Coffee vs. Tea		September 20, 2009, 12:46PM
	by: baroque topic: Various bookmark this article view bookmarked articles go to archives
To understand the dire need for the healthcare reform, one must first understand what’s wrong with the health care system. There are people who are under the impression that the health care system has no flaws, or believe that the current flaws are unable to be reconciled. Once this hurdle is overcome, there’s another more drastic hurdle that is impossible to fully pass. This next enigma is how to fix the flaws. There are many ways to fix each individually, but the problem lies in the opinions of the masses. There’s no conceivable possibility of having every single person unify on a single solution. Because of this problem, it’s difficult to successfully discuss the health care reform without heated conflictions in thoughts, ideas, and possible ameliorations. In fact, the healthcare system has been previously evaluated back in 1993 with a crushing defeat. The problem with the past health care reform was the fact that policy was placed before politics. The reform was well built to satisfy health economics, yet they failed to take into consideration the public, or more simply, the voters. In the Clinton health care reform, a person who lost a job would be guaranteed to lose any health care benefits they may have awarded through their job. In a time when people were already fearful of losing their job due to the economy, adding a health care loss would further devastate a family’s financial stability. Therefore, the year after the reform was introduced, Congress declared the reform as officially dead. In order to avoid making the same mistakes again, the health care reform currently taking place must meet the needs of the public, health economics, and fiscal budgets. According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, health care cost is expected to rise to $8,160 per person by the end of the 2009 fiscal year as opposed to $4,790 per person at the end of the 2000 fiscal year. With all the health care costs inflating, the question that arises is whether or not Americans get increased quality health care with the increased prices. As the data falls into place, it turns out that Americans are not getting adequate health care for the money that’s being put into the health care system. Part of the problem with increased costs is location. When comparing the cost the elderly spent on health care in Miami, San Francisco, and Salem, there are a few details to note. Miami has the most expensive health care of the three followed by San Francisco, then Salem. Beginning in 1999 and ending in 2006, San Francisco and Salem actually keep roughly the same cost gap while Miami’s cost starts to climb. Judging by this information, Miami’s elderly should be getting a better quality of health care for the price they’re paying, correct? Of course, that’s not where it ends. Looking closer into the actual health care situation in these three cities, a test was conducted to see how many elderly people survived after a heart attack. In the lowest spending area of the country, a little over thirty percent of elderly die after a heart attack. In the highest spending area of the country, which includes Miami, roughly thirty two percent of the elderly die after a heart attack. Further investigation revealed what possibilities the doctors could recommend to their patients showing up with chest pains. Doctors may recommend frequent check-ups to monitor the progress of the elderly, or they may also suggest tests that may be run in order to check for complications. Ironically, the large portion of tests that are used to check for heart problems are actually not proven to create a difference in the outcome of a patient, and this is where the problem is involved. Doctors in places such as Miami actually have their own machines such as the echo cardiogram. By suggesting their patients to be tested using their machine, doctors get paid every time these machines are used. In lower spending areas, doctors don’t have the same incentives. In order to suggest getting a test with a machine such as an echo cardiogram, they’d have to send the patient to a better equipped hospital with no personal incentives for themselves. It’s also been proven that patients in low cost areas receive the same, and sometimes even better, care than high cost areas. Now, this is just one tiny example of a health care system flaw by illustrating the incentives some doctors possess. There are many variations to this example, and it could even be argued that there are more elderly in Miami since Florida is a retirement location. Arguments also stem from the availability of equipment in a particular area, though it's proven that every patient has access to the same machines. President Barack Obama has already initiated his health care reform by increasing health care coverage for children. President Obama has created the Recovery Act of 2009 in order to fulfill the obligated requirements of health care reform. With this Recovery Act, President Obama has overcome the greatest reason for the failure of Clinton's health care reform. If an American loses their job, the government will temporarily supply a tax credit in order for their insurance to be provided through COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). The Recovery Act of 2009 also outlines plans to have America's health records completely computerized in five years. The current paper system relies heavily on a patient's memory which leads to erroneous information. Not only is this system expensive to maintain, but also requires a longer amount of time needed to fully implement its use. By placing all the medical records on a computer, the information is easier to back up and modernizes the health care system. The health care system slow with their health records, and also slow in terms of having access to immediate information that may save someone's life. The health care industry is fickle. With constantly changing research on the best treatments available to patients, physicians and doctors need to have access to the most recent data in order to provide the best service to each and every patient. The Recovery Act of 2009 is allocating $1.1 billion in order to create a more effective means of communication between the different facets of the health industry. Finally, $1 billion will be put forth for the prevention of health problems. A large chunk of all health problems occur due to issues involving lack of exercise, a poor diet, and drug use. Many types of cancer and other diseases can be detected at an early stage with screening tests. The difficulty lies in that Americans aren't getting these tests. The government has set aside a reserve fund of $630 billion distributed over ten years in order to meet all the goals set forth with the Recovery Act of 2009. In fact, President Obama even claims that $630 billion isn't enough for a complete health care reform, but it's enough to make an impact in how the industry is handled. By following these eight principles, President Obama plans to work with Congress to change the tide in health care: guarantee choice, make health care coverage affordable, protect families' financial health, invest in prevention and wellness, provide portability of coverage, aim for universality, improve patient safety and quality care, and maintain long-term fiscal sustainability. The health care reform will benefit Americans who have health insurance as well as those who don't. For those who already have health insurance, the new reform will provide more stability and security. Insurance companies will be unable to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or risks due to the 12 million people over the last three years who were turned down. Age and gender discrimination will be limited when involving premiums. Insurance companies will be restricted from dropping coverages due to unknown illnesses that patients have not listed on their application. Preventative care through the insurance companies will be made free. Medicare for seniors will be improved and cheapened. For those who are unable to afford insurance, the new reform will provide a brand new insurance market: the Exchange. Small businesses and people without insurance will be able to get insurance by comparing different costs, protection, and benefits. The government will provide tax credits using a sliding scale for people who have low incomes. These tax credits will cap how much they're going to pay for premiums. Tax credits for insurance will also be provided to small businesses. For all Americans regardless of insurance status, there are positive outcomes. Allegedly, the reform will not raise the national deficit at all and will be paid for by using fees charged on the more expensive insurance plans that the insurance companies offer as well as other health care savings. If this isn't the case and the health care reform somehow manages in influence the deficit, the health care reform will be further cut in order to create a self-sufficient system. A commission will be formed in order to annually give out advice on how to improve Medicare. This commission will be unable to actually implement any Medicare changes; they will simply offer improvements. Also, large employers (50+ employees) will be forced to provide health insurance to their employees or pay a fee to create an affordable plan in the Exchange. With all the steps that President Obama is taking, who knows what the outcome will be for the health care industry. The changes are too large to keep track of everything going on. It's unavoidable that there will be people attempting to thwart the system and create their own profit. The possibility of the reform going off without a hitch is unlikely, though a desired outcome for many people. Not every problem has been addressed, but the main points have been sought to be corrected. People are still arguing on how the health care reform should be corrected. The Congress and the President are the final decision, though.

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