Free Essay on Healthcare Cost and Epidemiology Development

The global landscape in the ministry of health has drastically changed over the past decade. Many individuals around the world are healthier, however, the apparent cost related to healthcare services is extremely high around the globe.

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We live in a world that has been rewarded perversely for its efforts of conquering the most threatening diseases in the past. The good news about it is that health experts have added almost thirty years to the normal life expectancy (Fleming, 2015). However, the bad news is that people currently die of yet more terrible diseases later in their lives.

Measuring healthcare quality is crucial since it enables us to determine the performance and results on improved care. Quality measurement in healthcare refers to the process of data utilization to assess the performance providers and health plans against the recognized or predetermined quality standards (Mabel, 2015). The measurement of quality in healthcare organizations falls into various categories including structure, outcome, process, and patient experience. Notably, there is no measurement of quality that gives a complete picture and assessment of service provided in the healthcare.

The outcome measure evaluates the patients' health in regard to the care received while considering both intended and untended effects on patients' health status, health, and function. More so, they assess the achievement of the set objectives. These measures include morbidity, mortality, and issues related to the quality of health in life (South, 2014). However, the measurement requires detailed information only available to medical records which are difficult and quite expensive to obtain or access. Difference in population of the patients makes it difficult to achieve the outcome which is considered to be a challenge. Finally, the patient experience measurement gives feedback on the patient's experience that is provided for in the healthcare that include interpersonal or social aspects of care.

The Overview of Cost (Medicare/Medicaid) services

Medicare and Medicaid are the United States government services that ensure health insurance for the poor and the elderly individual respectively. Descriptively, the Medicare program covers the health insurance of persons aged 65years and older. The program comprises of four healthcare insurance plans which include hospital healthcare insurance plan, a supplemental medical insurance plan, privately run plans, as well as drug prescription coverage.

These services help to pay the cost of inpatient hospital care, and the Social Security payroll taxes finance it. The plan also covers the cost of skilled nursing home care as well as home health services. Secondly, supplementary medical insurance plan is financed by tax revenues in addition to members' regular payment. The plan pays for eighty percent of any bills incurred diagnosis and laboratory tests, and physicians' and surgeons' services. However, persons who enroll in the plan pay the regular amount of medical cost.

Thirdly, the improvement plans usually cover all services that the original Medicare covers in an exemption of hospice healthcare. The plan is run by private insurances that are approved and subsidized by Medicare. Lastly, the prescription drug coverage is run by Medicare-approved companies. Only those individuals enrolled in a hospital plan and supplementary medical insurance are entitled to benefit from this particular plan. Apparently, due to the unanticipated growth of the need for the programs' service, the United States government was spurred to legislate various costs for patients with different diagnosis in the four Medicare plans.

On the other hand, Medicaid like Medicare is health insurance programs financed by the federal government, and covers low-income individuals under the age of 65 as well as persons over the age of 65 but have exhausted their Medicare benefits. The plan covers the cost of hospital care, screening, family planning, home services, and skilled nursing care. Thus, in the quest to reduce government expenditure, the federal government instituted sets of cost-containment measure. As a result, Medicaid plan attracts ordinary pocket expenses for the hospital stay and doctor visit services.

Different cultures handle the elderly differently which could affect their life expectancy. Some countries place enormous responsibilities on children regarding caring for their parents while others are more liberal about adopting the elderly home care. Some countries believe that if children cannot handle looking after their parents from their own homes, they should move in with them for better care CITATION Ceb081 \l 1033 (Cebul, 2008). In countries such as Japan, putting parents in assisted living homes is viewed as neglecting parents. The US does not place much responsibility on personal care of the parents. The astounding culture in the US puts pressure on older adults to keep looking younger hence the popularity of cosmetic surgeries and make-up.

In conclusion, it is worth pointing out that most spend a lot on healthcare services compared to European countries and or socialized Medicare models. Countries with better economy tend to maintain higher life expectancy ages since their citizens are capable of affording the best health care services and live healthy lives. Medical conditions are known to lower life expectancy; therefore, healthcare enables people to increase their lifespan. Countries riddled with poverty find it hard to afford all their citizens basic health services which increase medical conditions deteriorating the life expectancy of these people.

References

Cebul, R. D., Rebitzer, J. B., Taylor, L. J., & Votruba, M. E. (2008). Organizational fragmentation and care quality in the US healthcare system. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(4), 93-113.

Mabel, E. (2015). Community health nursing advocacy: A concept analysis, Community health nursing advocacy 32(2):115-28.

South, J., (2014). Health promotion by communities and in communities: Current issues for research and practice. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 42 (15), 82-87.

Fleming, S. T. (Ed.). (2015). Managerial Epidemiology: Cases & Concepts. Health Administration Press.