Health care spending in the United States has in the past years been extensively documented, debated and frequently lamented. This is because health care spending has accelerated tremendously over the years. In fact, since the start of the post-World War II era, health care cost adjusted to inflation grew much faster than GDP. For instance, per capita health care cost nationally grew by an average of 4.1 percent between 1945 and 1998, compared to a 1.5 percent GDP increase. In addition, over every decade in this period, health care spending increased faster than levels of income. That spending went beyond $2 Trillion in 2006, representing a doubling in healthcare expenditure over the past decade (Pear, 2008) . Projections by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suggest that even after taking into account demographic changes, health care spending will soar to 38% of the GDP by 2075 (Chernew, Hirth, & Cutler, 2003) .
As the American population has grown older, it would be expected that spending on health care would increase. Evidence, however, suggests that historical demographical shifts account for a minute fraction of the difference between increases in health care spending, on the one hand, and the GDP growth on the other (Chernew, Hirth, & Cutler, 2003) . One of the key reasons for this increase is the use of expensive new drugs and technologies in the healthcare system. While medical advances have the potential to improve health and consequently life expectancy, they also put a burden on health care cost. This is especially the case because most of these technologies are produced by private entities out to make profits (Pear, 2008) .
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Secondly, there has been a spiral in administrative costs that have more than doubled. This is partly attributable to the role of private insurance companies that now play a greater role in Medicare and normally have higher administrative costs compared to traditional Medicare Program. Lastly, increases in health care spending are attributable to the reduced rate of health spending by businesses and introduction of Medicare drug benefits for persons with disability and older Americans (Pear, 2008) . One of the most effective strategies for reducing health cost is through the adoption of wellness initiatives. Incentives, disincentives and rewards are offered for participating in or attaining specific health-related goals. Wellness initiatives reduce employee susceptibility to fitness-related illnesses thus reducing the number of visits to the doctor. Health reimbursement arrangements can also help trim the cost of medical services. These plans compensate employees for personal health insurance premiums and out of pocket medical expenses. They, therefore, help cut company health care spending while offering employees a broad array of medical options. The use of flexible contribution arrangements (FSA) is also a highly effective way of cutting medical expenses for the company. Through FSA, employees can collect and keep money that can be utilized for health care costs tax-free. Voluntary salary reductions through an employer whereby no income or employment tax is enforced are a common way of going about this process. Alternatively, an employer may make regular contributions to an account that is separate from an employee’s income account. From such schemes, the employee is covered in the event of a medical emergency. The involvement of both employee and employer lightens the weight of increasing medical expenses (Chernew, Hirth, & Cutler, 2003) .
To lead a healthy lifestyle, I need to make an important change in stress management. Over the years, I have gravitated from eating unhealthy snacks like cakes, crisps and chocolate to vegetables and fruits. However, stress management has remained an area of profound difficulty. Given the attribution of stress to such undesirable health outcomes like cardiovascular disease and High blood pressure, this is an urgent task. Initial steps will include adopting a work-life balance, accepting immutable things in life and avoiding circumstances that predispose one to stress.
References
Chernew, M. E., Hirth, R. A., & Cutler, D. M. (2003). Increased Spending On Health Care: How Much Can The United States Afford? Health Affairs, 22 (4).
Pear, R. (2008). Health spending in U.S. exceeds $2 trillion for first time. The New York Times .
