Healthcare reform is one of the most polarizing topics among U.S. citizens. Some people think the entire healthcare system should be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up. Others think the system needs a few tweaks, but is still sufficient. Regardless of opinions, healthcare reform already is underway. The main objectives of the reform are providing coverage for uninsured Americans and lowering the costs of healthcare services and coverages.
The problem is, completing one of those objectives may make it extremely difficult to successfully address the other. There are so many different scenarios regarding the insured, accounting for them all is a monumental task.
Addressing Issues
Here are a few different scenarios that would have to be accounted for when considering healthcare reform according to Andrea Santiago, communications director for The Medicus Firm, a physician search company.
- How does the plan address employees who pay for coverage in full, or split the cost with their employers?
- How does the plan account for variation between healthcare premiums?
- What about people over the age of 65 who qualify for government funded Medicare?
- Can the current healthcare system handle the influx of uninsured that would accompany universal coverage?
The issue of reducing the cost of healthcare services isn’t any easier to address. Advanced technology brings the very best services and practices to patients in the U.S., but that technology is often very expensive.
“Reducing the cost of healthcare would be a very good thing, but not if costs are reduced at the expense of the clinical providers, or of the companies who develop the cutting edge drug therapies,” Santiago wrote.
Litigation and malpractice fears also contribute to the high cost of healthcare. “In addition to rising malpractice insurance costs, fear of being sued prompts many physicians to order unnecessary tests to cover themselves. These additional tests also contribute to the high cost of healthcare,” Santiago wrote.
Where are we now?
Consumer perception of Obamacare leaves something to be desired. “In the latest tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 47% of respondents said they have an unfavorable opinion of the law,” wrote Jonathan Cohn of New Republic.
Major technical difficulties with the healthcare.gov site spoiled its inauguration as well. “The Administration launched healthcare.gov — and then watched, helplessly, as it failed. During this time, insurers were cancelling expiring policies that didn’t comply with the Affordable Care Act’s new standards, forcing somewhere between a few hundred thousand and a few million Americans to search for new coverage,” Cohn wrote. Terrible start aside, the results seem to show things are improving.
Providing coverage to the masses was an Obamacare priority. Surveys from Commonwealth Fund, Gallup and the Urban Institute, Cohn wrote, have found that “as a result of the law’s coverage expansion, the number of people without insurance fell by something like 10 to 12 million.”
People also seem to be paying less for their coverage now, according to a Kaiser Foundation survey of people who previously bought individual insurance policies and switched plans because of Obamacare compliance issues. Of the respondents, 46% said they pay less in comparison to 39% who said they now pay more.
Obamacare also appears to be succeeding in its aim to breed competition between providers. “As for competition, The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that overall participation in the marketplaces will increase next year by 15% overall, based on information from 44 states who have made the data available. Virtually every state will have more insurers,” Cohn wrote.
The Obamacare initiative isn’t perfect. There are still major issues to work out, and shortcomings to address and rectify since it deals with so many people who all have unique health coverage needs. Kinks aside, the findings show that thus far, the bill is accomplishing what it was created to do.
Tory Dawson works at Bisk Education with Jacksonville University and writes about Health Informatics. Dawson is a graduate of the University of Florida’s Masters in Telecommunications program.
