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Abstract and Conclusion –Health Crisis in America

Victoria Wilburn

English Composition FA23L-S8

Columbia Southern University

January 19, 2023

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Abstract and Conclusion –Health Crisis in America

Abstract

The health crisis in America has affected large populations of typical Americans,

especially those in low-socioeconomic levels, the Hispanic and black minorities. That is because,

with each day, America continues to experience rising care costs, compromised quality of

treatment, and increased prevalence of chronic illnesses. The thesis statement for this assignment

is that chronic illnesses, quality crises, and cost crises remain top health issues in America,

particularly affecting Americans from low-income families. As a result, the federal government

must assess how "rationing" healthcare and reviewing coverage policies can help combat the

health crisis regarding healthcare quality and costs.

Currently, more than 90% of Americans have health insurance. However, these insurance

covers are tied to jobs. Once an individual leaves the job, they experience the increased cost of

treatment as they have to pay out-of-pocket because the health coverage benefits are no longer

offered. Researchers indicate that currently, half of Americans have one or two chronic illnesses,

and in addition to the quality crisis, they spend much money settling health bills. Even with these

policies in place, the health crisis associated with quality comes up due to doctors ordering

expensive and unnecessary diagnostic tests, increased cases of medication errors, and many

others. Thus, it is essential that the American government design and formulate a new coverage

policy to ensure that all Americans receive equitable and universal health benefits regardless of

their socioeconomic status and race. This will eliminate the crisis of quality of care, care costs,

and deaths due to the prevalence of chronic illnesses.

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Introduction

The general topic of study for this assignment is the health crisis in America. The pro of

studying the health crisis in America is that it helps people understand the number of health

issues and policies affecting Americans regardless of their social, racial, economic, and sexual

status. The con of focusing on the health crisis as a topic is that it puts America's reputation in a

bad light, given that America is among the advanced nations said to offer the very best

healthcare services.

The focused scope of study concerning the Health Crisis in America is on the quality

crisis, cost crisis, and the increased prevalence of chronic illnesses. For example, many

Americans complain about increased spending on treatment, testing, and diagnosis of chronic

illnesses. Furthermore, when it comes to a quality crisis, Americans blame doctors for poor

diagnosis and unsuitable therapeutic interventions (including unsatisfactory patient referrals) as

main challenges to quality (Shrank et al., 2021). Moreover, today, Americans face a severe crisis

as the pervasiveness of chronic diseases continues rising in the U.S., as demonstrated by a 2012

study that showed that at least one adult has a chronic condition and hence spends much money

on treatments.

The controversy is that since America is among the advanced nation, its medical costs

and prevalence of chronic illnesses should lower as the quality of care increases due to the

integration of technology such as telemedicine and also due to implementation of coverage

policies, ACA, and availability of Medicare and Medicaid plans. The advantage of this

controversy is that it helps put American healthcare department to address these issues and

provide viable solutions. The negative side of this controversy is that it places American health

services on a benchmark to evaluate the relevance of this controversy based on Americans’

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experiences. The thesis statement for this assignment is that chronic illnesses, quality crises, and

cost crises remain top health issues in America, particularly affecting Americans from low-

income families. This paper will evaluate each of these components in depth.

Literature Review

History

The health crisis in America has been a significant health concern for many years to

Americans and to the world because it affects people of low social and economic backgrounds,

the uninsured, the black, and the Hispanic populations. According to research, medical costs in

the America presently exceed 16.8% of the GDP and are on the upsurge (Burke & Ryan, 2014).

Despite the availability of numerous policies and insurance plans such as ACA, Medicare, and

Medicaid, Americans have noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford treatment

options. Although health expenditure has recently declined, per capita treatment spending in the

United States is approximately 50 to 200% higher than in other developed economies (Shrank et

al., 2021). According to research, third-party payors (insurance providers and government

agencies) cover all costs for procedures done instead of outcomes obtained. Patients possess

minimal to no financial responsibility for the costs of the medical services they require.

