Foundation writes:
Washington’s health policy decisions directly affect the life and well-being of every American.
Americans care deeply about health care. While they admire and respect their doctors, Americans are frustrated with bureaucratic paperwork, the lack of transparency in the pricing of medical services, surprise billing and rising health care costs. As a general rule, most Americans are still satisfied with their private or employment-sponsored health insurance, which is financing their access to medical care. Nonetheless, too many still do not have either good coverage or access to the best care.
A major part of the problem is the impact of increasing government domination of the health care sector of the economy. Today, approximately 143.3 million persons are enrolled in, or heavily subsidized by, the big federal health programs: Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Obamacare health insurance exchange plans. In other words, out of a total estimated population of 331 million Americans, 43.3 percent of the legal residents of the nation are enrolled in these large federal health programs or entitlements. While private businesses and households are still responsible for most American health care spending (55 percent), the total government share of 45 percent is expected to grow while the private-sector share is on track to shrink.
Mere numbers, however, do not tell the entire story. As University of Pennsylvania economist Mark Pauly has demonstrated, government policies, ranging from regulatory interventions to tax policies, directly affect how Americans spend their money on health care; and this “government-affected” spending, as opposed to “market-like” spending, reached “close to 80 percent” in 2016 alone. This growth in the government share of health spending has been accompanied by a rapid growth in government control, which has spawned often ill-conceived, economically inefficient, and outdated government interventions in American health care financing and delivery. The result: health care that is too costly, and health insurance programs, in both the public and the private sector, that patients often find too bureaucratic, complex, and confusing.
Today nearly every American citizen, regardless of income or medical condition, has access to either public or private health insurance coverage, financed by large taxpayer subsidies or generous federal tax breaks. Many Americans, however, do not have a choice of health plans that provide personalized, patient-centered care, meaning the kind of health coverage and care that they personally choose and control and that is directly accountable to them. Key decisions on the kinds of health plans, benefits, and payment arrangements that are available are legally reserved to government officials, corporate human resources officials, or health insurance executives.
On the supply side of the equation, federal and state government policies have contributed to the increasing consolidation of health care markets among health insurers and hospital systems, reducing the number of independent medical practices, restricting patient choices and thus driving up consumer costs. In sharp contrast to other sectors of America’s more open market economy, there is far too little price transparency in health care; consumers and patients often do not know the price of medical goods and services until the mysterious bill arrives. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE...
No comments:
Post a Comment