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Growing Unaffordability of Health Care: Incremental vs. Real Health Care Reform

Growing Unaffordability of Health Care: Incremental vs. Real Health Care Reform. John P. Geyman, MD Professor Emeritus- Family Medicine University of Washington, Seattle. Major Problems of Health Care System . Increased Costs Decreased Access Variable Quality

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Growing Unaffordability of Health Care: Incremental vs. Real Health Care Reform

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  1. Growing Unaffordability of Health Care: Incremental vs. Real Health Care Reform John P. Geyman, MD Professor Emeritus- Family Medicine University of Washington, Seattle

  2. Major Problems ofHealth Care System • Increased Costs • Decreased Access • Variable Quality • Increased Fragmentation • Increased Administrative Burden • Technological Imperative • Medicolegal Liability • System Out of Control

  3. DRIVERS OF HEALTH CARE COSTS • 1.Technological advances • 2. Aging of population • 3.Increase in chronic disease • 4.Inefficiency and redundancy of private insurers • 5.Profiteering by investor‑owned companies, facilities and providers • 6.Consumer demand • 7.Defensive medicine

  4. HEALTH CARE COSTS IN U.S. • 16.5% of GDP • $2.1 trillion per year • Increased cost-shifting to individuals/families • Incremental “reforms” ineffective

  5. Escalating Costs of Care • Double digit increases in health insurance premiums • Average family premium now over $10,000 per year • 31% of total health costs are administrative • HMO rates up by 11.7% in 2007 vs CPI increase of 2-3%

  6. GROWING UNAFFORDABILITYOF HEALTH CARE • “Medical divide” at about $50,000 annual income • Median household debt over $100,000 • Median family income $41,000 a year • Health insurance premiums to consume one-third of average household income by 2010

  7. UNDERINSURANCE A GROWING PROBLEM • Average deductible of CDHC/HDHI plans $4,000 a year • Blue Cross PPO plan in Massachusetts up to $12,000 deductible • Annual caps of limited benefit plans as low as $10,000 (Aetna, Cigna) • Profitable industry with little value of coverage

  8. PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN U.S. • 1,300 companies fragment risk pools • Medical underwriting, favorable risk selection • $300 billion a year industry • Minimal regulation, mostly at state level • Average of 80% medical-loss ratios

  9. Three Alternatives For Health Care Reform 1. Employer mandate 2. Individual mandate (Consumer‑driven health care) 3. Single‑payer system

  10. Problems With Employer‑Based Approach 1. Only 59 percent of employers provide coverage 2. Trend toward part‑time work force 3. Defined contributions vs. benefits 4. Increasing cost‑sharing and unaffordability 5. Job lock problem 6. Competitive disadvantage in global markets 7. A failed track record (eg., Hawaii)

  11. Consumer Choice(“Individual Mandate”) • Increasingly popular pro-market “solution” • Shifts responsibility for coverage from employers to consumers • Assumes a free market in health care • Assumes adequate information and options for consumers • Current examples: premium support for defined benefits privatizing of Medicare medical savings accounts

  12. Problems With Option 2 • Less service for more cost • Serves for-profit insurance industry • Coverage by risk selection • Limited choice for consumers • “Bad plans can drive out the good ones” • Is still the most politically popular and likely

  13. Why Incremental "Reforms” Keep Failing 1. Favorable risk selection by insurers 2. High administrative costs and profiteering 3. No mechanisms to contain costs 4. Fragmentation of risk pools 5. Decreasing access to necessary care 6. Lack of accountability for value and quality

  14. Annual Health Insurance Premiums And Household Income, 1996-2025 SOURCE: Reprinted with permission from Graham Center One-Pager. Who will have health insurance in 2025? Am Fam Physician 72(10):1989, 2005

  15. Option 3: Single Payer System • Socialized insurance, not socialized medicine • Universal coverage through National Health Program • Eliminates private health insurance industry • Hospitals and nursing homes with global budgets • Physicians reimbursed by fee-for-service • Blend of federal and state government roles

  16. Fundamental Features of a Universal Healthcare System • Everyone included • Public financing • Public stewardship • Global budget • Public accountability • Private delivery system

  17. What Would a NHP Look Like? • Everyone receives a health care card assuring payment for all necessary care • Free choice of physician and hospital • Physicians and hospitals remain independent and non-profit, negotiate fees and budgets with NHP • Local planning boards allocate expensive technology • Progressive taxes go to Health Care Trust Fund • Public agency processes and pays bills

  18. Advantages of National Health Program • Assured access for all Americans • Cost savings ($200 billion/year) • Administrative simplicity • Decreased overhead (Medicare 3% vs private insurance 15%-26%) • Distributes risk and responsibility to finance care • Improves access, costs, and quality of care

  19. Problems with Option 3 • Political acceptance • Lobbying by special interest stakeholders • Disinformation by media coverage • Philosophic concerns about “big government” • Denial of ineffectiveness of market-based system

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