What Should a Country Spend on Health Care?

Contributor to the July/August 2012 edition of Health Affairs, William Savedoff, addressed in his publishing, What Should a Country Spend on Health Care?, four approaches that can assist in deciding the amount of money a country should be spending on health care. I purpose that his four factors are not only helpful in determining how much should be spent but they are also applicable in reasoning on what that amount should be spent on.

In 2012 State of the World Population Report, the United Nations declared that, along with good health, access to birth control is a human right. In this blog post, following the factors outlined in Savedoff’s publishing and in agreement with birth control being a human right, I have reasoned, with examples, why the US government should spend more on birth control.

Peer Approach: Is the United States’ spending on birth control more or less than countries with similar characteristics?

Sweden has one of the lowest rates of adolescent pregnancy, childbearing and STDs.

--Why you ask?

Well, in Sweden, sex education is started in the fifth grade in all public schools. As described in a 2006 article in the Washington Post, “without parental consent, teens can get free medical care, free condoms, prescriptions for inexpensive oral contraceptives, general advice at youth clinics, and free emergency “morning-after pills.” All of which, is mandated, supported, and put in place by the Swedish government. Investing in accessibility and education for birth control has proven to improve the sexual health of the population.

The US could easily follow Sweden’s lead in taking this step to improve upon it’s health care.

Political Economy Approach: Why is the United States spending less on birth control than it should?

During President Obama’s tenure, birth control has been an especially prevalent and reoccurring headliner in US media. In 2010, Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which has influenced private companies to include birth control in their coverage. This past week birth control has been an extra hot topic in the news because the Supreme Court is trying to rule whether or not private companies can deny women from having access to birth control in their health insurance coverage due to religious reservations. “Some of the nearly 50 businesses that have sued over covering contraceptives object to paying for all forms of birth control.” The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision by late June.

In a country that is meant to have Church separated from State, equal rights for women, and affordable health care, the Supreme Courts decision should be clear.

Production Function Approach & Budget Approach:

·      What is the relationship between spending and the desire goal—that is, better health?

·      If we want the quality of life for the American people to go up, what do we need to spend on to improve it?

In the 2012 State of the World Population report, the United Nations made it clear that investing in birth control and family planning helps reduce poverty, improve health, promote gender equality, extend the number of years individuals spend in school, and increases labor force participation. Investing in birth control will ultimately have a multifaceted positive impact across health, economy, and education. Budgeting birth control will lead to a wide array of improvements for the US. This same concept is applicable across all nations.