Baltimore Sun Examines U.S. Health Care System, Efforts for Reform

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

baltimore sun examines u.s. health care system, efforts for reform

baltimore sun (requires free, one-time registration)

health care crisis

costs are up. coverage is down. and politicians don't agree on the answers.

by larry williams | ideas editor october 28, 2007 the debate now raging over how much money the federal government should spend to provide basic health insurance for poor children is just an opening skirmish in what is likely to be an all-out war in coming months and years over how to pay for health care in america.

almost every presidential candidate in both parties has come up with some proposal that promises to control the costs, broaden the availability and upgrade the quality of health care. at the same time, a growing number of states and localities -- including howard county and the state of maryland -- are seeking local answers to the problem.

health care is in the spotlight for an array of reasons -- a growing proportion of americans have no health insurance, costs of providing care are rising far faster than the overall rate of inflation, costs to workers of employer-provided insurance are growing while benefits are limited and the costs of coping with catastrophic illness are placing a growing burden on families and communities.

the challenge is finding ways to provide every american with quality affordable health care without dictating how the care will be offered....

[pickledpepperRN]

Yes.

The candidates are aware that most voters want more people covered at a lower cost.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

needs to be federally funded and state managed.

[CRNA2007]

Needs to be self funded and self managed

needs to be federally funded and state managed.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

can you afford to pay 1500 for a ct scan out of pocket?

the point i was getting at was that the states would need to control the design of the group coverage, negotiate reimbursements but that the overall pool needs to be at the federal level. see paul oneills recent op-ed. (he is not a flaming radical by any means.)

i don't agree with his prescription in the whole but many of his ideas mirror the structure of the french system.

see:

obviously, for those people with little or no income or wealth, society as a whole would have to provide first-dollar coverage. it is only fair that those with more financial means share the burden.

this gives rise to many complex issues. at what income level should people be required to shoulder some and then all of their own insurance needs? should there be one insurance pool for the entire population or should there be subnational pools? (i would lean toward a single national pool.) should people be assessed extra premiums related to age or chronic conditions or drug or alcohol addiction? the answers are not obvious, but they are questions congress and the presidential candidates are refusing to wrestle with.

at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9a0de2d71138f935a25753c1a9619c8b63&n=top/opinion/editorials%20and%20op-ed/op-ed/contributors accessed today.

the large national pool will act to constrain health care inflation which is the biggest elephant in the room facing our society.

see ezra klein:

by now, you folks well know my obsession with pointing out that medicare's costs will blow up not because of demographics, but because of the same cost growth afflicting the private sector here, however, is a nice, colorful chart making the point:

at: http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/charts/index.html

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

Health care is in the spotlight for an array of reasons -- a growing proportion of Americans have no health insurance, costs of providing care are rising far faster than the overall rate of inflation, costs to workers of employer-provided insurance are growing while benefits are limited and the costs of coping with catastrophic illness are placing a growing burden on families and communities.

Yeah, and I am one of them. I am facing having to pay $265.00 out of pocket, in order to get the prescription renewed on a $25.00 med I have been taking for the past four years. :angryfire This physicians group is treating me as if I am a "New" patient, even though I was a well- ESTABLISHED patient of my former specialist's practice they have taken over. I have begged and PLEADED to no avail, but they don't care. They are charging me $265.00 for FIVE MINUTES of this doc's time, which is not only totally outrageous, but also tantamount to legitimized extortion. "A racket" is what my Dad used to call it. Whatever.

Something has GOT to be done, that's for sure!