Go To The American Hospital Association Links To An External

Go To Theamerican Hospital Associationlinks To An External Sitewebsit

Go to the American Hospital Association website, navigate to the Advocacy tab, and review at least three to five key advocacy issues in health care and the factors that influence shifts in cost and supply curves. Compare the health care-based factors in the issues that you reviewed that, in your opinion, cause the cost curve of health care to shift. In your response, provide at least one example showing the manner in which the cost curve shifts. Please answer all parts of post. link to visit:

Paper For Above instruction

The American Hospital Association (AHA) plays a pivotal role in shaping healthcare policy and advocating on behalf of hospitals and health systems across the United States. Their advocacy efforts span a broad spectrum of issues, including healthcare financing, access, quality, and regulation. Reviewing the AHA’s advocacy priorities provides insights into the complex economic factors that influence the healthcare sector, particularly the shifts in supply and demand curves that underpin healthcare economics. This paper explores three key advocacy issues identified by the AHA—rising healthcare costs, healthcare access disparities, and hospital emergency preparedness—and examines how each influences the healthcare cost and supply curves. Furthermore, the paper compares the factors driving shifts in the cost curve, illustrating how specific issues contribute to increased healthcare spending and cost management challenges.

One of the most significant advocacy issues highlighted by the AHA is the escalating cost of healthcare. Rising costs are driven by multiple factors, including technological advancements, administrative expenses, drug pricing, and an aging population. These factors increase the overall demand for healthcare services, which, coupled with supply constraints such as workforce shortages and resource limitations, cause an upward shift in the healthcare cost curve. For instance, the diffusion of expensive new medical technologies, such as advanced imaging systems or gene therapies, substantially raises the marginal cost of providing healthcare, thus shifting the cost curve upward. An example of this shift can be seen in the adoption of cancer immunotherapies, which, although effective, significantly increase per-treatment costs, leading to a rise in total healthcare expenditure (Chandra & Skinner, 2012).

Healthcare access disparities remain another critical advocacy focus. Limited access to primary care services and disparities among different socioeconomic and racial groups contribute to increased emergency department visits and delayed treatment, which tend to drive up costs due to higher acuity cases and less efficient resource utilization. These disparities tend to shift the demand curve outward, increasing the overall volume of services needed. For example, rural populations often have less access to preventive care, resulting in more hospital admissions for preventable conditions, thereby increasing service demand and costs (Finkelstein et al., 2016). Addressing these disparities through policy reforms can help flatten the demand curve or shift it inward, thereby controlling costs.

Hospital emergency preparedness has also become a critical area of advocacy, especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Investments in readiness infrastructure, stockpiling supplies, and expanding intensive care capacity represent significant costs. These investments influence the supply side of the healthcare market by increasing hospital capacity and resilience, but also raise operational costs, which are often passed on to payers. For example, the rapid development and deployment of COVID-19 testing and vaccination programs required substantial resource allocation, effectively shifting the supply curve outward temporarily but at increased cost (Ghebre et al., 2021). The long-term effect includes increased fixed costs for hospitals, influencing the overall healthcare cost trajectory.

Comparing these factors, it becomes evident that many of the drivers behind shifts in the healthcare cost curve are interconnected. Technological advancements and emergency preparedness investments directly increase marginal or fixed costs, shifting the cost curve upward. In contrast, policies aimed at reducing disparities and improving access can influence demand by decreasing unnecessary or avoidable hospital use, potentially flattening or shifting the demand curve inward. For example, expanding telehealth services reduces the need for costly in-person visits, thereby decreasing overall demand and costs (Sharma et al., 2020). Overall, understanding these economic factors is essential for policymakers aiming to curb rising healthcare costs while maintaining quality and access.

References

• Chandra, A., & Skinner, J. (2012). Technology growth and expenditure on health care. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(3), 91-114.
• Finkelstein, A., Tsioustas, A., & Wherry, L. R. (2016). The health care system and disparities in access. Annual Review of Economics, 8, 389–418.
• Ghebre, B. S., Spiro, A., & Pesek, J. (2021). COVID-19 and hospital capacity: Implications for future health-care planning. Journal of Healthcare Management, 66(3), 180-189.
• Sharma, N., Krishnan, A., & Zhang, D. (2020). Telehealth innovations and the future of healthcare delivery. Telemedicine and e-Health, 26(5), 601–607.
• American Hospital Association. (2023). Advocacy priorities. Retrieved from https://www.aha.org/advocacy