House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) questions Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill September 21, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Just like the passage of Obamacare was a raucous affair, the dismantling of the law is on the same path. Rep. Jason Chaffetz felt the wrath of his constituents at his town hall meeting in Utah. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida started a heated discussion on “death panels” in Obamacare that inflamed the crowd. The opposition was out in force trying to save the Affordable Care Act from destruction. (Correction: Bill Akins, the chairman of the county Republican Party brought up the discussion on death panels. Rep. Bilirakis nodded in agreement. They were referring to the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Why do they insist on using inflammatory terms for something that is obviously not a “death panel”?)
When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, I am strictly non-partisan. Throughout the years, I’ve written and spoken about the good parts and bad parts of the law, which created loads of hate email from both sides. Good – guaranteed issue coverage, free preventive care, rebuilding our primary care workforce, payment reform (although not soon enough – which is part of what doomed Obamacare). Bad – making an expensive, complex system more complex, addressing coverage first and costs last. Of course, it didn’t help that the GOP was determined to constantly undermine the law.
Both parties have historically focused on how we pay for our escalating cost of health care. Currently, we spend about $10,000 per person per year for health care in this country. Taxpayers are responsible for about half that bill. The average OECD country pays $3,814 per person per year total for all their health care. Given all that spending, are we healthier than other OECD countries? No. According to The Lancet, we rank 28th in multiple measures of health.
It seems obvious to me – instead of politicians focusing on how to pay for health care, wouldn’t it be better to focus on bringing down the cost of health care? The politicians and the press didn’t listen to the people in the election and they are making that same mistake now in regards to our health care system.
Working in the professions of medicine, finance, and journalism, and living in the “real world” of Jacksonville, Florida, I receive reams of complaints from everyday people, employers and health care providers about their struggles with the health care system. If politicians could fix a few problems, the majority of people would be satisfied with health care and costs will decrease. It will then be much easier to address payment reform.
The politician who addresses these underlying health care issues will be handed the next election :
- The health care system is too complex, especially for common chronic disease.
- Insurance is expensive and patients receive very little in return and insurers often try to get out of paying the bills.
- Billing is inefficient and difficult to understand.
- Drug costs are out of control.
- The lack of transparency in the system makes it impossible to effectively “shop” for care. And who has the time to do that anyway, especially if they are ill?
- Employers are tired of the time and expense of being a funnel for the sale of health insurance.
- Health care professionals are deeply dissatisfied with the increasing burdens of rules, payment systems, and electronic health records.
I will pick these off one by one in subsequent articles, and share ideas on how to address these issues. Hopefully, both parties will take notice. Leaders set the tone, and their constituents are tired of “messaging”, lies, and sticking with party lines that make no sense. Maybe a few will begin to work toward solving the problems those of us in the real world are facing.
For a great baseline of what we are about to embark on with health reform, I recommend reading an article I wrote when I first started this blog in 2011 – What Happened with Health Care Reform? It is sadly still applicable today.
Questions, comments? Post here or reach me on Twitter @CarolynMcC or email me at carolyn.mcclanahan@gmail.com. I’m quick on Twitter and slow on email – choose wisely.
Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynmcclanahan/2017/02/13/gop-this-is-what-americans-want-from-health-care-reform/