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Why American Healthcare Costs So Much | WSJ Article

There is a really fantastic article in the Washington Post about why American's spend so much on healthcare. The article provides data from the International Federation of Health Plans, on the prices of healthcare items.

There is a simple explanation for why American health care costs so much more than health care in any other country: because we pay so much more for each unit of care. ...if you leave everything else the same -- the volume of procedures, the days we spend in the hospital, the number of surgeries we need -- but plug in the prices Canadians pay, our health-care spending falls by about 50 percent.

My favorite quote in the article talks about a key missing component to the healthcare reform debate - price:

The health-care reform debate has done a good job avoiding the subject of prices. The argument over the Medicare-attached public plan was, in a way that most people didn't understand, an argument about prices, but it quickly became an argument about a public option without a pricing dimension, and never really looked back. A health-care debate in this country that isn't aware of the price differential is not an informed debate.

There are some great graphs in the article. Look at this one on the cost of hospitals stays in the U.S.

Here is a link to all the data graphs from the article on the IFHP Comparative Price Report (.pdf download).

National Healthcare Trends - Notes from the Healthcare Staffing Summit 2009 [Pt. 3]

Keynote with Senator Tom Daschle: National Healthcare Trends and Issues and Their Impact on the Healthcare Workforce

Being in D.C. last week, you couldn't help finding yourself in discussions about healthcare reform and its impact on the healthcare staffing industry. The highlight of the Healthcare Staffing Summit was listening to former Senator, Tom Daschle speak on the topic. Whether you agree with him politically or not, you can’t argue with his knowledge and command over the topic of healthcare, as well as his speaking ability. It was an amazing opportunity to hear him.

Here are some highlights of his speech from my notes:

• Reforming healthcare is a transformative event, equivalent to similar events that happened after WW2, the civil rights movement and 9/11.
• 50 million people are uninsured at part or all of the year and 48% of those insured are not adequately insured.
• The U.S. is the only industrialized country that has a problem with healthcare coverage for its citizens.
• Healthcare costs everyone in the U.S. about $8K per person. This is 40% higher than the next highest country – Switzerland.  22% of these costs go to administration.
• Starbucks spends more on healthcare than they do coffee. 
• Ford spends more on healthcare than they do steel.
• Medical costs are the #1 reason for personal bankruptcy (over 50%) in this country.
• The U.S. starts its spending on healthcare at the most expensive part of the cost pyramid (the top) and works its way down, running out of money before everyone can be covered. Other societies work in reverse, in order to cover more people adequately at a more cost effective rate.
• Senator Daschle calls the debate about healthcare reform “the noise of democracy” which he states is “far better than the noise of violence.”
• Healthcare reform will create a tremendous demand for healthcare professionals, thereby having a positive effect on the healthcare staffing industry.
• Today we have 21^st century operating rooms with 19^th century administration.
• Primary areas of the healthcare reform bill without consensus - public option; financing mechanism of $1 Trillion; to what extent cuts should be part of funding, mandates; role of the employers; medical malpractice; insurance companies selling across state lines; federal health board.

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Notes from the Healthcare Staffing Summit 2009 [Pt. 2]

Notes from the Healthcare Staffing Summit 2009 [Pt. 1]

How Healthcare Reform Will Affect the Healthcare Staffing Industry

I learned a valuable lesson while getting my Political Science degree – don’t talk about politics with your family or at work. I do my best to keep politics separate from all things work related, however, the topic of healthcare reform is such an important and closely related issue I feel the need to weigh in. 

Let me first start by saying that, no matter who’s in the White House, I’m not a fan of the government or government run programs. However, I’m less of a fan of unchecked corporate control. I would love to believe in the theory that free market Capitalism will take care of everything. Unfortunately, I think our free markets surrendered to large corporations years ago and the result of this has produced our current economy and poor healthcare delivery system. Therefore, I think some government intervention is past due.

Personally, I’ve been without health insurance several times in my life and it’s a very scary feeling. Now, having children, the thought of being unemployed and being without insurance is overwhelming. 

The negative hype against healthcare reform is disturbing to say the least and only shows that most people don’t understand how healthcare is delivered in this country. I can only hope that these obvious scare tactics designed to keep the current healthcare system in place (one beholden to the insurance companies) don't take root in the minds of too many.

There are some very good reasons for hoping that our healthcare system is reformed.  Some of them even benefit the healthcare staffing industry such as:

Fewer patients will be turned away

Guaranteed coverage will mean that more people will receive the care they need. Doctors, hospitals, and other providers won’t have the dilemma of dealing with patients who need care but don’t have coverage. Organizations that spend endless amounts of time battling issues with private providers will benefit greatly.

 

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The increase in the amount of insured people will subsequently increase the demand for care.  This will undoubtedly increase the need for and exacerbate the shortage of healthcare professionals. Most likely, this sudden increase in demand will create a difficult period of adjustment. However, we should trust that measures will be taken to meet the demand and that all the challenges we face in this area will be worth it in the end. The increased demand for healthcare will present a significant increase in opportunities for healthcare professionals, those looking to get into the field and those that assist healthcare professionals in finding jobs – both permanent and temporary.

Improved quality of care

A large focus of healthcare reform is on improving the quality of care provided. Time spent on preventative treatments and better management of chronic conditions will be reimbursed. Incentives will be given for getting things right the first time and not reimbursing poor care delivery at the same amount. In addition, consumers will now have at least (not be limited to) one payer that provides a choice of providers. Consumers will no longer have to deal with billing or claim hassles, making their overall healthcare experience a better one.

Promotion of Technology

The reform will also emphasize and promote the use of technology which will dramatically improve efficiencies and cut down on errors for healthcare delivery organizations. The greater adoption of technology will also mean better information for providers and consumers, and less paperwork. Business transactions within the industry will also become more streamlined. The reform will present vast opportunities to technology providers in the healthcare industry.

Aside from all of these positive benefits, here are my personal reasons for supporting healthcare reform:

• The U.S. is the only industrialized country without healthcare for its citizens. It's unclear to me why taking care of those in need is not a basic right of every country.
• 47 million Americans are without health insurance, 8.7 million are children.
• There is widespread support for healthcare reform from nurses and nursing associations across the country.
• It’s the right thing to do. Most people without coverage are unemployed and come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. Greater equity in access to care will help eliminate the disparities in health outcomes.
  
• Finally, I think most of us live with the delusion that we are covered for anything we want and that we have access to the best care on the planet. The truth is you have no idea what you're actually covered for because it's ultimately up to your insurance company to determine if they will cover you or not. Further, just because the care is there doesn't mean you can afford it. Even if you are covered, most likely your insurance will only pay a portion of the full amount. Do you know if you can afford the balance? Personally, I don't want myself or anyone I know to be on the wrong end of an insurance claim denial or unable to afford the treatment I need. Do you? 

Of course this issue is the newest political football where one side feels it’s a moral obligation of humanity and the other worries it’s part of the socialist takeover of our country. As a political scientist, let me assure you – our country is far from being socialist. Calmly allowing hundreds of billions of dollars to be spent on wars while almost starting riots at the notion of providing healthcare to our citizens actually suggest the opposite is true. If you're really so upset about government spending focus your complaints where they are most needed.

Do the right thing – support the reform of this country’s healthcare system.