Reform Proposal 2
The United States spends more on health care than any other nations, yet, in 2004, 41.6 million Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured. This accounted for about 16-17 percent of the total population. (Shi & Singh) “In 2008 health care spending in the United States reached $2.4 trillion”. (National Coalition on Health Care) These numbers represent a system that is far from the ideal health care system. Too many people are living without health insurance, and many of those with health insurance are paying too much while the quality of care remains unbalanced. It is unlikely that many would argue with the fact that change is needed, however, few would agree on how to go about doing this. Our group agrees with the Obama-Biden team and feels that in order to head toward a change that is positive, we must look at current systems and work on improving on them. An example of one of these systems is Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).
Some may disagree with the idea that MCOs should be the focus of a health care reform, stating it is just a small part of the system and it doesn’t even cover all Americans. However, MCOs are a large and vital part of our current health care system and could have a direct or indirect impact on many different areas of the health care; including inpatient, long-term care, finance and special populations making it a crucial part of the health care system. MCOs emphasize primary care, which is a great way to save the health care system money. MCOs also offer health care to a variety of people and works to keep costs down using a prepaid system. One of these systems is Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). Like the Obama-Biden team we believe Managed Care Systems such as HMOs are beneficial to our health care system and using the HMO model to move toward a health care system that is universal is an important step in improving our health care system. However, before this can occur, changes to the current system need to be made.
Change can begin with the restructuring MCOs. This would be done by creating a well organized information system that remains consistent across the nation, with minor changes from state to state. We feel it is important for these systems to remain consistent, but understand that different areas consist of populations that differ in their needs and should have a health care system that best fits their specific needs. We believe there should be a push for an upgrade and integration of information to be part of the integrated delivery network. We also believe these systems should be fair so, reasonable prices should be set and standardized for all procedures making it affordable to all. These standard prices would then be enforced through the MCOs. This standardization would put an end to unnecessary high costs and allow the focus to be put on improving the quality of care.
We feel that if these changes are made to MCOs, the nation would benefit greatly. People would be more likely to focus on preventative care, allowing them to be healthier, stronger and more productive; which is a great benefit to the economy and saves the health care system money. We would have less uninsured Americans skipping out on regular checkups and avoiding hospital visits which often end up costing more in the long run and remain unpaid by the patient, leaving the burden on others. Standardizing prices would also promote competition, causing more of the patients to base their health care decisions on quality instead of price, which would in turn push physicians and hospital to strive for better quality of care.
By Becky Zay
Health Care. Retrieved March 1, 2000 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/health_care/
Kongstvedt, Peter (2008). Managed Care: What it is and How it Works. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartletts. (2008/12/9). Managed Care. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from MedlinePlus Web site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/managedcare.html
National Coalition on Health Care. (2009). Health Insurance Cost. Retrieved February 26,2009, from http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
Shi, L, & Singh, D (2008). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach.Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
As a patient, I am fortunate enough to have health care through my parents. Currently I spend about $50 a month on medication I need daily. Without insurance, the cost would be well above $1,200. When I think about my future career path, I consider health insurance one of the top most important factors.
ReplyDeleteI like your health care reform ideas because I feel everyone should have access to quality and affordable health care.
I really like the idea of having a standardized system. However, as you mentioned, different areas have different needs. I think that it would be extremely difficult and time consuming to adjust the system to every different socio-economic region in the country. I like the initial idea, but I am not sure what the best way to go about it would be.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think we need to change because clearly we spend way more than other countries on health care and we aren't even as healthy. However, it's such an overwhelming market, and I'm really not sure either how to go about changing. Every plan has it's benefits and drawbacks and it's hard to tell which one will work out best for the US.
ReplyDeleteIf everybody took care of themselves better and went in for routine checkups, the health of our nation would be greatly improved. My boyfriend has back problems that can get so bad he cannot work. He does not have health insurance so he just deals with it. If he just keeps on dealing with it, he will never get better. This effects so many aspects of his life. His work, his social life, his finances. Poor health can have kind of a domino effect on other things.
ReplyDeleteYes, we do spend more on health care in this country, and more people are sick because that is the way it is set up. We need sick people in order to make profits. Uniformed government mandated health insurance, which means federally funded, people of this country funded health insurance is the way to go. When we are paying for it, we will make sure that we are doing everything possible to keep people healthy. When it comes to a basic need, basic human rights like health care, we can do something to change things. Not all people will be happy, but that wouldn't be a big change from what it is like now.
ReplyDeleteAll standards I feel need to be enforced by the government, not private HMO's. There needs to be real federal regulations on health care. If anyone is making profits off the sick, there is going to resistance to promoting health.
ReplyDelete