When you read a lot of health care news (as I do) there are times you run across really sickening stories. Today I read about a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine done with Harvard University and Dartmouth Medical School researchers about dementia patient care. It seems that almost 20% of hospitalizations by nursing homes may have been motivated not by their concerns over patient health but simply by money.
It seems Medicare pays three times more for nursing homes to care for patients after brief hospitalizations. The transfer rate varied from just 2% in Alaska to 37% in Louisiana. In McAllen, Texas 26% of the study participants had multiple trips to the hospital for conditions that can easily be treated in a nursing home like urinary infections, pneumonia and dehydration. Only 1% of the patients in Grand Junction, Colorado were transferred to hospitals for the same conditions.
For some nursing homes to take advantage of the weakest and sickest in our society speaks volumes about the state of our health care system. Too often it's all about the money, not the people.
Showing posts with label health costs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health costs. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Rising Costs
This isn't going to come as a surprise to anyone paying for health insurance today, but the costs continue to rise. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation family plan premiums are now up to $15,073 on average, an increase of 9%. This is triple the growth just last year.
Increases for single employees grew 8% to $5,429 per year. Premium increases have had a starring role in the ongoing health care debate. Before the new health care law the insurance company WellPoint tried to raise rates in California by 39%.
All of this while America has an unemployment rate over 9%. Some reports put the unemployment rate for men 44-62 at 25% or above Great Depression levels.
Increases for single employees grew 8% to $5,429 per year. Premium increases have had a starring role in the ongoing health care debate. Before the new health care law the insurance company WellPoint tried to raise rates in California by 39%.
All of this while America has an unemployment rate over 9%. Some reports put the unemployment rate for men 44-62 at 25% or above Great Depression levels.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
British National Health Beats U.S.
Interesting article in today's WALL STREET JOURNAL about the anti-health care reform ad campaign by the Patient's Rights group. Seems Lord Darzi of Denham, a surgeon and top official in Britain’s Department of Health, wants us to know the ads don't present an accurate picture of the British health system.
The British system provides a high standard of care to all Britons despite spending less per capita than is spent in the U.S., $2,500 a year in the U.K. versus about $6,000 in the U.S. He also pointed to a 2007 report from the U.S. research group Commonwealth Fund that ranked U.K. health care as No. 1 out of six large countries, based on patient and physician surveys (the U.S. placed last). And he noted better life expectancy rates — 79.2 years for the U.K. versus 78 years for the U.S., according to recent data from the World Health Organization.
The current TV campaign makes it sound like Britons are dying in the streets due to government bureaucracy. Is it a perfect system? Even the British will admit that it isn't, but it certainly offers some guidance to the health care reform efforts in our country. America simply cannot afford to continue spending 16.3% of our G.D.P. on health care, a figure which is escalating almost hourly.
The British system provides a high standard of care to all Britons despite spending less per capita than is spent in the U.S., $2,500 a year in the U.K. versus about $6,000 in the U.S. He also pointed to a 2007 report from the U.S. research group Commonwealth Fund that ranked U.K. health care as No. 1 out of six large countries, based on patient and physician surveys (the U.S. placed last). And he noted better life expectancy rates — 79.2 years for the U.K. versus 78 years for the U.S., according to recent data from the World Health Organization.
The current TV campaign makes it sound like Britons are dying in the streets due to government bureaucracy. Is it a perfect system? Even the British will admit that it isn't, but it certainly offers some guidance to the health care reform efforts in our country. America simply cannot afford to continue spending 16.3% of our G.D.P. on health care, a figure which is escalating almost hourly.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Health Care and Money
As much as I'd like to believe that the health care industry is going to come up with $2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years, history says it isn't going to happen. In a story today Drew Altman, the president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, offered his perspective which covers nearly forty years.
"Neither managed care, nor wage and price controls, nor regulation, nor voluntary action nor market competition has had a lasting impact on our nation's health care costs," Altman said recently. Even after President Bill Clinton proposed an overhaul of our health care system the growth of health care spending slowed only slightly, only to surge a few years later.
