Describe the current U.S. healthcare cost milieu and evaluate the need Essay - 1

Describe the current U.S. healthcare cost milieu and evaluate the need to ration the availability of healthcare services - Essay Example For which reason, other methods are being planned in order to ensure comprehensive coverage. One of these methods is the health care rationing approach which is meant to assist in the availability of health care services to as many individuals as possible. This paper shall describe the current US healthcare cost milieu and it shall evaluate the need to ration the availability of health services. Healthcare spending in the US is supported through private and public sources combined (Duetsch Bank Research, p. 5). In the year 2008, about 52.7% of the national expenditures came from private shares and 47.3% came from public shares (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 5). This is considered low when compared with the OECD average; however, this has always been the trend in the US, with publicly supported health care consisting of less than the portion of the population. The publicly sponsored costs are those which cover the poor, the elderly, and the disabled (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 5). The main publicly sponsored programs are the Medicare for Americans 65 years and older and the Medicare for the poor and the disabled. Even as more than half of health care spending is actually financed by the public, a major part of the services is provided by private service providers (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 4). Private insurance covers about 66% of Americans and some 58% of these Americans are ins ured through their employers. The general cost of healthcare is significant due to the services and the health tools needed to secure quality health care. Health care costs have been driven up because of various factors. Among these factors include the introduction of technology and prescription drugs. For many years, health technologies have been introduced into the practice and these technologies are very expensive when actually used. Prescription drugs have also increased in number and frequency of use, driving up cost and

CASE STUDY OF A LARGE RATCHET WRENCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CASE STUDY OF A LARGE RATCHET WRENCH - Essay Example In terms of shape, it is a flat tapering part in the lower end and has an expanded closed head-end with precise dimensions. Head-end requires to be sufficiently hard to resist wear during use. The material specifications, product size and weight of the handle are important factors in the selection of the right combination of materials and production process. a. Fabrication & machining method: The head-end and the long arm can be fabricated as separate parts. The head-end itself can be made in two halves using press machines, to be assembled and welded to form the final shape. The arm part can be produced by gas cutting or on profile cutting machine and welded to the base of the head-end. The finished assembly is then annealed, machined on shaping machines to the required profiles and hand-finished by grinding for obtaining smooth finish. The completed component is then sent for heat treatment and chrome plating. This process is elaborate and time consuming and is not suitable for production in large numbers. It can not also be used for non-weldable materials. However, when small quantities are to be produced this method is economical since investment in casting and forging facilities and special tooling can be avoided. b. Casting: The part can be produced by the simple process of sand casting when the required volumes of production are not too high. Castings are easy to produce since technology is well established. Investment costs are not high and the same facilities can be used for any number of differently shaped castings of different materials. c. Forging: This method is most suitable and is common for producing large numbers of very high quality pieces. Recurring expenses on costly dies is one consideration. On the other hand, we can get uniformly high quality product that requires little finishing. Considering the yield strength and elongation specifications given, we can use alloy carbon steel materials for all the three processes. Alloy carbon