Transcript Healthcare Policy Powerpoint

Healthcare Policy
I. A mostly private health care system
A. Traditional approach: fee for service. Paid for by insurance.
B. Rising costs of health care, even when adjusted for
inflation, has led to the rise of HMOs.
II. Federal involvement with health care
A. Medicare
B. Medicaid
C. A prescription drug benefit for Medicare patients was added
during the first term of George W. Bush.
D. Research efforts (Through Dept. of Health and Human
Services usually).
III. Problems with health care
A. Rising Per Capita costs and projected future rising Per
Capita costs (table 4).
B. Uninsured. Working poor and unemployed unable to afford
health insurance.
C. High cost of malpractice insurance because of increased
litigation.
D. Unnecessary procedures, especially, to protect physicians
from risk of lawsuit.
E. Endless paperwork from the federal government and
insurance companies.
F. Lack of flexibility and choice with HMOs.
G. Cost of Prescriptions.
IV. Health care reform
A. An early priority of Clinton and now a top priority for
Obama.
B. Various proposals:
1.
Single payer (socialized medicine).
2.
Public Option vs. Single Payer
3.
Managed competition. Use of HMOs to
accomplish “cost containment." Problems with HMOs has led
to a desire for patients bill of rights.
4.
Requiring coverage from employers.
5.
Spending caps on health care.
6.
Abolishing employer provided coverage and
requiring people to buy health insurance individually.
V. After a long-drawn out partisan battle, health care reform was
enacted in 2010.
A. The Affordable Health Care Reform Act