Healthcare Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Healthcare Costs - Essay Example The health insurance policies play a significant role in determining the cost of care. This is depicted by the reality that there are differences in the cost of health insurance by the government and private providers (Weeks, 2012). For example, the private insurance policy has resulted in increased costs of health insurance and health care in private hospitals than public hospitals. The private insurance policy provides that individuals can take personal insurance which includes ambulance cover, general treatment cover and hospital cover (West, 2014). Disparities in access to ambulatory services are ambulatory services are attributed to the high costs, which are associated with private ambulance covers (Leigh & Wheatley, 2010). The cost of care is described as the main factor which affects the delivery of health care services (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2012). The costs of health insurance are spelled out within the insurance policies. High costs of health insurance cause individuals that cannot afford it to wait with illnesses until the point when they are less treatable (Wood, 2013). The private insurance policy limits the services that can be covered. For instance, there are inclusions and restrictions to specific services, which mean that patients incur greater personal expenses. Optional treatments, which are not covered by Medicare, are also based on the personal expenses of patients. Long stay patients also pay more because long term care is not covered by Medicare (Weeks, 2012). These are provisions within the public and private health insurance policies, which contribute to the high costs that are, associated with care processes within US health facilities (West, 2014). The Affordable Health Care policy as provided within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also plays a role in influencing health