both more expensive and more costly for the facility than preventative care. Thus, nothing is free, and if care is not given to the poor and uninsured based on economic demand curves, the costs will undoubtedly show up later at a greater overall cost. This, then, will likely be passed back to the consumer in terms of premiums, or to the citizens in terms of taxation.

REFERENCES

Healthcare. (2010). EconomicsOnline. Retrieved from: http://economicsonline.co.uk/Market_failures/Healthcare.html

Out-Of-Pocket Health Care Costs. (2001, June). Retrieved from Partnership For Solutions: http://www.partnershipforsolutions.org/statistics/out_of_pocket.html

The Imperfect Competitive Medical Marketplace. (December 19, 2007). MedicalExecutive Post. Retrieved from: http://medicalexecutivepost.com/2007/12/19/demand-and-supply-in-medical-care/

Friedman, D. (1990). Price Theory. DavidFriedman.com. Retrieved from:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_ToC.html

Hurley, J. And Labelle, R. (1995). Relative Fees and the Utilization of Physician's Services. Health Economics. 4 (6): 419-38. READ MORE

How to Reference "Health Care Economics Medical" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Healthcare Reform History of Socialized Medicine American Term Paper

Healthcare Reform

History of Socialized Medicine

American Health care history

Allopathic vs. Homeopathic Approaches to Healing

The medical industrial complex

The Affordable Care Act in Detail

Impact of the Affordable… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2697 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Healthcare Management Information Systems Telemedicine Research Paper

Healthcare Management Information Systems

Telemedicine

Telemedicine can be traced far back in the 1960 when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided health care to it astronauts Bashshur &… read more

Research Paper 10 pages (3032 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Healthcare Nursing Policy Essay

Healthcare Bill

The Economic, Resource Allocation and Administrative Impacts

of the Affordable Care Act

The number of Americans who are uninsured or uninsured continues to rise by frightening margins. Today,… read more

Essay 4 pages (1050 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Health Care Organizations Are Guided in Their Essay

Health care organizations are guided in their quest to make all of the health care information by the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996… read more

Essay 5 pages (1405 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Health Care Discussion Quesstions. Marketing Health Service Essay

Health Care Discussion Quesstions.

Marketing Health Service magazine as a reliable source of information

Response

Administrators and managers of health care organizations face huge problems as a result of the… read more

Essay 5 pages (1725 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>