The debate of increasing costs of health care and equally declining levels of earnings seem to be far much from over if the research findings by Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust are anything to go by. As reported in the Los Ageless Times on September 27th, 2011, the national survey indicates that this year’s 9% increase in health care premiums paid by employers is the highest in six years (Helfand, 2011).
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, health insurance premiums for families, this year rose by an average of $15,073 from $13,770 the previous year. According to Drew Altman who is the president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, both the workers and their employers are an unhappy lot because of the massive decline in the wages for the workers and profits for their employers (Helfand, 2011).
According to the Los Angeles Times, the employers have taken the biggest share of the increase in health care premiums with the workers being forced to dig deeper into their pockets to cater for their share in the premiums, which has increased nearly twofold. In some states like California, there have been intense disagreements between the workers and their employers on whom should pay the biggest share, with each party claiming that the other should do so (Helfand, 2011).
This has led to the recent strike by some workers in California, who argued that their employers were being unfair in passing the extra premiums to them. Health care analysts attribute the surge in the health care insurance premiums to high costs of pharmaceuticals, Medicare as well as the Federal health care policy, which insurers say is costing the health care industry a great deal. However, both employers and workers have a reason to be optimistic because health care analysts predict a remarkable decline in the health care premiums by the start of next year (Helfand, 2011).
According to the statistics on this website, the number of people who need health care has been rising by 100,000 people each year since 2005. This can be attributed to improved health care and treatment, which is making many people have longer lifespans than before. Going by the statistics since 2005, it seems that the number of registered nurses has been constant, leading to a shortfall of 100,000 nurses every year. The supply of nurses is therefore unlikely to change unless some awareness is done among the citizens to persuade them to pursue nursing as a profession.
The demand for nurses will continue rising as it has done since 2005. Each year, the demand has been increasing by 100,000 nurses. It may however decrease if the United States embarks on a serious campaign to create interest in citizens to pursue nursing. The recruitment of nurses is likely to increase due to the increasing demand. More funds are likely to be channeled in the sensitization, recruitment, and training of more nurses to avert the looming crisis of shortage of nurses.
One of the new techniques being used by some hospitals to retain or recruit nurses is offering them high bonuses to the tune of $14,000. This is grossly affecting the public hospitals in that many nurses are moving to private hospitals due to attractive packages with huge bonuses. The people who are most affected by this trend are the poor, who usually go to public hospitals due to their affordability. The poor (especially the elderly) are the worst affected because they are not able to employ their nurses, who apart from being expensive, are also very few.
Reference
Helfand,D.(2011). Premiums for employer-provided health insurance jump. Los Angeles Times.