Question

National health expenditures accounted for 17.9% of the U.S. GDP in 2016 and this is expected to grow. Can we afford to continue to spend this much on health care? How do we determine what is the “right” amount of expenditure? If we determine that we are spending too much, how does public policy change to achieve the right expenditure level? Discuss the role of consumer sovereignty in allocating resources and how other factors have affected both cost and utilization of medical services.

Answer 1

National health expenditures accounted for 17.9% of the U.S. GDP in 2016 and this is expected to grow. The health expenditures have continued to grow since 2016 and has remained constant at 17.9 and 17.8 percent for 2017 and 2018 respectively. It is estimated to rise hereafter and the reason for this are the changes in the government policies and lifestyle changes. The government programs like Medicare and Medicaid have helped people without insurance and thus the goverment has spent on national health expenditures. Due to change in lifestyle people have become health conscious and have use the medicaid and medicare government policies for frequent checkups and also for maintaining a healthy lifestyle to avoid diseases like diabetes, heart diseases and other chronic diseases.

The government can afford to pay this much on healthcare as the government receives tax from the people. It is the working class that pay taxes and then the government has to give such benefits for the welfare of the society. The government determines what is the right amount of expenditure after discussing the budget with the finance ministers and also by looking at the past investments made on healthcare. The public also helps the government decide if amount has to be spent on the healthcare or other requirement such as infrastructure for the county.

The healthcare organizations share the chronic disease case details with the government and they decide which disease is the leading cause of deaths in the country. Diseases such as heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and stroke have come to the attention of the government has decided to spend money on campaigns, health-checkups and awareness initiatives to educate the public on these chronic illness.