Healthcare, medical technology, and the quality of patient care have improved significantly in recent decades, allowing patients, even with incurable diseases, to live a full life. This is undoubtedly a positive development, but it has led to a significant increase in spending on healthcare and created difficulties for low-income families. Understanding these trends is essential for health policy analysts to guide health policies and programs for the benefit of the whole society.
On the one hand, rising spending in the medical field is attracting more young professionals and talents, as well as companies and institutions, as funding is gradually increased. On the other hand, it creates a burden on the country’s economy. Healthcare spending in 1970 was $74.1 billion, and by 2000 it was about $1.4 trillion (Kurani et al., 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly contributed to this spending which tripled to $4.1 trillion in 2020 (Kurani et al., 2022). Healthcare spending per person has risen dramatically over the last five decades, from $353 in 1970 to $12,531 in 2020 (Kurani et al., 2022). Healthcare spending accounts for almost one-fifth of the US GDP (Kurani et al., 2022). All this creates new conditions for the entire healthcare sector and health policy analysts in particular.
Health policy analysts do research, create reports, and administer health policies and programs to ensure that resources are efficiently allocated to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders. They play a key role in creating public health policies and are thus in a position to lead the creation, implementation, and assessment of health policies that will allow offer treatments to people who cannot afford them in conditions of higher expenditures. It can make medicine more accessible to everyone and enhance the health of the entire society.
These health professionals may assist in designing legislation that influences public health, such as promoting healthy lifestyles, frequent check-ups, and building a culture of health care, in addition to policy formation. It may be used to cut healthcare expenses or reallocate funds to more significant global health challenges, such as research into novel cures for vast and hazardous illnesses. The health policy analyst’s efforts are far-reaching and significantly influence health promotion and protection.
References
Kurani N., Ortaliza, J., Wager, E., Fox, L., & Amin, K. (2022). How has U.S. spending on healthcare changed over time?Peterson KFF Health System Tracker. Web.