ECON 2302 Chapter 24 Review
Which of the following best describes a DRG system?
A system in which hospitals or doctors receive a fixed payment for treatment of a Medicare patient
Which of the following are features that health insurers use to reduce the incentive to overconsume health care?
Copayments Deductibles
Which of the following are the two highly publicized problems related to the U.S. health care system?
Costs and access
What are true statements about health care spending in the United States?
It is increasing. It is high.
A criticism of the diagnosis-related group (DRG) system is that it has lowered the quality of health care for ______.
Medicare patients
How has the supply of health care services increased compared to the demand?
More slowly
What is the impact on federal, state, and local governments' budgets when there are unpredictable health care expenditures?
Negative
What are the main effects of surging health care costs on labor markets?
Outsourcing Slower wage growth Increase in the use of part-time and temporary workers
Some insurance companies require that hospitals and physicians accept discounted prices for their services as a condition for being included in the insurance plan. What are these called?
PPOs
Which of the following statements are true of the United States?
The incidence of disease has been declining. The quality of treatment has been improving.
The deductible and copayment are intended to alleviate the overuse problem by creating _______.
an opportunity cost for the consumer
Recall that the deductible and co-payment are intended to alleviate the overuse problem by
creating a direct payment and therefore an opportunity cost to the health care consumer.
Proponents of malpractice caps believe that such caps will ______.
decrease health care costs
The supply of health care services has increased more slowly than ______.
demand
Because health care is a normal good, increases in domestic income have caused increases in the ______.
demand for health care
A national health insurance system was considered politically impossible in the United States in 2010 because _______.
opinion polls indicate that a majority of Americans with employer-provided health care are happy with their coverage
While economists agree that improved health care has greatly contributed to society's GDP and well-being, many economists think that health care expenditures in the United States are inefficiently ______.
large
The health care industry employs about 20 million people, making it one of the ___________ U.S. industries in terms of size.
largest
Supporters of _______ caps say that patients should receive full compensation for economic losses but not made wealthy through huge jury awards.
malpractice
Supporters of ________ caps say that patients should receive full compensation for economic losses but not made wealthy through huge jury awards.
malpractice
A basic package of health care that is available in some countries to every citizen at no direct charge is called ______.
national health insurance
Health care spending in the United States is high and rising in both absolute terms and as percentage of domestic __________.
output
Large, uninsured medical bills are one of the major causes of ______.
personal bankruptcy
Many economists believed that the large subsidies provided by the PPACA would ______ prices and ______ consumption of health care.
raise; increase
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focused on ______.
reducing incentives to overconsume health care
In countries with national health insurance, private health insurance is bought by ______.
relative few people
Which portion of all health care expenses are paid through public or private insurance?
3/4
What percentage of Americans with employer-provided health insurance rated their coverage as good or very good?
75%
What percentage of the population had no health insurance for the entire year?
9%
True or false: Average life expectancy in the United States has decreased since 1970.
False
True or false: Every American has health insurance.
False
True or false: Public and private insurance together pay for one-quarter of all health care costs.
False
Which are provisions of the PPACA in regard to preexisting conditions, caps, and dropping coverage?
-An insurance company is prohibited from imposing annual or lifetime expenditure caps. -An insurance company cannot deny coverage to anyone on the basis of a preexisting medical condition. -An insurance company is allowed to drop a policyholder only in the case of policyholder fraud.
The objections over the PPACA include ______.
-greater inefficiencies in health care due to federal control of pricing and content of insurance policies -the notion of a national health insurance system -concerns whether the PPACA would reduce the growth rate of health care expenditures
Health care is one of the largest U.S. industries, employing about how many people?
20 million
A means of protection against the huge monetary losses that can result from hazards is called what?
An insurance program
How do governments respond to rising, unpredictable health care expenditures?
By raising taxes By reducing spending in other categories
Which of the following explains the reason for the rapid rise in health care costs in terms of demand and supply?
Demand for health care has increased much more rapidly than supply.
Which of the following reduce access to health care?
Greater insurance premiums Higher health care costs
What are tax-free savings accounts into which people with high-deductible health insurance plans can place funds each year called?
HSAs
Which of the following are the most visible economic effects of rising health care costs?
Higher out-of-pocket costs to workers Higher premiums to employers
PPOs do which of the following?
Reduce health insurance premiums Reduce health care expenditures
Higher health insurance premiums to employers and higher out-of-pocket costs to workers are visible economic effects of what?
Rising health care costs
Slower wage growth, the use of part-time and temporary workers, and outsourcing are the effects of what?
Rising health care costs
What are true statements about large medical bills?
They are one of the major causes of personal bankruptcy. They are often the last bills to be paid.
True or false: Many provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have been focused on reducing the incentives to overconsume health care.
True
According to the PPACA, when are health insurance providers allowed to drop policyholders?
When the policyholder commits fraud.
Higher costs and insurance premiums reduce access to ______.
health care
Because health care is a normal good, growth in domestic incomes have caused the demand for health care to _______.
increase
Rising prices, quantities, and costs of health care services are the result of the demand for health care ______ than the supply.
increasing more rapidly
While many economists agree that improved health care has greatly contributed to society's GDP and well-being, many economists think that health care expenditures in the United States are ______.
inefficient
A(n )______ program is a means of protection against the huge monetary losses that can result from hazards.
insurance
Health __________ accounts are designed to promote personal saving out of which workers can pay routine health care expenses while working and can pay for Medicare copayments and deductibles later, during retirement.
savings