Years ago, a woman was wheeled into my E.R. in critical condition. She was comatose, and her blood pressure was sky high. I didn’t need a CAT scan to know what was wrong. A vessel deep in her brain had burst, filling her head with blood. She never had a chance.
When I broke the news to her sisters, I learned that she had stopped taking her blood pressure medicine several days before. Why? Although employed, she was uninsured. And when money got tight, she had to choose between buying medicine for herself or food for her kids. Like most moms, she put her children’s needs ahead of her own. She paid for the decision with her life.
This story illustrates what is wrong with America’s health care system. My patient got excellent, high-tech care, but too late to do any good. Ironically, my team’s futile effort to save her life cost far more money than the medicine she needed to stay healthy.
There is great health care in this country, but too often we fall short. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, 40 countries have lower infant mortality rates than ours. We rank 46th in the world for life expectancy at birth. A study of death rates from treatable health conditions ranked the U.S. 19th among 19 wealthy nations —- dead last.
One reason America scores so poorly is that we ration health care, based largely on ability to pay. Uninsured Americans get about half the care of insured Americans, so they tend to be sicker and to die sooner.
American health care is incredibly expensive. We pay $2.2 trillion per year —- about $7,400 per man, woman and child. That’s twice the median per capita spending of our global competitors —- the 30 industrialized nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We pay 16 times the OECD median for private health insurance, and twice as much out-of-pocket. France, Germany, Great Britain and Canada cover everyone, but we spend more public money on health care than they do.
Costs continue to rise. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that some hospitals and big pharmaceutical companies are pushing hefty price increases to boost their earnings.
If these double-digit price increases stand, insurers will pass them on to employers, who will pass them on to us in higher co-pays and deductibles. Over the past nine years, employer-sponsored insurance premiums have risen six times faster than wages.
This can’t continue. Hard-working American families deserve better; so do American businesses that are struggling to compete in the global marketplace. To level the playing field, three things must happen:
First, we need fair rules that promote real competition.
Second, we need a public health insurance option that is affordable and always available. That way, employees of firms that don’t offer coverage and workers who are between jobs will have a competitive alternative to the overpriced and skimpy plans offered through the insurance market.
Third, your doctor needs up-to-date information on the best treatments, so he or she can identify the option that’s best for you.
Health care industry executives and their congressional allies oppose these measures. The outcome of this struggle may determine if you and I can get affordable coverage in the future.
To keep America strong, everyone needs access to quality, affordable care. The best way to do this is craft a uniquely American solution —- one that combines private-sector ingenuity with public-sector fairness
When I broke the news to her sisters, I learned that she had stopped taking her blood pressure medicine several days before. Why? Although employed, she was uninsured. And when money got tight, she had to choose between buying medicine for herself or food for her kids. Like most moms, she put her children’s needs ahead of her own. She paid for the decision with her life.
This story illustrates what is wrong with America’s health care system. My patient got excellent, high-tech care, but too late to do any good. Ironically, my team’s futile effort to save her life cost far more money than the medicine she needed to stay healthy.
There is great health care in this country, but too often we fall short. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, 40 countries have lower infant mortality rates than ours. We rank 46th in the world for life expectancy at birth. A study of death rates from treatable health conditions ranked the U.S. 19th among 19 wealthy nations —- dead last.
One reason America scores so poorly is that we ration health care, based largely on ability to pay. Uninsured Americans get about half the care of insured Americans, so they tend to be sicker and to die sooner.
American health care is incredibly expensive. We pay $2.2 trillion per year —- about $7,400 per man, woman and child. That’s twice the median per capita spending of our global competitors —- the 30 industrialized nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We pay 16 times the OECD median for private health insurance, and twice as much out-of-pocket. France, Germany, Great Britain and Canada cover everyone, but we spend more public money on health care than they do.
Costs continue to rise. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that some hospitals and big pharmaceutical companies are pushing hefty price increases to boost their earnings.
If these double-digit price increases stand, insurers will pass them on to employers, who will pass them on to us in higher co-pays and deductibles. Over the past nine years, employer-sponsored insurance premiums have risen six times faster than wages.
This can’t continue. Hard-working American families deserve better; so do American businesses that are struggling to compete in the global marketplace. To level the playing field, three things must happen:
First, we need fair rules that promote real competition.
Second, we need a public health insurance option that is affordable and always available. That way, employees of firms that don’t offer coverage and workers who are between jobs will have a competitive alternative to the overpriced and skimpy plans offered through the insurance market.
Third, your doctor needs up-to-date information on the best treatments, so he or she can identify the option that’s best for you.
Health care industry executives and their congressional allies oppose these measures. The outcome of this struggle may determine if you and I can get affordable coverage in the future.
To keep America strong, everyone needs access to quality, affordable care. The best way to do this is craft a uniquely American solution —- one that combines private-sector ingenuity with public-sector fairness
No comments:
Post a Comment