Furthermore, proof of the minimal value of healthcare services in the United States has

led researchers to pinpoint primary examples of wasteful spending. Many of these initiatives

have assessed discrepancies, notably in Medicare spending. Research on medical spending on

treatment options and quality care centered on analyzing the multitude of screening procedures,

physician consultations, hospital readmissions, prescription medicines, and procedures, and the

results reveal a tenuous connection between high-quality outcomes and healthcare expenditure

(Braithwaite, 2021). Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy researchers analyzed patients admitted
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to hospitals between 1993 and 1995 for bone fractures, chronic diseases, and colon cancers, as

well as a small subset of Medicare beneficiaries in their final six years of existence in a landmark

report. They calculated each participant's vulnerability to various thresholds of end-of-life care

costs. The researchers discovered significant healthcare costs and quality disparities for patient

populations based on geographical regions in the United States (Jordan et al., 2021).

Furthermore, roughly 50% of the American population presently suffers from chronic

illnesses, resulting in an epidemic. According to research, chronic conditions account for 86% of

medical costs (Chapel et al., 2017). While it is challenging for healthcare providers and

figureheads to react accordingly to the high incidence of chronic diseases, a healthcare crisis has

developed as a result, with insufficient care accessibility and quality care, and exorbitant prices.

The clinical literature has not kept pace with the rise in chronic disease pervasiveness since the

1950s. Correspondingly, public health did not evolve because it stayed focused on acute illness.

Terminology

Quality: It is when care services do not meet the expected standards hence leading to more

crises.

Cost crisis: When it comes to health, a cost crisis is when patients have to overspend on

treatments and medications, affecting people of low social status.

Chronic diseases: These ailments persist for a year or more and necessitate continuing medical

assistance, restricting everyday routines, or both. Cancer, heart failure, and diabetes are all

possibilities.

Both Sides of the Controversy

Since America is among the leading nations offering advanced medical care and has

integrated technology, its healthcare treatment, accessibility, and costs should match their
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quality. The nation should record the lowest number of chronically-ill populations. For instance,

during the covid-19, the American health quality and treatment costs were highlighted given to

many Americans suffering, especially those suffering from chronic illnesses, because the virus

strained some healthcare systems to their breaking point (Burke & Ryan, 2014). Furthermore,

research has linked Americans' advanced medical status to their capacity to cope with soaring

medical costs and impeded care quality in the face of the global epidemic and chronic disease

epidemics.

On the other hand, the negative side of this controversy is that it shows that the American

health system is collapsing, and the significant variables affecting health due to rising healthcare

spending, lower quality of care, and the increased prevalence of chronic diseases. Moreover,

with U.S. health having implemented many insurance policies and ACA, this research places the

insurance industry in healthcare in the limelight, given that the government links insurance

benefits to employees (Kaplan & Porter, 2018). That means that minority populations are likely

to spend more out-of-pocket cash to pay for medical services, affecting ordinary Americans.

Moreover, since healthcare costs are high and they may not afford the best treatments, the quality

of care lowers, which might contribute to rising cases of a chronically ill society.

Body of Research Paragraphs

America, among the most pragmatic countries in the world, offers some of the finest

healthcare care and practitioners. Regrettably, this does not imply that Americans are the

healthiest or free of health problems. The American health crisis has reached a tipping point

because half of all Americans have a chronic condition, resulting in an epidemic. Furthermore,

chronic diseases account for 86% of healthcare spending. As the number of chronically ill people

rose, a health crisis surfaced, with insufficient quality and availability of care and high hospital
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costs. Based on this study, I will explain America's healthcare crisis, with a particular emphasis

on the increased number of chronically ill patients, rising healthcare costs, and deteriorating

quality of care.

Rising healthcare costs are causing a significant health crisis in the United States. More

particularly, the incidence of chronic illness costs in the United States is soaring as the baby

boomer generation ages, and the prevalence rate between many children and young adults rises.

