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Home / Washington Business - March/April 2005 / About this Issue: Broken Health Care System Needs Fixing |
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About this Issue: Broken Health Care System Needs Fixing |
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Written On: March/April 2005 |
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Written By: by Alexis Nepomuceno |
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Affordable health care does not have to come at the cost of mortgaging Washington’s competitiveness. In this issue of Washington Business Magazine, we explore the rising costs of health care and its effects on employers.
Potential and existing programs aimed at controlling health-care expenses, including association health-care plans and health savings accounts such as AWB already offers through HealthChoice, are examined on pages 31 and 34. We even profile often-overlooked areas in the health care industry (see Harborview Trauma Center on page 28).
Legislation at the state and federal levels generally serves as a band aid to a problem that requires reconstructive surgery. Most likely, the health-care conundrum will grow the same way Social Security’s Ponzi-like structure has been allowed to mortgage the future of coming generations.
Health-care spending in the state budget grows much faster than many areas of the budget, including K-12 and higher education, corrections, and other social services. It is growing faster than state revenue, and, if not contained, could jeopardize other essential services.
The solution? Tackle health care the same way President Bush is taking on Social Security. Leadership at the top — the very top — is the only way to garner enough attention and debate to dissect the faults and find the needed corrections for an institutional dilemma.
It will take substantial leadership to force Congress to take the painful actions needed to remedy rising costs of health care. Painful because the country will have to accept and address the reasons behind this growing problem:
1. Nobody pays their own medical bills anymore, so there is no reason to comparison shop. Imagine not having to pay for your car — might as well get that Mercedes Benz because somebody else is paying for most of it.
2. Doctors in the United States are the most regulated in the entire world, which severely limits the number of practitioners.
3. It has become a “lawyers-vs.-doctors” society. Drastic lawsuit reforms will be required or the cost of medical malpractice insurance will continue to escalate. To avoid being sued, doctors and hospitals spend billions on unneeded tests and procedures. These costs are passed onto consumers via the insurance companies.
4. Too many state mandates and federal regulations add to medical costs, at least 30 percent just for state mandates, according to the Heartland Institute.
Even with all of the facts regarding the imminent “bankruptcy” of Social Security, many in the state legislature and Congress still contend there is no problem. It has only been through the determination and persistence of President Bush that Social Security reform has remained a top priority — to the point that some level of reform is likely.
After the antiquated Social Security system has been dealt with, hopefully we can approach health care with the same tenacity.
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