healthcare 2017-2020

Healthcare 2017-2020
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Institution

Health is a pertinent domain in the United States; hence, there are various initiatives aimed at ensuring the health system is at the same level with that of other high-income countries. Comparison between insurance premiums and healthcare outcomes is one such initiative. Health issues in the U.S. range from those of access to health care to the disease itself and associated environmental factors. The ushering in of a new administration is expected to see various changes in various sectors of the country’s economy, and the healthcare sector will not be left out either. Until now, the Obamacare has stirred up controversies that Donald Triumph wishes to redress through a repeal. However, Triumph should be cautious about his strategies to ensure that the goal to expand coverage will be achieved.
Obamacare has given rise to major issues and trends that will be discussed herein, and the major issue that has always been of concern to the Americans is high taxation due to high healthcare costs. America’s future trends in healthcare are inclined to technological development and continuous innovation. Given the healthcare objectives, various issues and trends can be noted, including the expansion of telemedicine to integrate it into the electronic health system that is still relatively new to the U.S. health care system. Also, more innovations to enhance healthcare will be required to enhance the value of healthcare while ensuring that their applications are cost-effective.

Other issues and trends include the expansion of coverage because there is still a number of uninsured Americas, eliminating the legal and regulatory barriers that impede coordination in health care, poor behavioral practices that are a reason for the high disease burden, funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid based on the quality of services provided, and disparities in health care (Pollack, 2016). As healthcare systems move towards adopting the technology, different trends will be evident as various effects will be felt. This paper aims to holistically view the impact of these issues and trends.
Who will be affected
The ACA is highly centralized, and as such, Americans lack control over their health and it becomes an apparent barrier for promoting the concerted input of the various in coordinating healthcare. The centralization of the healthcare system subjects every America to the same effects despite the fact that some groups as shown below are at a greater socioeconomic disadvantage. Hence, the issue of increased spending ACA affects all Americans collectively because they are forced to spend more due to increases in premium costs and out-of-pockets costs to cater for the deductibles. The increment of premiums varies based on whether it is a group or non-group cover, and the group cover will increase a greater margin than the non-group.
Various populations will be affected by healthcare disparities, and these will include people of color, those with special health care needs, the elderly, women and children, those living in rural areas and innermost areas of the various cities, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. This variation makes it difficult for this population to seek preventive services such as screening, resulting in poor health outcomes in these minority groups.
What will be impacted and why
Family expenditures will be affected due to the increases in premiums and high out-of-the-pocket deductibles. Healthcare providers will create more disparities in healthcare because low-income individuals not able to cater for their healthcare costs will only seek treatment when a disease has already manifested itself; hence, preventive services such as screening will be underutilized. Continued developments in technology will be halted as cuts in various domains of healthcare are implemented, for example, the pharmaceutical price controls and Medicare cuts. Some scholar is oblivious of the effects that regulatory and legal barriers can have on technology. Therefore, the Artificial intelligence systems expected to aid in the prompt diagnosis of cancer and diabetes before they can become chronic and fatal may remain a mere dream.
Consumer choices will be limited because the ACA tends to reduce insurance competition because all insurance companies have to ensure its provisions are in alignment with the federal laws. As a result, few insurance companies can comply; hence, they rule the market. Now that the ACA will be steered by a new administration, it is uncertain whether the predefined plan will go through because failure to achieve the outlined ultimate objectives would have a negative implication on coverage.
How each trend and issue will impact
The Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) came into being with the aim to reduce healthcare spending and increase insurance coverage to the less fortunate. This act has become the major healthcare issue because it affects the delivery of healthcare services due to the high taxes, unjustified restrictions, and mandatory reorganization in hospitals. Efforts to shift to a value-based healthcare systems are in progress, despite the fact that these will be executed under a new reign. Hence, Houle and Fleece (2012) note that under the impending value-based approaches, only a few hospitals will remain standing by the year 2020. The value-based healthcare reform strategies aim to improve the quality of healthcare by imposing stringent measures on the reimbursement of government health schemes (Medicaid and Medicare). As a result, hospitals with poor health outcomes will not get all the reimbursement; hence, it will be forced to operate at low costs.
Legal and regulatory coordination barriers, for example in the pharmaceutical prices will result in a sharp decline in pharmaceutical and biotech research. Emerging technologies are expected to halt while still in their budding stage as funds dry up due to poor regulatory and legal frameworks that place restrictions on certain healthcare prices. The elderly will need to enroll in the government Medicare scheme because the private scheme will not address the healthcare needs of this elderly population adequately.
Ineffective technologies will result in the diversion of resources from better healthcare alternatives like preventive care (Boddy, Schanzenbach, Nantz, & Dokko, 2015). Technologies such as invasive surgical procedures, which are usually expensive, when administered to very old patients have not been found to be more effective compared to cheaper alternatives (Skinner, 2013).
Identify and describe where each issue and trend will impact
The where in this context does not necessarily refer to a particular location but also infers the point of healthcare that is likely to be affected by the prevailing issues and trends. Healthcare issues are dynamic because they entail both the diseases and the healthcare system, which have been a point of central focus in American’s administration. Even though the federal government is spending a lot of money on health care and related costs, some scholars still believe that the healthcare system remains abysmal (Houle & Fleece, 2012). Despite the fact that the ACA does not outlaw competition among health insurance companies, non-governmental insurance schemes face cuts from the federal government resulting in the withdrawal of individuals from such schemes. On the other hand, government schemes are becoming more stolid as they receive more funding from the federal government than other insurance schemes. Disparities in healthcare are evident in certain diseases such as HIV and AIDs and mortality rates. Also, these disparities are evident in infant mortality rates and chronic diseases. Value-based funding cuts are likely to affect healthcare institutions because they won’t receive reimbursement if they meet the stipulated thresholds of healthcare outcomes, legal barriers that authorize unexplained Medicare cuts would take a turn for the worse among the elderly as healthcare providers will have to pull out from the program (Moffit, 2016).
