Health Care Costs for Consumers, Small Businesses and the Bureau of Prisons

Healthcare costs continue to rise in the United States and many Americans are struggling to budget and pay for their healthcare expenses. As healthcare costs continue to rise, many Americans still have no idea how much something will cost them before they receive care. Chapter 1 examines some of the causes of increased healthcare costs, and increasing healthcare costs. One of the biggest challenges for small businesses wishing to help their employees with health care is the cost. Small businesses helping their employees purchase health insurance is discussed in chapter 2. From fiscal years 2009 through 2016, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) obligated more than USD 9 billion for the provision of inmate health care and several factors affected these costs. Chapter 3 addresses BOP's costs to provide health care services and factors that affect costs; the extent to which BOP has data to help control health care costs; and the extent to which BOP has planned and implemented cost control efforts.