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Health care should be a right but it needs to be paired with some responsibility – some share of the cost, especially for routine care, and some attention to maintaining a reasonably healthy life style. To do so will not only lead to better health but reduced expenses overall – positive outcomes for all.
One of the major goals of the Affordable Care Act is to reduce the number of uninsured from the current about 50 million people (or 16+% of the US population) by both offering Medicaid to many more individuals and creating state-based insurance exchanges for individuals who cannot obtain insurance at their worksite. Medicaid will be available for those at <133% of the federal poverty rate (currently $22,050). The insurance exchanges will be available to everyone but those with income below 400% of the poverty level ($88,200 for a family of four) will be eligible for tax credits based on actual income. Unlike Medicaid which has essentially no cost sharing by the individual, insurance from the exchanges will be purchased at one of four levels – 60, 70, 80 or 90% of the approved covered expenses will be paid by the insurance; the remainder will be the individuals’ responsibility. Higher deductibles will likely correspond to lower premiums.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, formed a committee to consider the process for defining “essential health benefits” which ultimately will translate into what is covered or not by the insurance from the exchanges. The IOM, wisely in my opinion, emphasized he need for affordability rather than just comprehensiveness. They argued that coverage should be “evidence-based, specific and value promoting over time.” They proposed that medical necessity should be based upon clinical appropriateness, best scientific evidence and a likelihood of providing an “increased health benefit…that justifies an added cost.” [For a fuller discussion of the IOM recommendations, see John Iglehart’s article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Oct 20, 2011]
These seem like wise and sensible proposals. Too often there has been a “push” to insist on very comprehensive coverage, little attention to evidence-based criteria and little or not cost sharing by the patient.
My own hope is to see insurance that carries high deductibles to encourage each of us to personally monitor our health expenditures. When we have our own money at stake, we are more likely to ask our physician if that MRI, procedure or specialist visit is really needed of if it is “just to be complete.” That high deductible may also encourage us to maintain a better life style and maintain our health. That is good for us and reduces the overall costs further.
My new book discusses these topics in detail – “The Future of Health Care Delivery, Why It Must Change and How It Will Affect You” will be published in Feb, 2012 by Potomac Books
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Praise for Dr Schimpff
The craft of science writing requires skills that are arguably the most underestimated and misunderstood in the media world. Dumbing down all too often gets mistaken for clarity. Showmanship frequently masks a poor presentation of scientific issues. Factoids are paraded in lieu of ideas. Answers are marketed at the expense of searching questions. By contrast, Steve Schimpff provides a fine combination of enlightenment and reading satisfaction. As a medical scientist he brings his readers encyclopedic knowledge of his subject. As a teacher and as a medical ambassador to other disciplines he's learned how to explain medical breakthroughs without unnecessary jargon. As an advisor to policymakers he's acquired the knack of cutting directly to the practical effects, showing how advances in medical science affect the big lifestyle and economic questions that concern us all. But Schimpff's greatest strength as a writer is that he's a physician through and through, caring above all for the person. His engaging conversational style, insights and fascinating treasury of cutting-edge information leave both lay readers and medical professionals turning his pages. In his hands the impact of new medical technologies and discoveries becomes an engrossing story about what lies ahead for us in the 21st century: as healthy people, as patients of all ages, as children, as parents, as taxpayers, as both consumers and providers of health services. There can be few greater stories than the adventure of what awaits our minds, bodies, budgets, lifespans and societies as new technologies change our world. Schimpff tells it with passion, vision, sweep, intelligence and an urgency that none of us can ignore.
-- N.J. Slabbert, science writer, co-author of Innovation, The Key to Prosperity: Technology & America's Role in the 21st Century Global Economy (with Aris Melissaratos, director of technology enterprise at the John Hopkins University).
1 comment:
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