Health insurance

Screening tools are an important part of population based health. The information on the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) was particularly interesting and helpful. However, what struck me most was the recognition that it is not useful for pain patients. This is a growing area of concern in the country....

The War on Poverty launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson included many social programs for American citizens, and among the most profoundly impactful one was Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. Medicare drastically reduced what previously had been a common fear for older people: that they...

Over the past 17 years there have been many changes in the ever-changing landscape of health care reform. From Republican to Democrat a major political movement of any president has been health care reform. In the late 90’s there began to be a greater emphasis on providing options to those...

One of the greatest crises faced in the United States is rising healthcare costs. Rising medical care costs are coupled with rising insurance rates, creating a scenario where many are left without the insurance coverage and medical treatment that they need. The third party payment system distorts the healthcare market...

Medical practices exist through the implementation of robust billing and collection processes. Over time, these processes have become more complex because clients have different covers, payment methods, and use various medical programs. This has forced medical institutions to rethink their billing and collection processes and having third party collections is...

The United States healthcare delivery system is a vast network of primary and secondary care providers that are reimbursed for the majority of the cost for the care provided. The U.S. currently operates under a multi-payor system, with essentially a three pronged approach. The health care consumer or client, that...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into effect by President Obama in March of 2010. Often referred to as "Obamacare", the statute includes mandates, tax credits, and subsidies for both individuals and organizations with the overall aim of increasing health care coverage while also reducing costs....

For the past one decade, there has been increased concerns related to the rising inequality in the delivery of healthcare. Inequality in healthcare refers to a situation where there is lack of uniformity or regularity in peoples’ access to quality healthcare (Freeman 2016). Inequalities in healthcare are experienced at the...

The video entitled “Health Quality Summit: Promoting Quality through Payment Redesign,” which was filmed from the US Department of Health and Human Services National Summit on Health Care Quality and Value on October 4, 2010, is a nearly hour-long panel discussion that encompasses the types of payment methods currently in...

Over the past several decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the cost of healthcare. At the end of the year 2015, the cost of healthcare in the United States was estimated at $3.2 trillion. This is a very sharp increase from the cost recorded in 1960 of about...

Disaster response is an essential element in order to ensure the health of the population. However, there are strong differences in how disaster responses are organized. The onset of the event directly influences the actions taken by public health departments. According to the World Health Organization (2013) “slow-onset events include...

IntroductionThe health sector in Australia loses millions of dollars through fraudulent means every year. The large amounts of money that are swindled to the pockets of people hurt the insurance industry by forcing people to set high premiums. A majority of these cases result from the illegitimate allocation of funds...

Healthcare reimbursement incorporates capitation, salary, fees for service (FFS), diagnosis-based payment and Pay-for-performance (P4P). The reimbursement mechanisms are critical in the effectiveness of the health care system which is one of the key functions of the federal and state governments (Britton, 2015). As currently constituted, the reimbursement mechanisms exhibit both...

The prediction is that health spending will continue to increase by nearly 6% per year until 2024 (Keehan et al., 2014). Healthcare costs for patients as well as the industry have been increasing at a more rapid rate than inflation, and this is due to increased coverage of the population...

What is the endogeneity problem that the authors are facing?The endogeneity problem that McClellan et al. (1994) are facing is that based on Medicare claims data, it is difficult to discern the main cause driving longevity after AMI. More intense treatment? Or better physical health and the choice of a...

Health policies are a major concern among the Americans. These policies are controlled on a political platform by the running government. There being an ongoing campaign for the coming presidential elections, each presidential candidate has to give hope to the Americans by formulating better health policies. The policies to be...

There has been a great deal of discussion about how various aspects of healthcare financing impacts the health care delivery system. With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, everyone conceivably has access to health care through government provided credits which would seem to suggest that everyone now has the...

Medicare and Medicaid both have significant gaps which can greatly affect the care that the individual receives. These healthcare coverages do not pay for the cost of routine dental care such as cleanings, hearing aids, and eyeglasses. These are important elements of care that many patients require, especially those who...

Introduction Healthcare is one of the gravest concerns of any civilized society. Keeping people healthy is not often a simple feat. Instead, it requires an extensive program of financial and community support to be put in place (Sommers, Buchmueller, Decker, Carey & Kronick, 2013). Ultimately, the goal of any healthcare...

Much has been written about the types of discriminations African-Americans have and continue to confront. Most studies conclude that it is there is a stark contrast between whites and blacks in America. Blacks have to learn to live with all forms of discriminations. This is perhaps the best way for...