The healthcare industry may be showing an upward growth in countries across the world but several areas are still not being taken care of that will enhance the provision of health care to the common people. Almost 1/5th of the worldwide sale of healthcare is comprised by countries like Russia, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China and Turkey.
It was in the 1990s that the heath care cost started increasing. The 42 million mark was attained by Americans who did not have any health insurance or health care coverage. In the years to come, it is being predicted that considerable stress will be imposed on the US health care sector due to the rise in number of old sick people. In the near future, number of healthcare programs and insurance coverage will also witness some increase. The escalation in the medical plans in 2006 was 42.5 million and this might increase to 70.2 million by the year 2025.
Based on health studies it was found that approximately 23% of Americans try to prevent themselves from lifestyle diseases by consuming good quality food. With the rise in popularity of sustainable food movement, consumers across the world are being encouraged to eat healthy in order to prevent diseases. However, studies indicate that negligible expenditure is being done on preventative measures in comparison to the money being spent on treatment of chronic diseases.
There are several separate entities that provide health care services in the United States. This is largely owned by the private sector. The debate over overhaul of the health care industry by the Obama government has sparked debates. The reforms are basically concerned to right to health care for all, cost, efficiency, access and quality of health services. Since there has been debate over the US healthcare industry not delivering value for the money being spent, the government is trying to bring significant changes. Obama believes that a single payer system would have been the best way to make the health insurance system work efficiently. There is no doubt that the government is striving hard to implement its health care reforms for better health care provision in the US but whether or not it is successful will be something to watch out for.
There are people who will buy an employee sponsored health insurance, no matter what it costs. On the other side of spectrum, various people cannot afford to buy health insurance in spite of the critical medical conditions. The health insurance cost is not the only factor contributing to the decisions to buy the employee health insurance. Among others, people who work in small establishments, minorities, young adults, retirees and near elderly women forms the majority of a group that may remain uninsured.
The trend continues in the low wage community, self employed and part timers. The disparity between the Hispanics, Blacks and Whites is continuously increasing. Recent studies found out that the rate of uninsured Hispanics is increasing three times faster than the Blacks. Almost 39 percent of the Adult Hispanic workers are still uninsured even though they work with a company offering a healthcare plan. Experts agree that such an alarming decline in Hispanic population may be because of the recent influx of immigrants. It is not only the Hispanics but the Blacks, too. Black workers have also seen a major decline in the employee sponsored programs during the last decade.
Apart from the ethnic groups, young adults, who have started working on a part time or temporary basis, cannot afford to be covered on their own. Because of the temporary nature of the jobs, the employers are not willing to sponsor such a group nor are they covered under their parent’s healthcare policy. In 2003, almost 37 percent of the young adult aged between 19 and 24 remained un-insured. Other groups that are in need of the employee sponsored insurance are the elderly women.
In American workforce, there are around 2 million elderly women with health problems that are still not covered by an employee sponsored healthcare program. Such statistics reveal the grim condition of American healthcare system that is unable to provide sustenance to the private sector. If such trend continues, the healthcare system is likely to get worse and present major problems for a new generation.
Until the recently approved reforms to healthcare are realized, and to the current political shifts and prospective resulting consequences are also, the healthcare industry will be in limbo. The current climate in the industry is very similar to what happened when Hillary Clinton was rallying the push for healthcare reorganization in ‘93. Only when it becomes clear what the future will be, hospitals and physicians are unable and uneasy to make plans for the trying times to come.
The new health care reform, recently signed into law, from Obama claims to:
* makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium
costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
* set up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
* bring greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
* end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
* put our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years – and about $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.
It is also clear from their presentation that they are anticipating attacks based on cost to the American Taxpayer and to the idea that both Social Security and Medicare are at risk, that the change will simply rob Peter to pay Paul. These concerns are addressed upfront: “The Act will protect and preserve Medicare as a commitment to America’s seniors. It will save thousands of dollars in drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries by closing the coverage gap called the “donut hole.” Doctors, nurses and hospitals will be incentivized to improve care and reduce unnecessary errors that harm patients,” and further they state: “The financial health of Medicare will improve and guaranteed benefits will be preserved by ending the 14% average overpayment to private insurance companies under the Medicare Advantage (MA) program.” So not only are they protecting Medicare, but they are reducing costs, almost a hat trick.
