With so much attention being given to healthcare reform—which unfortunately seems to have morphed into health insurance reform—it's essential to remember the importance of reforming Medicare as well.
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Just as in 1993, when the architects of health reform initially took Medicare for granted and then scrambled to address beneficiaries' concerns, Washington finds itself caught up in the fog of hysteria, misinformation, anxiety and downright dishonesty that so often afflicts Medicare politics.
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In its 44-year history, Medicare has been effective at providing access to medical care and predictable coverage for its beneficiaries. Now it’s time for the federal program to use its purchasing leverage to improve quality and control costs, say healthcare experts who participated in the most recent Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Opinion Leaders survey.
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There's a shared sense of urgency to enact comprehensive healthcare reform this year, but views vary on how to get there, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Opinion Leaders survey.
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Healthcare for all is a part of the American dream that has gone unfulfilled since 1945 when President Harry S. Truman first proposed it. How many people have suffered; how many families have been bankrupted; how many business plans have been deferred; how many futures have been denied because we do not have affordable, accessible, quality healthcare for all?
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The Congress is well under way with the consideration of healthcare reform bills that will make significant changes to our country's health insurance system. There is near universal agreement—on both sides of the aisle—that something must be done.
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Stop the bleeding. Stat.
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Significant consensus has emerged that healthcare reform, which has eluded our nation for almost a century, should be enacted this year, and that bold changes are necessary to ensure high-quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.
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U.S. healthcare costs are excessive, both by international benchmarks and, by inference, from observation of the degree of cost variation within the U.S. as demonstrated in the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
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A blueprint for healthcare reform, shaped by political leaders inside the Beltway and pursued by incoming President Barack Obama, has garnered the much-needed support of healthcare leaders outside of Washington—the very ones who will be tasked to turn policy into practice.
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America faces grave challenges in healthcare. Today, about 45 million Americans are left uninsured and 25 million more don’t have enough insurance to keep their medical bills from putting them at risk of bankruptcy. Still, the U.S. spends $2 trillion a year on healthcare—a number that is expected to double in the next 10 years.
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Our country faces a time of unprecedented challenges. In Minnesota, as in many states, the economic crisis means that difficult decisions confront us as we grapple with an imminent, extensive budget shortfall. But, this is also a time of great opportunity. As we weather this storm, we can improve the efficiency of our government and our systems so that we emerge stronger as a nation, and as individuals.
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