News from NLN: Health Care Reform

by VickyRN Staff

Building and supporting a quality health care system accessible to all is justified by the following:

• In 2007, the United States spent a total of $2.2 trillion on health care, about $7,421 per person, nearly twice the per capita cost of other industrial nations, and yet the United States has worse health outcomes — shorter lifespan and higher infant mortality — than other developed nations.
• In the last two years, approximately 87 million people were uninsured at some point, and nearly 160 million workers with employer-based health insurance are poised to lose coverage.
• The US economy lost as much as $207 billion in 2007 due to the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured.
• When the uninsured cannot pay for the health care needed, health care providers shift costs to those who can pay. A recent study estimates that in 2009, premiums for family coverage were 8 percent higher — a national average of $1,100 — owing to the cost shift from the uninsured.
• Disparity in health status — shorter life expectancy, higher rates of chronic health conditions, and disability — exist in communities and populations throughout the nation. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, disparities also are observed in most aspects of health care, including care for chronic conditions such as mental health disorders and substance use, HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, oral health conditions, infant mortality and morbidity, respiratory disease, and end stage renal disease.
• Delivering a cost-effective health model of coordinated care, health promotion, and consumer education and empowerment requires effective learning from well-prepared nurses, the predominant profession in health care, and the profession that relies on educating patients and communities and is guided by a holistic philosophy of care.