The good news is the health care industry realizes that major changes are going to happen this time around and they're willing to promise almost anything to get a seat at the negotiating table.
"Neither managed care, nor wage and price controls, nor regulation, nor voluntary action nor market competition has had a lasting impact on our nation's health care costs," Altman said recently. Even after President Bill Clinton proposed an overhaul of our health care system the growth of health care spending slowed only slightly, only to surge a few years later.
The good news is the health care industry realizes that major changes are going to happen this time around and they're willing to promise almost anything to get a seat at the negotiating table.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Obama Open to CAM
During President Obama's April 29th Town Hall Meeting in Arnold, Missouri he expressed his openness to including complementary and alternative medicine in America's health care system. "We should do what works," President Obama said. "I think it is pretty well documented through scientific studies that acupuncture, for example, can be very effective in relieving certain things like migraines and other ailments - or at least as effective as more intrusive interventions."
The President went on to say that our health care system needs to change its focus to one of prevention to obtain serious savings down the road. Too often elected officials and the private insurance industry focus on reducing costs in the near-term. That's also good news for CAM because so many therapies are directed at prevention and wellness.
Personally I like the javascript:void(0)old system in China many years ago where folks would pay their doctor every month to keep them healthy and stopped paying when they were sick. Sure seems to be a better incentive to keep people healthy than America's system.
The President went on to say that our health care system needs to change its focus to one of prevention to obtain serious savings down the road. Too often elected officials and the private insurance industry focus on reducing costs in the near-term. That's also good news for CAM because so many therapies are directed at prevention and wellness.
Personally I like the javascript:void(0)old system in China many years ago where folks would pay their doctor every month to keep them healthy and stopped paying when they were sick. Sure seems to be a better incentive to keep people healthy than America's system.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Working Ourselves To Death
Lifestyle is the major factor in our health so the report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development sheds light on why America ranks so poorly in so many health categories. For starters, the French sleep a daily average of 530 minutes compared with 518 for Americans and 469 for Koreans. (I've seen studies that say Americans average a lot less than 518 minutes.)
Medical science is just beginning to appreciate the negative effects of stress on our health but our culture isn't paying attention yet. The French enjoy 30 days of mandatory paid leave every year, compared to with 20 in the U.K. and 10 in Japan. America has no mandatory paid annual leave yet, the the impact of the resulting stress build-up can be seen in our health statistics.
Americans may enjoy being the hardest-working people on the planet but the toll it takes on our health is a heavy price to pay. Is it any wonder we spend more on health care than any other nation on earth at 16.3% of our GDP? How long before we stop and smell the roses?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Fewer Prescriptions Filled
The current economic problems may have a silver lining. Due to their high cost fewer prescription drugs prescriptions are being filled today as people find ways to cut back. In the last quarter of 2008 6.8% of patients didn't fill their prescriptions for brand-name drugs and 4.1% failed to fill their generic prescriptions. May not sound like much but it's a 22% jump compared to the first quarter of 2007.
I say there may be a silver lining in this problem because many patients are going to realize how little the prescriptions were doing for them in the first place, or at least appreciate the cost-benefit ratio. They may also discover some of their health problems were actually side-effects from the prescriptions they were taking, either by themselves or as in combination with other drugs they're taking.
Hopefully some folks are going to look for other, better answers to their health problems. Most of us start to use complementary and alternative medicine because we're out of options. Hopefully a few people are going to try CAM because they're looking for a better, cheaper and safer alternative.
I say there may be a silver lining in this problem because many patients are going to realize how little the prescriptions were doing for them in the first place, or at least appreciate the cost-benefit ratio. They may also discover some of their health problems were actually side-effects from the prescriptions they were taking, either by themselves or as in combination with other drugs they're taking.
