Are we heading to a “sicker” future?
March 22, 2009
As unemployment is rising, insurance coverage is falling. As many people are not insuring themselves, we are heading to a future with more emergency room admissions. Are we heading to a sicker future?
When you lose a job, you miss many aspects of it. You may miss your work, colleagues or the drive to and from work. But what many people are now missing about their jobs is their health insurance. Once taken for granted, health insurance become a necessity and your realize it only after the job is gone. Read more
Getting rid of the inefficiency of Medicare
March 21, 2009
Creating an efficient health care system is one of the primary problems being faced by President Obama. Although the U.S. spends a lot of money on health care, compared to other countries, the systems are less efficient. This is something that needs to be addressed. One way to generate efficiency is by creating meaningful competition between public and private health insurance. Also competition between drug companies also needs to be created.
Market driven health care may not be the answer. Medicare Part D aimed at letting the elderly get medicines cheaper. This was to be done by encouraging competition. Although access to prescriptions has improved, the cost to taxpayers has gone up more than proportionally. This has been revealed in a study in the journal- Health Affairs.
Health Insurance Company Strategies
March 15, 2009
People from the health insurance industry have been viewed negatively for a long time. The reasons for this are public knowledge. These are denial of coverage and refusal to pay for treatment. Now the people of the health insurance industry are looking to cast themselves in the mould of indispensable partners in health care overhaul.
They are now pitching to lawmakers saying that they can help ensure universal coverage by getting rid of waste and help improve quality. Beyond loud language these people are now beginning to come up with concrete ideas for quality improvement and value.
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Obama’s Big Plan Draws Flak
March 14, 2009
In his effort to reform all the American systems, President Obama has created a number of different routes to solution. Whether the plans will yield fruit is debatable, but for now many of them are drawing flak. The latest among such plans is a big new public health insurance program that has been envisioned by Obama. This plan is a bone of contention.
Details of the proposal have not been released by the White House or the Congressional Democrats. There is dissaproval among some Republicans as well as people in the insurance industry about whether the plan would be good for the system even before the details of the plan have been released. Socialized medicine is the term that is being given to these moves by President Barack Obama.
Lack of student insurance
March 9, 2009
The 2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States says that 30 percent of the surveyed 18 to 24 year olds were without health insurance. In college health care needs have to be paid out of the pocket. A typical case might be that the parents dropped their offspring from a plan and they never got back on. As a student with only a part time job, good medical insurance may be hard to come by.
Many students can only afford a low quality plan and that leads to the question of whether the insurance is really required. And that is the bottom line, often students cannot afford insurance. Many students arrive in hospitals and one third of those do not own health insurance.
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Shop Health Insurance in the Mall
March 8, 2009
The number of uninsured Americans is increasing. In this environment, the largest Health Insurance company in the country is finding success with a new idea. The new idea is direct sales of insurance to people through retail stores.
The typical insurance store could well be confused for a mobile phone store from the outside. The storefront is friendly and it is well located in a new shopping plaza. When you take a peek inside you would be a little surprised to see that the goods being sold is insurance for your health.
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Americans Unmedicated Due To Rising Unemployment
March 3, 2009
Americans are skipping medications. The reason, unemployment and the ensuing loss of insurance. The economy has nosedived and people have had to sacrifice homes and retirements to pay for medical bills. High costs are forcing people to forego medical care. Budgets of state, county and city are shrinking and this is forcing a cutback of essential programs. Medical personnel are being reduced and safety net hospitals are being reduced as well.
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