Protecting the U.S. Population’s Health Against Potential Economic Recessions and High Unemployment and the Endemic Inflation of Health Care Costs

Description

This book has three main parts: (1) the challenges of the U.S. health care system; (2) the impacts of economic recessions and high unemployment on the U.S. population’s health; and (3) recommendations or a look into what might improve the health care system. Part I, through a dissection of the challenges faced by the U.S. health care system, exposes the particularities and the vulnerabilities of the system.  It shows the role played by businesses and employment in the U.S. population’s health and describes major challenges of the health care system such as astronomical health care costs, the average family health spending – which is exceedingly high, wasteful spending, death due to inaccessibility to health care, and the hardships that medical costs created for more than half of Americans. Part II is an analysis as to why do economic recessions have health implications. That analysis is done by considering the health implications of economic recessions both at the micro and macroeconomic levels and by considering the societal costs of uninsurance or inaccessibility to health care due to economic recessions and high unemployment. Part III primarily focuses on what can make the system better, that is more efficient and more cost-effective. Ironically, as Part III argues, there are a myriad of feasible recommendations that are waiting to be fully explored, agreed upon, adopted and implemented nationwide:

· Design labor and fiscal policies aimed at preventing economic recessions and high unemployment

o Blend labor and fiscal policies into structural reforms

· Create job security and take other steps that guarantee health care security during financial hardship

· Improve health outcomes through nationwide permanent supportive housing to combat chronic homelessness during economic recessions and high unemployment

· Prioritize the use of more cost-effective medical technologies

o Promote telemedicine to reduce costs and improve accessibility to health care

· Eliminate health disparities thanks to the democratization of health care
· Promote health literacy and the valorization of communities
· Design policies or procedures that 1) promote health care costs reduction and efficiency through affordable insurance coverage and 2) eliminate Wasteful spending:

o Extend drug coverage and implement cost-effective pricing policies

o Extend coverage of more medical procedures and implement cost-effective policies

On the other hand, Part III also sells the idea of a thorough and bold revolution in our health care system, which would make health care a right of citizenship. It does so by analyzing the political, social, ethical, and economic aspects of the issue. Furthermore, it argues that the relationship between universal health care and economics justifies the notion of “health care as a right of citizenship.” 

Abstract

Because employers provide health insurance, they play a major role in the population’s health and in its security. In the United States, historically, employment has always been the cornerstone of private health insurance. In fact, 90 percent of people under 65 get their health insurance through employment. But the health of the labor market varies and with it the health of the population it serves. Economic struggles leads to less disposable income and bad health. Job security has been revisited and is no longer a guarantee. In most households, both parents are working and any layoff or illness is tantamount to major stress on their health because the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the industrialized world. While the economy has recovered from the 2007-2008 Great Recession, the prospect of future economic recessions is still looming and when the next one hits, the impacts have the potential to be great and widely felt because the recipe for disaster is ubiquitous: an unaffordable health care system that is spiraling out of control. Medical bills are often synonymous with bankruptcy. Health care costs are constantly rising and Americans are hit with higher out-of-pocket costs on a regular basis. Because the health care system is price-based and not value-based, its efficiency is hindered. That is, although the U.S. spends twice as much in health care compared with the other OECD countries, its health outputs are inferior to those of countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Developments in communication and information technologies may be a golden opportunity to reverse the trend. These technologies may help improve the effectiveness of public health interventions. Telehealth or telemedicine, by integrating the patient – and because it’s moving to urban areas – is pivotal. Improving access, ensuring quality, and controlling costs to reduce wasteful spending should be the top priorities of health policy makers. Besides technology, emphasis should be put on health literacy programs and the valorization of communities. Also, there has been a lot of debate on whether the U.S. should embrace universal health coverage (UHC), also called Medicare-for-all or a single-payer system, or even a socialized medicine modeled after the U.K.’s health care system. At each end of the spectrum, proponents and opponents make their case using, of course, different arguments. The former think that health care should be made a fundamental right of citizenship while the latter think that health care is after all a service and people should pay for what they get, although amongst them some think that a public option – where private insurance and government insurance for all coexist – might be a better alternative to straight and universal socialized medicine benefiting every American regardless of their socioeconomic status. Download the book

Back to Health & Wellness