Essay on Fixing the Health Care System in America

For the last five years of my life I have worked in the healthcare industry. One of the biggest issues plaguing our nation today has been the ever rising cost of health care. If we dont get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to lower the cost of health care in this nation. Last year the average cost of an insurance policy for a family of four was $20,728.00 according to the Milliman Medical Index (2012 Milliman Medical Index, figure 1). The median household income for 2012 was $51,017.00 according to Steve Hargreaves for CNN Money (2013, para. 1). This means the average American spends almost 40.62 percent of health†¦show more content†¦Rather than having the other claims adjusted, the provider insisted that we not look into the matter further because they did not want us to take back any money. Sadly this is just one example of fraud; it is not uncommon to see providers change the coding of claims to get something that they know should not be paid to process for payment. Cracking down on this type of fraud will reduce the amount of money paid out on claims by insurance carriers. Since claims payments directly affect the cost of insurance, this will also help in lowering premiums. Another issue contributing to the high cost of health care is inefficient use of premium dollars from insurance companies. I am proud to say that the insurance company I work for does a great job of making proper use of insurance premiums. As a company we use on average 8 cents of every premium dollar. This means that 92 Percent of each dollar goes to paying patients claims and building reserves. Unfortunately this is not as common as it should be. According to Harvards David Cutler who is among the countrys foremost health economists, our administrative costs for health care equal one quarter of the cost of health care today. By comparison, the next closest country spends around 10 to 15 percent on administrative costs (2013, para. 4 and 6). There are many things that could be done to lower administrative costs. One such solution would be to move to a paperless system of medical records. DuringShow MoreRelatedThe United States Of America1720 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States of America has over five million primary care physicians who directly affect the overall quality and cost of healthcare by way of their treatments, prescriptions, orders and diagnoses. These doctors strive every day to provide top quality care, even though they are stretched to the max, due to the decreasing amount of qualified primary care doctors available today. 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