The United States has a great consumer demand for health care services. Health care services are quickly becoming a focal point of consumers due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
More people than ever are receiving health care benefits and the increases are supposed to come without a compromise in care. This instantly prompts questions about supply and demand with medications, equipment, staffing, technology, etc… This paper will explore the medication shortages in the United States and how consumer demand plays a role in the health care industry.
Demand in Health Care In health care, demand for products and services have a different meaning than that of typical products and services. Patients receive medical care because it is a necessity not because it is a fun thing to have or just because it is the cool new thing out. Health care is derived demand. The demand is derived from the fact that patients need to be healthy in order to function on a daily basis. Patients rely on medical providers to give them the best care possible and supply them with the best solutions to keep them healthy.
One key component to medical care is the use of medications. Many individuals rely on the availability of medications and are almost willing to pay anything because their life is at risk. This presents a major issue in the medical world. Someone; somewhere is responsible for putting a cost on these medications and directly impacting the lives of millions of Americans. On top of that, there is often a limited supply and an increased demand for these medications. Currently, there are 108 medication shortages listed on the FDA. gov (2013) website.
The Coursework on LFE Report On Health And Medical Services
1.0 Introduction The terms Health and Medical services are interrelated to each other and increasingly central to our lives. Bangladesh is a land of hard working souls and the major population of this nation dwells in the rural areas. LFE has been designed to provide a brief knowledge over the living structure and social and economic and also the health condition of the rural areas of Bangladesh. ...
How are cost, access, and supply negotiated? Costs Medications are produced by researchers in laboratories over a long period of time and with a lot on money invested into the research. The companies that produce these medications are like any other company in that they are trying to make a profit so they can grow and continue research. According to Ogbru (2013) ”it takes about 7 to 10 years and an average cost of 500 million dollars to develop each new drug. ” The producers of these medications have already spent the money before they become FDA eligible.
This is where the costs of medications get their price tag. Drug companies, when they finally get a medication approved, have to capitalize to the best of their ability. They spend millions of dollars in marketing and try to get as many people as possible to use their medications. When the consumer pays for a medication they are really paying for the research and marketing efforts. The consumer typically does not know why some medications cost more than others. In generalities the consumer does not care as long as it makes them feel better.
Access/Supply In a perfect world every person could have access to all medications regardless of price and availability. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world and all medications have a cost and availability is limited. An ongoing issue in the medical field is that medication companies produce drugs that are very successful and the demand increases very rapidly. This, in turn, causes supply shortages and leaves patients without access to the medications that are necessary to keep them healthy.
According to policymed. com (2012) “the government’s oversight of manufacturing safety and quality is unnecessarily contributing to shortage problems. ” Along with shortages, high costs of medications can leave patients empty handed. The Affordable Care Act is aimed at making every aspect of health care more affordable including the costs of medications. An Ongoing Issue The high costs, access, and supply of medications are very much driven by drug companies and by unnecessary government oversight.
The Essay on Medication: Prescription Drug and General Sales List
Understand the legislative framework for the use of medication in social care... | | 1. 1 - Identify legislation that governs the use of medication in social care settings| | Ans: The legislations that govern the use of medication in social care settings are as follow: 1) The Medicines Act 1968, 2) The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (and later amendments), 3) The Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) ...
Many drug companies put in years and years of research in order to supply patients a drug that can save patients’ lives. There are government incentive programs to create these medications however there are also government programs that place very stringent rules on how they are created, tested, and manufactured. The drug companies must follow these strict rules in order to have a medication make it to the general public. There is an excessive amount of time, cost, and energy wasted throughout the process and it causes an unnecessary amount of shortages on a yearly basis.
Medication manufactures often get closed down due to these rules and getting other manufactures online to fill the void is a very slow process. A new streamlined process could help everyone involved in the process including patients, medication manufactures, and government agencies. Proposed Fix According to the Wall Street Journal (2013) “It is clear that the way to resolve the shortage of critical medications is to relax or eliminate government price controls, and to increase the FDA’s review and inspection capacities.
” The standards are so tight that it makes it very difficult to get a medication to the shelf. An investment in technology that helps streamline many of the quality concerns and a reduction in price controls will nearly eliminate shortages and reduce costs. The health care field is moving towards a more cost effective and error free environment. An incentive to force the implementation of this type of culture into medication manufacturing should be a top priority of policy makers.
An increase in cost will occur on the front end but the benefits to everyone involved will undoubtedly outweigh those costs on the back end. Right now there is a great demand for medications in the medical field. More people than ever are receiving medical care due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Liberal Studies: Independent Enquiry Studies Enquiry theme: How does drug abuse affect personal development of Hong Kong teenagers? 1. Introduction I am interested in the topic of drug abuse since I first study the bad effects of drug abuse. However, the reason I chose drug abuse as my enquiry topic because a new that I recently read .It showed a very dangerous trend appears in Hong Kong which is ...
A major concern is that the costs of medications are very high and that the supply is not meeting the demand. Patients are not getting medications they need and are relying on temporary medications or lees effective medications to get them through.
This is due to government policies and procedures that have been put into place and due to a lack of compliance from medication manufacturing companies. The strict rules that are in place has caused many manufactures to shut down and has also caused delays in the release of medications. A relaxation of price controls from the government and a review of how inspections are performed is the most simplistic fix to this complex problem. Maybe the drug companies will slip the government a valium and the problem will be solved sooner than later.
