Health Care Crisis In America
As a citizen concerned about health care in this country, do you feel that no one is listening to your views on health care? To confront these problems, presidential hopefuls John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have all proposed extensive health care reform plans.
But some health care professionals believe that these proposals do not address the whole problem.
The United States is a nation living under medical apartheid.
The South Florida Times summarized the studies' findings as follows: "...
elderly black and Hispanic patients often received substandard care for common but serious conditions like heart attacks, congestive heart failure and pneumonia.
Researchers say their data suggests that the nation's healthcare system is racially and ethnically segregated, not just for the elderly, but across the board.
" Lead researcher, Dr.
Ashish K.
Jha, said: "When we see ongoing segregation in housing and education [in America,] it may not be surprising that we're seeing very different administration of care in hospitals that serve blacks and Hispanics versus hospitals that mostly serve whites.
But we're not talking about [failures of] high tech medicine.
This is basic stuff, like failing to administer aspirin or beta blockers to patients suffering a heart attack; treatments that we've known about for 20 years.
'' These studies are consistent with earlier findings that, at all levels of incomes, black Americans die years earlier than whites.
The infant mortality rate for African American babies is 2.
5 times greater than it is for non-Hispanic whites, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, giving us the worst infant mortality rate of any industrialized nation on Earth except Latvia.
It should be noted that these recent studies demonstrate that Hispanics in this country also experience extreme disparities in medical care.
Are you OK with that? Then how about this? Lack of health insurance results in the deaths of 18,000 Americans each year, according to studies compiled by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine.
That equates to 49 or 50 deaths every day.
f you are plagued by concerns, anxieties, guilt, shame and despair over the health problems that people are facing..
..
It is estimated that nearly 90 million people - about one third of the population below 65 - spent a portion of either 2006 or 2007 without health coverage.
The percentage of people with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 59 percent in 2006.
The number of uninsured children in 2006 was 8.
6 million - or 11.
7 percent of all children.
Nearly 3.
5 million fewer children had health insurance in 2006 than in 2000.
Uninsured Americans get about half the medical care of those with health insurance.
Compared to people with health insurance, the uninsured receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease states and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic care and have higher mortality rates.
About 18,000 unnecessary deaths occur each year due to lack of health insurance.
It is estimated that we have spent as a nation nearly 13.
5 trillion dollars on health care since 2000, but this expenditure has not resulted in demonstrably better quality of care or better patient satisfaction compared to other nations.
It is estimated that we will have spent $2.
2 trillion on health care services in 2007 - about 4.
3 times the amount spent on national defense.
Health care spending is estimated to reach $4.
2 trillion a year by 2016 - just eight years from now.
On average, health insurance premiums for employers have doubled since 2000.
Average out-of-pocket costs for co-payments, such as for prescriptions, deductibles and coinsurance for doctor visits, rose 115 percent between 2000 and 2006.
National surveys consistently show that the primary reason people are uninsured is because health coverage is too expensive.
In 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.
1 percent -two times the rate of inflation and wage increases.
The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100 in 2007.
The average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance increased more than 143 percent between 2000 and 2006.
It is estimated that nearly 700,000 patients have died in hospitals due to medical errors since 2000.
Unnecessary medical accidents, errors and poor quality are the nation's third leading cause of death, just behind cancer and heart disease.
The Institute of Medicine estimates that nearly 100,000 patients die in hospitals each year due to medical errors.
This is three times the number who die on the highways.
Recent studies show that only a little more than one-half of adult patients receive recommended care for their medical conditions.
It is estimated that 77 million Americans over the age of 19 have difficulty paying medical bills, have accrued medical debt, or both.
We have a current health care systemthat some 47 million Americans lack basic health coverage, while many who can afford coverage elect to do without because the deductibles are too high or the policies do not cover the treatments and procedures that they actually need.
Medicaid offers health coverage for many low-income Americans, but not everyone qualifies for this system of government health care.
But some health care professionals believe that these proposals do not address the whole problem.
The United States is a nation living under medical apartheid.
The South Florida Times summarized the studies' findings as follows: "...
elderly black and Hispanic patients often received substandard care for common but serious conditions like heart attacks, congestive heart failure and pneumonia.
Researchers say their data suggests that the nation's healthcare system is racially and ethnically segregated, not just for the elderly, but across the board.
" Lead researcher, Dr.
Ashish K.
Jha, said: "When we see ongoing segregation in housing and education [in America,] it may not be surprising that we're seeing very different administration of care in hospitals that serve blacks and Hispanics versus hospitals that mostly serve whites.
But we're not talking about [failures of] high tech medicine.
This is basic stuff, like failing to administer aspirin or beta blockers to patients suffering a heart attack; treatments that we've known about for 20 years.
'' These studies are consistent with earlier findings that, at all levels of incomes, black Americans die years earlier than whites.
The infant mortality rate for African American babies is 2.
5 times greater than it is for non-Hispanic whites, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, giving us the worst infant mortality rate of any industrialized nation on Earth except Latvia.
It should be noted that these recent studies demonstrate that Hispanics in this country also experience extreme disparities in medical care.
Are you OK with that? Then how about this? Lack of health insurance results in the deaths of 18,000 Americans each year, according to studies compiled by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine.
That equates to 49 or 50 deaths every day.
f you are plagued by concerns, anxieties, guilt, shame and despair over the health problems that people are facing..
..
It is estimated that nearly 90 million people - about one third of the population below 65 - spent a portion of either 2006 or 2007 without health coverage.
The percentage of people with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 59 percent in 2006.
The number of uninsured children in 2006 was 8.
6 million - or 11.
7 percent of all children.
Nearly 3.
5 million fewer children had health insurance in 2006 than in 2000.
Uninsured Americans get about half the medical care of those with health insurance.
Compared to people with health insurance, the uninsured receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease states and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic care and have higher mortality rates.
About 18,000 unnecessary deaths occur each year due to lack of health insurance.
It is estimated that we have spent as a nation nearly 13.
5 trillion dollars on health care since 2000, but this expenditure has not resulted in demonstrably better quality of care or better patient satisfaction compared to other nations.
It is estimated that we will have spent $2.
2 trillion on health care services in 2007 - about 4.
3 times the amount spent on national defense.
Health care spending is estimated to reach $4.
2 trillion a year by 2016 - just eight years from now.
On average, health insurance premiums for employers have doubled since 2000.
Average out-of-pocket costs for co-payments, such as for prescriptions, deductibles and coinsurance for doctor visits, rose 115 percent between 2000 and 2006.
National surveys consistently show that the primary reason people are uninsured is because health coverage is too expensive.
In 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.
1 percent -two times the rate of inflation and wage increases.
The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100 in 2007.
The average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance increased more than 143 percent between 2000 and 2006.
It is estimated that nearly 700,000 patients have died in hospitals due to medical errors since 2000.
Unnecessary medical accidents, errors and poor quality are the nation's third leading cause of death, just behind cancer and heart disease.
The Institute of Medicine estimates that nearly 100,000 patients die in hospitals each year due to medical errors.
This is three times the number who die on the highways.
Recent studies show that only a little more than one-half of adult patients receive recommended care for their medical conditions.
It is estimated that 77 million Americans over the age of 19 have difficulty paying medical bills, have accrued medical debt, or both.
We have a current health care systemthat some 47 million Americans lack basic health coverage, while many who can afford coverage elect to do without because the deductibles are too high or the policies do not cover the treatments and procedures that they actually need.
Medicaid offers health coverage for many low-income Americans, but not everyone qualifies for this system of government health care.
