Health Care Reform | Health Commentary

The Financial Crisis and Medical Bankruptcy

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:38:26 -0400

Will the financial crisis accelerate medical bankruptcy?As we've learned over the past few weeks, America's finances have been massively mismanaged in the wake of intentional dismantling of our historic checks and balances. What we've also been forced to acknowledge is that our economy, on a national and global level, is an extraordinarily integrated affair. Everything, it seems, is tied to everything else. The great fear, voiced repeatedly by pundits this past week, is that "what has happened on Wall Street will spread to Main Street." But the reality is, it already has.

On September 24, 2008, two studies were released that demonstrated health care costs, for both insured and uninsured, were pushing increasing numbers of American families to bankruptcy. The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center for Studying Health System Change say the studies "underscore the mounting additional strain that medical care is placing on working Americans." As Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said, "The problems people are having paying for health care and health insurance are a central dimension of the economic and pocketbook concerns right now." Total cost for family coverage averages $12,680, up 5% from 2007 for insured employees. The employees now contribute 27% of that, or $3,354. The studies show that this is enough to push many families to the brink. One in five had trouble paying their medical bills last year with half of them borrowing money to pay the bills and 20% contemplating bankruptcy.

You wouldn't think that a premium of $3,354 a year could do that. But you have to add in co-pays and add-ons for those unlucky enough to confront an illness. Together these costs reach the "breaking point". And as I outlined in a Health Politics piece back in 2006, that breaking point is low, and getting lower, as citizens have amassed additional debt.

To learn more about how medically related bankruptcy occurs, watch this week’s video, included with this blog post – it’s taken from our Health Politics archives. You’ll need to visit the Health Politics website to watch this video.

The studies released last week estimate that 57 million Americans, 75% of whom are insured, are straining to pay medical bills. As Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund remarked, "It's a serious health problem and a serious economic problem. What we're seeing is families are not in a position to shoulder the financial risk.” The question now: "Is it possible to stabilize the financial disarray of Wall Street without addressing the health system disarray of Main Street in tandem?”

There's More to NYC than Wall Street

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:29:54 -0400

Have a look!It's a rainy day on Wall Street, both literally and figuratively! But there's more to NYC then Wall Street, as my good friend and lifelong New Yorker Peter Frishauf shared with me today. Have a look at this 6 minute film. It reminds us all that whether urban or country, mountain or sea, rich or poor, there are vibrant communities under the radar screen, filled with Americans yearning to connect with each other, to find meaning and a cause worthy of their committment. In the cracks, there lies hope. We need to continue to bring it out!

Universal coverage?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:16:49 -0400

One subscriber says yes, but people must take responsibility

Since launching Health Commentary and starting our Healthy Voices project, we have received many emails from subscribers addressing their opinions on health care reform. One of the frequent topics is: Should the U.S. have universal health care coverage? Sheryl Bungo of Pittsburgh recently shared her opinion on this and I thought you might like to hear what Sheryl had to say.

Read her comments below, and then let me know what you think. Is Sheryl right?

Mike

9/24/2008

To:Mike Magee

From: Sheryl Bungo

Subject: Coverage

Yes, I agree everyone should have health coverage. My suggestion, everyone should take responsibility for coverage also.

Having parents stay on Medical Assistance with their children is not acceptable. In rare exceptions, maybe. Health care is a responsibility for all adults to accept. Giving free health care and having parents smoke, drink and not work is not acceptable. Medical assistance should always be a temporary insurance not a life long care.

I do not believe Canada has the best service for their people. People should have priorities and one of them is taking care of health, education and welfare of their families. I know and have experienced setbacks in my life but continued to work toward a stronger and bettter life, sometimes working two jobs to accomplish this demand on my family. I am not bragging but someone has to express that not everything that is important should be picked up by the government. Help on a temporary basis yes, but not forever.

Sheryl

Real Health Advertising

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:48:47 -0400

Direct-to-Consumer marketing has its benefitsOver the years, I've been on all sides of health care, including a stint directing the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative (PMHI). In this role, I worked to leverage the knowledge, assets and resources of a Fortune 10 company to advantage the broader interests of health consumers and the professionals who cared for them. My goal was to advance humanistic and scientific health care side by side, and to move all of us (including Pfizer) together toward strategic health planning and preventive health care. My reasoning was that as citizens and their care givers reached their full potential, so would the company.

During my time with PMHI, I encountered a broad range of issues and created a range of programs targeted at the patient-physician relationship. One area of controversy was Direct-To-Consumer advertising, which I supported. My reasoning was that this programming was fully funded, contributed some useful information, and generally encouraged people to see their doctor and integrate with the system early rather than late.

There was then, and remains today, tremendous potential to use such ads to move us together in the direction of health. To illustrate the point, I’d like to share with you two ads produced by Kaiser Permanente, the latest released for airing during the Summer Olympics. Both of these ads can be viewed by watching this week’s video, embedded with this blog, or clicking the links below.

The first one is titled "When I Grow Up, I Want To Be an Old Woman," which conveys a strong message about enjoying rich and fulfilling lives as we age.

The second clearly promotes Kaiser Permanente and there is nothing wrong with that. But it's much more. It's a value statement for U.S. health care. In Kaiser Permanente’s vision, "Good health is for everyone" and the concept of health is broad enough to encompass clean air, healthy food, and committed communities:

So I have a suggestion for PhRMA and its member companies: How about committing 25% of the Direct-to-Consumer advertising budget for Health public service announcements? That would be a great contribution to preventive health reform, and lead to earlier diagnosis and better adherence to treatment plan, which would benefit the bottom line.

Health Reform's Time Has Come

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:58:28 -0400

Commonwealth survey says chances for true reform are goodWhen it comes to reforming the U.S. healthcare system, we have a history of all talk, no action. Mostly, patients have been ambivalent about change, while many health care professionals have opposed it because they see the risks (including those to their pocketbooks) far exceeding the benefits.

Will it be any different this time around? Both presidential candidates say it will. So does this summer's Commonwealth Survey on the subject. According to Commonwealth’s president, Karen Davis, Commonwealth polled 1,004 U.S. adults in May, 2008. Thirty two percent said the whole system needed complete rebuilding, while one half thought it required fundamental change.

Cost is certainly a factor, with health premiums up 100 percent in the past decade. And people are also concerned about recent drops in the numbers of employers providing health benefits, and in the quality of the coverage they provide.

Beyond that, people are concerned about the system itself - the rushing, the crowding, the unevenness, the antiquated information systems, the complexity and associated safety lapses and injuries, the workforce shortages, and the absence of a comprehensive vision that would allow Americans to reach for their full human potential as productive and compassionate citizens.

If we are able to achieve meaningful reform during the next Administration, it will be because we have embraced a meaningful opportunity to surpass -- rather than mimic -- another health system, such as Canada’s. It will be because we have appreciated the unique opportunity presented by the intersection of aging demographics, multi-generational family complexity, health consumer empowerment and engagement, and information technology advantages that allow us to re-center and reconnect our system with great efficiency, equity, safety, and quality.

Will it happen this time? Depends on the strength of the vision, which depends on the quality of the leadership. "Yes, but..." is our history. "Yes, and..." is our future.

For more details, please watch this week’s video, embedded with this blog post, or read the full transcript, below. Then leave a comment expressing your feelings about health care reform. Do you think we can get it done? Why or why not?

Health Care Reform | Health Commentary

The Financial Crisis and Medical Bankruptcy

See Also

There's More to NYC than Wall Street

Universal coverage?

Real Health Advertising

See Also

Health Reform's Time Has Come

See Also