US Healthcare System Final Exam –
Questions With Verified Answers.
What is a healthcare "system"? - answer✔a regularly interacting or interdependent group of
items forming a unified whole, a group of interacting bodies under the influence of related forces
What is included in the U.S. healthcare system? - answer✔hospitals, health insurance, long-term
care, health policy, etc. (fragmented, loosely coordinated pieces, constantly changing, no
national health care insurance)
How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to other countries? - answer✔the US consumes
more health care services as proportion of total economic output than any other country in the
world
What are the basic functional components of the U.S. healthcare system? - answer✔finance,
insurance, delivery, payment mechanisms
How does managed care differ from traditional fee for service? - answer✔managed care has cost
control, greater integration of health delivery, emphasize preventative care, maintain broad
provider network
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What is the role of employer-based healthcare insurance? - answer✔employer contracts with the
managed care organization
What are the requirements of the Affordable Care Act? - answer✔require individuals to have
insurance coverage, businesses to provide coverage or pay fines, cover all applicants with the
same rates regardless of preexisting conditions or sex, provide a minimum set of standard
coverage
What are the major characteristics of the U.S. healthcare system? - answer✔no central agency,
imperfect market, partial access, third-party insurance and payers, multiple payers - system
cumbersome
Why isn't healthcare a free market? - answer✔health plans act as intermediaries for patients,
prices are determined by agencies external to the market, lack of unrestrained competition,
inadequacy of buyer information, decisions about utilization are often determined by need (not
price-based demand)
What is included in the health care continuum? - answer✔health services from birth till end of
life care
What are the major trends/directions of the U.S healthcare system? - answer✔moving towards
wellness, primary care, outpatient services, community well-being, managed care, integrated
systems, continuum of services
What are the major risk factors for disease? - answer✔genetic make-up, social equity, social
norms, sanitation, behavioral factors (smoking, diet, physical exercise)