FINAL Assessment: 240 points Due Week 7 – Day 1 The four basic functional components of the U.S. health care delivery system include (1)financing, (2)insurance, (3)delivery, and (4)quality. Review...

The US Health Care Delivery System
Introduction
In the United States there are a number of organizations that are responsible for the health care
services to its citizens. Health care services in the US are mostly provided by many distinct
organizations and most of them are operated and owned by the by private sector entities.
Primarily government provides health insurance for public sector employees. A number of
programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE etc account for around 60-65% of
healthcare expenditures and provisions. The people under the age of 65 in the US are covered
under some or other health insurance policies either provided by the employer or a family
member's employer and some people buy health insurance on their own. Rest of the people
emain uninsured in the country (Woolf,, 2013).
According to an estimate prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO), the US is
spending highest money for the health care facilities of its citizens and it is estimated to be
around 15.2% of its GDP in 2008 that was the highest expenditure on this account in the world.
And with ageing population, it is expected that total health care expenditure in the country would
keep increasing every year and would cross the level of 19.5% of GDP by 2017. Of the total
expenditure incu
ed on these services in the country, expenditure accounted for 31% that
country spent on health service. Rest of 21% of expenditure account for the payment made as fee
to physicians/clinics, only 10% of this expenditure accounted for medicines. Rest of remaining
38% of the total expenditure was incu
ed on dental, nursing homes, home health care and other
professional services etc
Health Care Regulation in the US
In the US like many other countries the healthcare services are highly regulated services and are
egulated at both the level federal as well as state level. Under the cu
ent practices, the health
care services are primary responsibility of the states and responsibility to regulate the sector falls
in their jurisdiction and federal government has minimum possible direct role to play under the
McCa
an-Ferguson Act. Regulations relating to licensing to health care services providers by
the respective state governments and testing and approval of medicines as well as medical
equipments and laboratory testing by FDA are some the important regulations in the US that are
essential for the health care industry regulations. These laws and rules are aimed to protect the
interests of citizens of the country. Also the states have responsibility and right to regulate health
insurance industry and can specify the rules and procedures. At the same time federal
government does have important role to play in regulating the health care industry in the US. It is
able to impact the industry and the whole market with help of programs like Medicare and
Medicaid through payments.
There are a number of legislations that regulate health care delivery system in the USA. In the
elow sections four legislations namely Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010,
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, United States National Health Care Act and The
Massachusetts health care insurance reform law have been discussed in the below sections
iefly.
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
The 111th United States Congress has given a law named the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–152, 124 Stat. 1029). This law was result of some
amendments in Patient Protection and Affordable Care It was...