Running Head: CHALLENGES TO HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN THE UNITED STATES 1
Rose P. King
Polk State College
June 18, 2015
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CHALLENGES TO HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
The greatest challenges to health care delivery in the United States are snowballing costs, lack of
access, and concerns about quality. These three issues connect to some degree. The United
States is without universal coverage. The insured people are doing well; however, the uninsured
are suffering. Rising cost limit the systems’ ability to increase availability.
An aging population and increasing costs of chronic illness related to unhealthy lifestyles play a
dominate role in the reason why health care costs are unsustainable. Nearly 24% of the total
U.S. workforce will be age 55 or older by 2018 compared to 18% in 2008 [ CITATION Mit09 \l
1033 ]. Economic recession, longer life spans and chronic diseases are placing larger strains on
the health care system. The amount spent on health care in 1980 was $256 billion, $2.2 trillion in
