Health care ethics

Introduction

The US healthcare system has, in the recent years, drawn a lot of debates and surrounding controversies. Some of them relate to its cost and affordability. Some people also hold a feeling that healthcare is not fully accessible to many people and, thereby, brings about a challenge in creating equity in healthcare outcomes. However, immense strides have been made in regards to healthcare financing (Spaulding, Edwardson, & Zhao, 2018). Many insurance companies have come up, thereby, ensuring that they bear the ability to provide the necessary insurance packages that would be of essence towards meeting some of the needs of patients. With an increase in the number of players in the healthcare insurance sector, there is a high chance of competitiveness a case that would be critical towards reducing the general cost of healthcare. People are also given a wide pool of insurers to choose from. The paper aims to provide an economic analysis brief that describes the role and impact of the health insurance market in the U.S. healthcare industry.

The performance of the health insurance industry

    Healthcare spending has grown significantly in the US in the last five decades. Indices show that Americans are currently spending about one in every five dollars on healthcare. However, with the increased growth of health insurance sector, the out-of-pocket spending on healthcare has been on a continuous drop (Hlatky & Kazi, 2017). There has been an about 50% increase in the share of private sector workers who are given a choice of having health insurance plans. Today, there is a wide range of health care insurance options for people, which they can choose from. The growing national economy showcases the case of many buyers who are willing to purchase insurance premiums.

One of the elements that determine the size of the insurance industry in the US is the financial risk. With increased risk, in conjunction with other economic problems, there is a chance that insurance companies would lack the chance to bring in more members into their schemes to be able to serve them.

    The growing number of people who are enrolled into insurance schemes would mean that the cost would go down significantly. The case would be drawn from the concept of economies of scale (Hlatky & Kazi, 2017). The more people are covered by the system, the cheaper and easier it is for various insurance companies to ensure that they bring in more people. The case could also lead to an increase in the size of insurers. They would, therefore, gain the capacity to provide more and better services with the view of ensuring that they bear the capacity to meet the needs of various people. The concept would also be of essence towards meeting some of the challenges experienced in insurance. It would also help to address the problem of healthcare inequalities.

Conclusion

To sum up, as a result, the future for healthcare insurance seems bright as more people would enroll in it.  One major policy recommendation that could be put up is for all employers to provide health care insurance cover to their employees. Another concept would be based on insurance companies reducing premiums to levels that many people can afford them. The case would help to lower the cost of healthcare. The case would also help to bring about some aspect of equity in the healthcare sector.