About thwarted development in innovations, it is assumed that the U.S. would suffer from a bird flu pandemic in the event it occurred due to foregone developments of formulating an effective vaccine to protect the citizens. In Alabama, the issue of ACA and related insurance competitions results in 90% of the insurance arena being controlled by a single company. The result is costly premiums and low-quality healthcare. Such insurance companies harassed the customers and given that consumers have no option, they endure the harsh treatment (Moffit, 2016).
When each issue will impact the U.S.
There are no clear timelines for the different issues, but they are projected to occur by the year 2020. By 2020, disparities in healthcare will increase because a quarter of the U.S. population will consist of the minority groups, and mainly the Hispanics. In 2018, there is expected to be a bird flu that is likely to result in the death of at least one million individuals (Bailey, 2010). Halted developments in “diagnostics, nanotechnology, stem cell treatment, biotechnology, and organ transplants” between 2017 and 2020 will derail the efficacy in healthcare as advances are stopped midway (Bailey, 2010). Hospitals and related healthcare institutions, such as hospitals will be largely impacted because decisions regarding the kind of technology to use for a particular patient is made about the age of the patient in these hospitals. Whereas technology is useful because it enhances treatment, there is a need to be cautious when using technology in a particular treatment procedure. The pharmaceutical lab will experience fewer innovations due to regulatory barriers as earlier mentioned. The problem of healthcare spending will remain an issue until the year 2020 because the high premiums are expected to aid in extending coverage to those who are not yet insured; thus, the U.S. should expect it to triple in the next four years.
Pros and Cons
About a report by Johnson, Hayes, Brown, Hoo, and Ethier (2014), the healthcare system has made substantial strides towards improving healthcare in the United States. Nonetheless, critics continue to highlight the numerous loopholes in the prevailing healthcare system that are associated with high comorbidities and mortality rates. Centralization of the healthcare system has resulted in various benefits that will continue to ensure all Americans receive early screening to progressively reduce the disease burden associated with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer even though they remain the main causes of mortality in the U.S. In addition, healthcare insurance helps children to attend school without interference attributed to absenteeism due to poor health. Productivity in the workplace is not altered as individuals remain in good health. The Hispanics, Alaska Natives, Blacks, and American Indians will forego treatment, especially in areas like oral health.
The ACA increased insurance coverage, but the number of uninsured individuals remains high; 33 million Americans do not have an insurance cover; yet, much more are not adequately insured (Boddy et al., 2015). Whereas the high premium costs that are linked to the ACA are meant to help insurance companies to meet the demands of reimbursement, they put extra financial strain on families. Technology has been recommended to enhance treatment. On a different note, the same technology will lead to variation in selection of healthcare providers based on rations, which will be evident online. This way, technology will foster competition and act as a hub for information that will guide patients in the selection of an ideal provider.
Johnson et al. (2014) note that improved life expectancy results in prolonged life and the baby boomers, who make-up a significant part of the population need a lot of healthcare attention because they are a time when old-age illnesses are at their peak; hence, healthcare spending and associated high costs will continue to be an issue until the year 2020. On a different note, improvements attributed to technology will make healthcare management easier and easily accessible from various locations, even at home.
Conclusion
American healthcare issues and trends are yet to be delineated, but the major contentious topic is the ACA because of the many outcries due to high healthcare costs that do not equal the kind of services offered when compared to similar provisions in other high-income countries like Germany. It is apparent that ACA was meant to improve health care access compared to earlier times, but critics say that this reform has presented challenges to both patients and doctors. Even though the ACA has positive effects, the negative effects are apparent, and the issues highlight herein are related to the ACA in a way. ACA has resulted in restrictions in various areas, subsequently halting advancements and derailing the healthcare sector.
Recommendations
Due to the obvious disparities in the healthcare system by socioeconomic status, strengthening the healthcare reform to prevent high deductibles and increase coverage is imperative. One way of eliminating these disparities is to advocate for the removal of the 30% costs linked to health inequities (Artiga, 2016). There is a need for increasing and strengthening healthcare promotion programs to ensure they are more localized and target groups the minority groups. Triumph can consider minimizing the duration of time taken by doctors to be appointed at their various work stations to deal with the shortage of physicians because older doctors are retiring early. The new doctors might enter into the new system and will deal with it better compared to the older doctors who have to adjust to the changes that were not present earlier. However, there is a need to devise strategies that will promote the operations of various insurable companies to provide consumers with a variety of options and encourage competition.
References
Artiga, S. (2016). Disparities in health and health care: Five key questions and answers. Retrieved from http://kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/.
Bailey, R. (2010). Health care 2020. Retrieved from http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/23/health-care-2020.
Boddy, D., Schanzenbach, W., Nantz, G., & Dokko, J. (2015). Emerging trends and enduring challenges in U.S. health care. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/health360/2015/10/07/emerging-trends-and-enduring-challenges-in-u-s-health-care/.
Johnson, N. B., Hayes, L. D., Brown, K., Hoo, E. C., & Ethier, K. A. (2014). CDC national health report: Leading causes of morbidity and mortality and associated behavioral risk and protective factors- United States, 2005-2013. Supplements, 63(4), 3-27.
Pollack, R. (2016). A road map to what will be trending in health care in 2017: The AHA environmental scan. Retrieved from http://www.hhnmag.com/articles/7601-road-map-to-health-care-in-2017-aha-environmental-scan.
Skinner, J. S. (2013). The costly paradox of health-care technology. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/518876/the-costly-paradox-of-health-care-technology/.