Another great cost containment concept

Waste and inefficiency is estimated to account for about 30% - 40% of total health care costs. Studies show that the largest drivers of waste are:

- fee-for-service incentives

- lack of consumer responsibility

- defensive medicine

- excess bureaucracy

- fraud

We don't need to create a whole new health care system, but we do need to address this waste in the system. Until we change how we do things, we will continue to waste our money and not see improved outcomes.

For more see this blog post by Philip K. Howard

How to Control Health Care Costs

Check out this great blog post by Stephen Shortell, PHD, MPH, MBA

He eloquently explains that reform will not work unless "we slow the rapid growth of health care spending". This can be solved not by expanding coverage, but by actually reforming the system. We need to focus on prevention and living a healthier lifestyle. We need to change the incentive program for hospitals and physicians. The system need to worker hard at comparing effectiveness of different techniques/procedures/drugs.

It is possible for costs to decrease by having a more efficient and effective health care system that focuses on what is best for the patient, not the financial gains.

Young adults Don't Welcome Health Insurance Mandates

Kaiser Health News reports that young adults do not like that the new health bills will require them to have insurance. Many young adults are healthy and feel they don't need health insurance. So why should they pay for it?

They should pay for it for the greater society as a whole. "Young adults are the balance to the new rule, which also forces those least likely to need medical care to participate in a health plan in order to keep prices from inflating" (Rodewald, 11/11).

If everyone has insurance, it helps lower costs of the overall insurance pool. Also it will help ER units in hospitals from overcrowding because everyone will (in theory) have their own doctor to go to for such ailments as the flu. Also preventative services will increase if everyone has insurance.

But what if they can't afford it? Thats what the insurance reform is suppose to fix, but more on that in another post.

KHN reported their summary from a Northwestern paper from Oshkosh, WI

Is the House Bill Better than Nothing?

Marcia Angell, MD, gives her recommendations for health care reform... not sure we need total government take-over but I do like how she writes that the House bill "simply throws more money into a dysfunctional and unsustainable system, with only a few improvements at the edges, and it augments the central role of the investor-owned insurance industry." I agree that we need changes in the health care system not seen in government debates, which are trying to reform insurance and not the complete system (which in my opinion is needed more).

You can read more of her recommendations in her blog through online news site Huffington Post at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-angell-md/is-the-house-health-care_b_350190.html&cp

How much will Reform cost?

As Congress continues to debate about the details that will go into the health care reform bill, one pressing issue is how much will this cost? Much of what they project will be over the next 10- 20 years. I'm not going to lie, its a lot. About $900 billion. But how I see it, is that it will cost way more if we do nothing.

For more of a breakdown of the numbers, NPR does a good job here

Throughout the next couple of weeks, I will continue to post more media stories on cost, so stay tuned