Study: Health Care Overhaul Needn't Break Bank

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Health care overhaul needn't break bank: study

By Julie Steenhuysen – 48 mins ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) – An analysis of proposals to overhaul U.S. health care by President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress suggests it is possible to insure all Americans without significantly raising total health spending. Some 46 million Americans, or about 15 percent of the population, have no health insurance. While Americans pay more per person for care than any other industrialized country, many studies show they have poorer health, suffer more medical mistakes and are generally less happy with their medical care.

The report, released on Friday by the Commonwealth Fund, suggests plans outlined by Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus could cover almost all Americans.

But to hit that mark, they would need to require all Americans to obtain coverage and include efforts to cut administrative costs and boost purchasing efficiencies.

"That type of plan can get close to universal coverage at a very modest increase in national expenditures," Sara Collins of the Commonwealth Fund said in a telephone interview. Both the Obama plan and the Baucus plan call for a national insurance exchange to provide coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, but Baucus' plan eventually would require everyone to have health insurance.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090109/us_nm/us_usa_healthcare_reform

[pattmarty]

1. Medicare for all, and be done with it!!!!!!!

[Autumn]

2. They could model it

after the VA system and it would work.

[Mumble]

3. As a participant of the VA system..

..it's the best way to go with nationally computerized records, on time service, less waiting time than the private system, no paperwork, and most of all very friendly. And we can do away with all the insurance brokers and money grabbing and special self interest health insurance companies that only add wasted cost to the system!

[Autumn]

4. It works extremely well

and it is so efficient. I don't know why these politicians can't get a clue. Guess it must be because they can't make money from it.

[defendandprotect]

5. Medicare for ALL --

[NJCher]

6. it's true

Last semester I had students working on a panel discussion on this topic. They were told they could not use any Internet sources off Google--only academic studies they found in the academic databases at the library.

Much to our surprise, there were numerous studies that showed how this can be done without an inordinately high expenditure.

One study showed people with incomes under 55k could be insured for around $2000 a year! This is with no expenditure from the state whatsoever. Contrast that to what the average person's policy is now: $4500 and counting.

I'm not saying that's the way we want to go--obviously we want everyone to have access to insurance and some people can't afford even $2000--but I thought it was telling that this is what could be done with no extra taxation.

And this information comes from people who are public policy experts--people with experience in formulating such programs (as opposed to some public relations front like the Heritage Foundation or The Cato Institute).



Cher

[quidam56]

7. Universal, Affordable health care won't do any good...

unless we demand a better quality of care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com In East Tennessee, Profit Care comes ahead of Patient Care.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. First step - reduce the for-profit insurance industry to issuing only

supplemental coverage. Single-payer Medicare type coverage for everyone, and if you want to pay extra to get that private room at the hospital, or to get the elective surgery lipo tummy tuck nose job boob job facelift, THEN that is covered by your supplemental policy. Never again should the insurance industry determine your costs or your treatment.

Second step - get a firm control of the pharma industry. If the industry can charge .03 cents overseas for a pill that costs $1 here, there is a LOT of room for improvement. Have the government subsidize the research - taking away their argument that 'we have to get back the money we invested', as well as encouraging them to create effective medications for the un-profitable diseases. There are plenty of researchers who would like to pursue those lines, but the industry will never make enough money on the meds to cover the cost of the research, therefore the research does not get done.