Weak Economy
With the current economic hardship and enormous job losses across the country, these have unswervingly affected the cash flow to doctors and physicians. When jobs are lost, the loss of healthcare benefits is inevitable, and so access to health care is also. However, many doctors are postponing retirement since watching the stock market annihilate their retirement reserves. This delay will result in a much smaller number of employment opportunities being offered and graduating residents not finding as many available jobs as before. Residents today seem to prefer not to commit to less desirable jobs, and are choosing locum tenens opportunities. They are also putting off committing to full-time employment because of the scarcity and lower salaries. So in the near future, it appears there will be fewer and fewer good jobs available.
Demographics
In the United States, the population of 65+ is going to double by 2035 and will peak being almost one fifth of United States population. Even though older citizens are healthier than previous generations, the numbers of disabled and chronic condition sufferers are on the rise. So the demand for health care will rise for the next 25 years. This is the driving force behind the constant growth for demand of physicians, which may result in shortages of available medical services.
Aging is also directing the supply of physicians. Up to 1/3rd of the current 650,000 practicing physicians will be considering retiring by the year 2020. A shortage of primary care physicians is a particular concern due to this, and also the choice of younger physicians to choose to further specialize. The reason behind this is that further specialization beyond primary is the need for higher salaries to pay for their expensive education. The shortage is expected to hit rural and underserved areas the hardest.
Even with the health bill finally signed into law its effect on our health care is not known. By 2014 their will be an increase in the enrollment into health care insurance programs. This increase when, combined with the long term aging of the population, should push demand for services and therefore cost higher. However, no one yet knows what will happen to reimbursement rates from Medicare and this new program. The question is will there be rate a cut of reimbursement rates for different specialties by Medicare and this new program that may conversely become a decreasing factor of the income of all specialties, including Internal Medicine.
Clearly the Obama administration has its hands full. We are getting older and there are fewer young people to carry this growing financial burden. The Sins of the Fathers…..
Since the beginning of the healthcare debate, many things have been said about how healthcare reform will help all of us. Lower premiums, a ban on pre-existing conditions and affordable care for those who don’t have insurance are just a few. Many of the provisions don’t kick in until 2014, but the extra taxes have already started. Our elected officials have decided in their infinite wisdom that 10 years of income collection vs. 6 years of benefits somehow makes this bill budget neutral, but they didn’t even get that right. We all know that the new healthcare law will cost far more than they have told us, but who is really benefiting from our additional expense?
People with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied for health insurance, but they will be placed in high risk pools with subsidized and high premiums. This is a good thing for those that couldn’t get health insurance previously because of a health condition, but everyone else will have to make up the difference in cost. Regardless of how you feel about income redistribution, this provision is good for about 15% of the population at the expense of the other 85%. They say the costs will be partially offset by government subsidies, but the government’s money comes from the same people in taxes; so one way or another everyone will be paying more. Still, most people agree that something needed to be done to help these people and this seemed like the only real choice.
Children up to the age of 26 can now remain on their parents health insurance as long as they are in college or still living at home. By the age of 26, Alexander the Great had already conquered all of Persia and assumed control of one of the largest empires in history. I don’t believe a person in their twenties can be considered a child, and there are many other options for young adults in college. Parents still have to pay more to have their children on their policies, so this is more about additional income for the insurance companies from a portion of the population that hardly ever needs to use it. This will help keep everyone else’s premiums down, but again, we are back to the income redistribution issue that most people don’t want.
About 16% of the American population falls below the poverty line and these people don’t typically have health insurance. There is a mandate that starts in 2014 that will force people to purchase health insurance if they don’t have it, and Americans below the poverty line will be exempt. Congress believes that the additional customers will bring premiums down to a level that will make it affordable for those below the poverty line, but most believe that this mandate is unconstitutional and will be thrown out; so where does that leave us? A healthcare exchange will be formed in 2014 that will put people into pools and make it cheaper to purchase a policy; but again for most people below the poverty line, premiums will still be too expensive to get. The idea is to make it possible for 16% to get insurance and mandatory for the other 84%, but what does that say about the America we live in today?
The new healthcare law does help some people without a doubt, but it hurts almost everyone except the politicians. This is yet another great example of the government trying to “help” us by telling us how to live our lives. In 2014, the rest of our “help” will kick in and really corrode the level of our healthcare system. It won’t be budget neutral for the first 10 years, and it will skyrocket in cost the 10 years after that. All this when companies like Ameriplan and others already had good alternatives to solve the problem. All or part of the healthcare law may be repealed at some point, but we still need to address the needs of those that fall through the cracks.
