Finance

There are many various sources that provide health care in the United States. The U.S. spends more on health care, both as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and on a per-capita basis, than any other nation in the world. Current estimates put U.S. health care spending at approximately 15% of GDP, the World's highest. (1) Of the nations throughout the world that are considered developed, the U.S. is one of the few that does not guarantee access to healthcare.

Healthcare in the U.S. is generally provided by three major sources employers, individual purchases, or government aid. A major issue right now in the U.S. is that healthcare costs are rising faster than wages or inflation. The leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills. The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000 ranked the U.S. health care system first in both responsiveness and expenditure, but 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health (among 191 member nations included in the study).2

Many Americans can not afford healthcare coverage to begin with. Other Americans are starting to drop their health care coverage in order to cut expenses. Hospitals and other healthcare providers are then faced with the issue of un-compensated care and its affect on their numbers. These losses will eventually be passed on to insured Americans. By 2010, health insurance premiums for families who have insurance through their private employers, on average, will be $1,502 higher in 2010 due to the non-reimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured.(3)

The majority of Americans receive health care insurance coverage through their employer. Many employers though are starting to reduce or even eliminate the health insurance coverage available to their employees. A growing number of employers are trying to eliminate their costs by asking employees to pick up more and more of their healthcare costs.

Although these major issues in health care do not currently affect me financially, they will in the near future. Currently I am still under my parent’s health insurance plan since I am still a full-time student. Once I graduate from High Point University this May, I will have to find my own form of health insurance. Upon graduation I plan on starting a full-time job. Whether or not the company offers health benefits or not will be a major factor in deciding