Furthermore, the pandemic's economic implications have made it even harder for Americans to

pay the rising medical expenses associated with chronic diseases. According to studies,

uninsured adults, black and Hispanic people, and those with modest salaries are

disproportionately affected by high hospital bills (Emanuel et al., 2017). This is due to doctors

ordering unnecessary and expensive tests and prescribing costly drugs to handle chronic

diseases, as well as a fee-for-service payment system, which makes the treatment cost problem a

significant concern (Paterick, 2018). Furthermore, even among insured adults, roughly one-third

are concerned about facilitating their monthly insurance premium, and 44% are concerned about

allocating their deductible prior to medical insurance whacking in. Although rising medical

expenses are a major health crisis, other significant catastrophes are discussed in the following

paragraph.

Another significant healthcare crisis in America is the quality dilemma. The quality crisis

is the result of a rapid rise in the difficulty of healthcare. It is now challenging for doctors to

comprehend the implications of all accessible tests and treatments. As a result, studies have

revealed that increased medical laboratory tests and therapy for chronic conditions have led to

doctors oversimplifying many healthcare strategic decisions. As a result of unwarranted testing

and medications, many Americans doubt the quality of care (Patrick et al., 2018). Recent
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research by John Hopkins evaluated healthcare fatality rate data for eight years and discovered

that medication mistakes, lack of honesty, and poor amenable fatality rates are to blame for more

than 250,000 fatalities in the America each year (George, 2017). Oversimplification of testing,

therapeutic interventions, and medicating expensive and ineffective medicines is lowering the

quality of care while escalating healthcare spending.

Another significant health crisis afflicting half of America's population is a chronic

illness. The research says that at least 50% of the citizenry, or 5 out of 10 Americans, were

affected by chronic illnesses in 2016, resulting in a pandemic (Holman, 2020). Nearly 30 million

Americans now have five or more chronic conditions, and the threat and incidence of long-term

illnesses increase with age. Furthermore, roughly 30% of American children have a chronic

condition, and roughly 6% have more than one long-term illness (O'Neill & Gillian, 2020).

Chronic disease has a detrimental effect on health and longevity, and is a driving factor of

medical costs, and harms business, such as sickness absence. Furthermore, one or two chronic

diseases is said to account for more than two-thirds of all mortalities, indicating a severe health

crisis in the United States. With all the effects of long-term disease affecting Americans, studies

predict that by 2060, the America population aged 65 and up will have doubled, and the

percentage of chronically ill people will keep rising.

Conclusion

Currently, the health crisis in America falls under the cost of health care, quality of care,

and increased prevalence of chronic illnesses in adults and children. The controversy is that since

America is a developed nation and has implemented many policies such as coverage policy, it

should have minimal health issues when it comes to meeting the demand of Americans. Today,

most Americans, especially those uninsured, Hispanic, and black, cannot access health care due
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to the rising cost of care. Even with policies like ACA and insurance coverage having been

implemented to allow universal and equitable care to all people, Americans still feel the pressure

of increased care costs. That is because the policy ties the job with coverage benefits, and with

rising care costs, and increased loss of employment, the Americans are severely affected. For

instance, with approximately 50% of Americans (both adults and children) suffering from

chronic illnesses and the fact that most coverage policies change how much a family has to pay

for health care, this affects Americans remarkably, especially those with limited financial

resources. Moreover, the fact that doctors are prescribing expensive and unnecessary drugs,

ordering unrealistic diagnosis tests, and making medication errors has compromised the quality

of care offered to the clients and spurs a heated debate among health department officials and

politicians.

To resolve the health crisis associated with increasing health care costs and quality crisis

and reduce chronic illnesses among Americans, it is necessary for the federal government to first

put a “rationing” on health. Second, the federal government should contemplate advancing

insurance benefits, shifting to value-based care, and enhancing drug and other treatment costs

and availability. America should consider raising awareness of the variables causing increased

chronic diseases. To mitigate health crises such as quality, cost, and chronic diseases, the health

administration must establish coverage policies and endorse more productive and equitable

medical systems in the United States.

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