US Healthcare Primary Problem

The problems which are facing the US health care are not new and have been discussed for many years. The US healthcare system faces various challenges including fragmentation of services, quality of care, escalating costs due to technology and limited access to care. Among the given four problems escalating costs due to technology is the primary challenge. For instance, relying on a free market and fee-for-service reimbursement to allocating health resources for containing values and determining individuals with insurance has failed (Daniel, 2015). Therefore, the US spends more capita on health services than any other nation in the world although it is behind various countries on health indicators like infant mortality and life expectancy.

The escalating costs of the US healthcare system make the country’s care to be the most expensive in the world. According to Arnold Relman, Professor at Harvard Medical School around 50 million US citizens lack total coverage, and the quality of care is more inferior compared to that of other countries spending less. The factor of escalating cost is attributed to the role played by medical technology. For instance, healthcare economists approximate40-50% of the yearly care cost rise can be attributed to emerging technologies or the increased using of the ancient ones (Maria, 2017). Therefore, controlling technology is an essential aspect in reducing the cost of healthcare.

Solution to Escalating Costs Due to Technology

Technological advances have been enormous in the last few years and have helped the country well. Nevertheless, the cost of various technical developments is partly responsible for the complete upsurge in health care charges. Therefore, there is a need to address the problem by developing and using appropriate technology according to the priorities and needs of society(Bobbi & Hansmann, 2018). For instance, inexpensive and straightforward quality measures with the potential of enhancing outcomes without requiring expensive equipment should be instituted before embracing high-end technology.

References

Bobbi Brown & John Hansmann (2018). Five Solutions to Controlling Healthcare’s Cost Problem. Retrieved From https://www.healthcatalyst.com/healthcare-cost-problem-how-to-control-it

Daniel Callahan (2015), “Health Care Costs and Medical Technology,” Retrieved From https://www.thehastingscenter.org/briefingbook/health-care-costs-and-medical-technology/

Maria Clemens (2017). Technology and Rising Costs. Retrieved From https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/10/26/technology-and-rising-health-care-costs/#24edda89766b