Whether you are Republican, Independent, or Democrat, there are few truths that are out there regarding Healthcare reform. Leaving seniors alone to negotiate with insurance companies is a losing battle for seniors; they (seniors) are not good investments for insurers but they need medical coverage, this puts them in a terrible position to get overcharged and under insured by the private sector. However our current Healthcare system can not simply remain at status quo, people are living longer and everyday new medical treatments are becoming available, this puts citizens on the government bill for longer and longer. Let’s confront one thing first…changes have to be made, but there is no silver bullet, no single proposal or idea that will solve the healthcare problem. To truly solve the healthcare problem changes need to come in all aspects of our society, not just changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.
Fraud waste and abuse – There are no hard numbers for how much fraud/waste/abuse (FWA) is truly going on because if the government knew what was FWA then it would not be approved and payments would be halted, however between CBO reports and others there is an accepted consensus that FWA cost the US billions of dollars every years.
Obesity and diabetes – America is too fat…plain and simple. The center for disease control stated:
Fraud waste and abuse – There are no hard numbers for how much fraud/waste/abuse (FWA) is truly going on because if the government knew what was FWA then it would not be approved and payments would be halted, however between CBO reports and others there is an accepted consensus that FWA cost the US billions of dollars every years.
Obesity and diabetes – America is too fat…plain and simple. The center for disease control stated:
“The medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008, these costs totaled about $147 billion”
These numbers are not getting smaller and neither are Americans, healthier living is vital to our national healthcare recovery. Childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rising as well, obesity now affects 17% of ALL children in America, that is 12.5 MILLION children, TRIPLE the rate from one generation ago. These completely preventable diseases are killing our healthcare system and killing our nation’s young people.
Tort reform – Tort is the system of getting compensation for wrongs or harms done by one party to another. In the medical field its basically lawsuits filed by patients against doctors for “malpractice.” There is bipartisan acknowledgment that there are far too many frivolous lawsuits filed and reform is need to curb those numbers because of the added cost to the court system, doctors, and insurances companies is just more wasted dollars
The number of uninsured – Uninsured Americans drive up hospital costs and insurance premiums because they are not contributing to the overall system but they are taking from it. Most estimates put the number of uninsured people at around 40-50 million people but nearly 37 million were employment-age adults (ages 18 to 64), and more than 27 million worked at least part time. About 38% of the uninsured live in households with incomes of $50,000 or MORE. According to the Census Bureau, nearly 36 million of the uninsured are legal U.S citizens. Another 9.7 million are non-citizens, but the Census Bureau does not distinguish in its estimate between legal non-citizens and illegal immigrants. Nearly one fifth of the uninsured population is able to afford insurance, almost one quarter is eligible for public coverage, and the remaining 56% need financial assistance. There needs to be improvement for the numbers of uninsured Americans. Lets get people who CAN help themselves to do so, that will make it easier to assist those who really need it.
These are just a few of the factors that need to change to solve the healthcare crisis now and in the long term, but this list is not all inclusive, what else do you see that needs to change?
Tort reform – Tort is the system of getting compensation for wrongs or harms done by one party to another. In the medical field its basically lawsuits filed by patients against doctors for “malpractice.” There is bipartisan acknowledgment that there are far too many frivolous lawsuits filed and reform is need to curb those numbers because of the added cost to the court system, doctors, and insurances companies is just more wasted dollars
The number of uninsured – Uninsured Americans drive up hospital costs and insurance premiums because they are not contributing to the overall system but they are taking from it. Most estimates put the number of uninsured people at around 40-50 million people but nearly 37 million were employment-age adults (ages 18 to 64), and more than 27 million worked at least part time. About 38% of the uninsured live in households with incomes of $50,000 or MORE. According to the Census Bureau, nearly 36 million of the uninsured are legal U.S citizens. Another 9.7 million are non-citizens, but the Census Bureau does not distinguish in its estimate between legal non-citizens and illegal immigrants. Nearly one fifth of the uninsured population is able to afford insurance, almost one quarter is eligible for public coverage, and the remaining 56% need financial assistance. There needs to be improvement for the numbers of uninsured Americans. Lets get people who CAN help themselves to do so, that will make it easier to assist those who really need it.
These are just a few of the factors that need to change to solve the healthcare crisis now and in the long term, but this list is not all inclusive, what else do you see that needs to change?
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