Introduction
Many experts admit that nowadays the entire health care system in the USA is passing through an important definitive period. The system as a whole expects many significant changes, which will definitely affect the functions and the philosophy of the health care. There are three points on which the health care system of the USA is based: the so called retail inspired model, focus on population health, and the acquisition of auxiliary service lines.
This essay focuses on the main issues related to the condition of the health care system in the USA: cost of the health care services, problems of the medical malpractice, and the latest reforms.
Cost of the Health Care Services
According to the data of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “health expenditures in the United States neared $2.6 trillion in 2010” (National Health Care Expenditures Data, January 2012).
The efforts of the nation to control health care costs have had practically no success. Approaches to regulate the health care costs through the governmental directives generally include both stronger costs regulation and encouraging fair competition among the companies providing health care services. The major measures aimed at reducing the costs of the health care services include greater government supervision and regulation of health insurer activities, increasing competition and price transparency for the health insurance providers, and payment reforms which are meant to reduce payment for hospitalization or treatment primarily caused by medical errors or insufficient health care.
Problems of the Medical Malpractice
Nowadays medical malpractice premiums are increasing all the time. Having analyzed all the paid claims of medical malpractice the Journal of the American Medical Association found out that the “average compensation for medical malpractice that occurred in the inpatient setting was around $363,000, while the average award for healthcare mistakes in the outpatient setting was about $290,000” (Martin A.B., 2012). Of all the cases of medical malpractice that became the reason for the court trial 19% involve obstetrician-gynecologists, 17% - general surgeons, and 16% - primary care physicians.
The Latest Reforms in the Health Care System of the USA
The health care reform in the USA was initiated in 2010, and involves two acts signed this year: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (signed 23 March 2010) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (signed 30 March 2010). The health care reform includes an obligation for the health insurers to cover health care expenditures to the sicker applicants, and prohibits the discrimination of such applicants by imposing the higher payments or premiums.
Overview of the Development of the Health Care System in the USA
Having analyzed the US health care system in general, it is possible to say that its safety and quality have developed into strategically important issues. A significant progress can be observed at the local level, though it is slow and is not widely noticed by the members of society. Health care improvement in the US has made a significant progress since the early 1990s.
The positive changes can be in particular seen in such items as lowering the …