Growth of Healthcare Costs in the United States Paper

Growth of Healthcare Costs in the United States Paper

Assesment 1

As you learned in Week 1, health care spending is growing faster than overall growth in the economy (as measured by GDP) and by 2026 is expected to consume 20 percent of GDP. In Week 2, the article by Hartman (et. al.) states that “the trade-offs required to finance health care spending have become increasingly challenging for both private and public payers.”

Given what you have learned from the course material in Week 1 and 2, discuss these trade-offs and how to evaluate them from an economic perspective.

Specifically, write a briefing report (not just a standard essay) that does the following:

1. From an economic perspective, explain why health care spending cannot grow greater than the overall growth in the economy for an extended period of time without adverse consequences. Identify what economic constraints overall and in the healthcare industry will occur if this happens.
2. Identify TWO Economic concepts that can be used to evaluate the trade-off between health care and other economic goods and services. In doing this:

• Define the economic concept completely
• Apply the economic concept to the current issue of rising health care spending and trade-offs

1. Evaluate the unique characteristics of health care that complicate this analysis.

Your briefing report should be at least four double-spaced pages, including a reference page, but excluding the required cover page. In writing, your report you should rely largely on reference material in the readings in this course, and the summary slides from Week 1 and Week 2.

Be sure to include in your briefing report, your name and section headers corresponding to the parts as specified above. Also apply the APA style format.

Antiti Developing a Briefing Paper TN 21 A briefing paper is a summary of facts pertaining to an issue and often includes a suggested course of action. It consists of a precise statement or set of instructions intended to inform another individual who may have solicited assistance to study and make recommendations on a matter. For example, an executive assistant may provide a briefing paper to a manager or chairperson for a board meeting, or a bureaucrat may provide a briefing paper to an elected politician to consider a matter in department decision making. As the term suggests, briefing papers are short and succinct. Usually written in outline format, a briefing paper will seldom exceed two pages in length. Briefing papers provide a summary of an issue, explain a situation that needs correcting, identify any financial implications, and recommend a course of action including arguments for and against the suggested action. Components of a typical briefing paper: Name • a note to identify who the briefing paper is intended for Date • the date of preparation of the briefing paper Subject • the topic or issue of the briefing paper Background • provides a summary of past and/or current events that provide a context for the topic or issue, including any policies or past practices Analysis • identify significant aspects of the topic or issue • identify the options or courses of action that should be considered, including details about the advantages and disadvantages of each • identify actions currently taken or recommended to address the issue Cautionary Notes • identify any sensitive aspects of the topic or issue that may affect a person or an organization in a negative way Contact • the name and contact information of the writer of the briefing paper