Hopefully some folks are going to look for other, better answers to their health problems. Most of us start to use complementary and alternative medicine because we're out of options. Hopefully a few people are going to try CAM because they're looking for a better, cheaper and safer alternative.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hospital Errors
A World Health Organization study shows that hospitals can reduce the number of deaths from surgery by more than 40% simply by using a checklist according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The 19-point checklist has nothing to do with high-tech but focuses on human error and basic medical procedures.
The study shows that hospitals using the checklist reduced their rate of death after surgery from 1.5% to 0.8% and reduced the number of complications following surgery from 11% to 7%.
It usually takes 17 years for a medical advance to become standard practice but the Institute for Healthcare Improvement is pushing for faster adoption. According to vice president Joe McCannon "Patients deserve it, and they deserve it now."
The study shows that hospitals using the checklist reduced their rate of death after surgery from 1.5% to 0.8% and reduced the number of complications following surgery from 11% to 7%.
It usually takes 17 years for a medical advance to become standard practice but the Institute for Healthcare Improvement is pushing for faster adoption. According to vice president Joe McCannon "Patients deserve it, and they deserve it now."
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More Drug Safety Issues
People taking the newest antipsychotic drugs are twice as likely to suffer heart attacks and death as non-users according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In other words they're no more safe than the older drugs they're replacing.
Sales of atypical antipsychotic drugs were up 12% in 2007 to $13.23 billion.
And the pharmaceutical industry calls this progress.
Sales of atypical antipsychotic drugs were up 12% in 2007 to $13.23 billion.
And the pharmaceutical industry calls this progress.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Saving $700 Million
In these difficult economic times wouldn't you like to save $700 million? That's the figure that experts say we're wasting in health care every year in America. Right now we spend 16.3% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care, more than any other nation on earth, yet we rank #48 for life expectancy and 19 out of 19 industrialized countries in preventable deaths.
Recent news reports make it clear. "We're not getting what we pay for," said Dr. Denis Cortese, president and chief executive of the Mayo Clinic. "It's just that simple."
Experts say as much as half of the $2.3 trillion spent each year on health care is wasted. Since he promised every family savings of $2,500 President-Elect Obama faces steep challenges on health care.
One way to reduce costs is to capitalize on the hundreds of CAM therapies that have been proven safe and effective for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Not every health problem needs prescription drugs and high tech.
Recent news reports make it clear. "We're not getting what we pay for," said Dr. Denis Cortese, president and chief executive of the Mayo Clinic. "It's just that simple."
Experts say as much as half of the $2.3 trillion spent each year on health care is wasted. Since he promised every family savings of $2,500 President-Elect Obama faces steep challenges on health care.
One way to reduce costs is to capitalize on the hundreds of CAM therapies that have been proven safe and effective for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Not every health problem needs prescription drugs and high tech.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Billions For Health Care
The landmark 1998 tobacco settlement was supposed to bring in billions of dollars for health care for Americans. Of the $61.5 billion that's been divided among 46 states between 2000 and 2006 only 30% has gone for health care according to the GAO. The Associated Press estimates that less than 4% has gone towards anti-smoking efforts.
States would rather use the money to fatten their general budgets. New York used some of its money for new carts and sprinklers for the Niagara County golf course. Alaska used some of its money to complete a museum featuring mummified bison. In Nebraska part of the money went for a dog catcher in Lincoln.
In 2005 the tobacco industry spent $13.1 BILLION on advertising and marketing. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates that states spent $718 Million on prevention.
States won the court case claiming the need to pay for medical expenses for those injured by tobacco products and to prevent tobacco illnesses in the future. Clearly once they got the money they had higher priorities.
States would rather use the money to fatten their general budgets. New York used some of its money for new carts and sprinklers for the Niagara County golf course. Alaska used some of its money to complete a museum featuring mummified bison. In Nebraska part of the money went for a dog catcher in Lincoln.
In 2005 the tobacco industry spent $13.1 BILLION on advertising and marketing. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates that states spent $718 Million on prevention.
States won the court case claiming the need to pay for medical expenses for those injured by tobacco products and to prevent tobacco illnesses in the future. Clearly once they got the money they had higher priorities.
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