President Obama Addresses Cost Containment and Quality of Care
Sunday June 28, 2009
President Obama recently spoke at a town hall meeting on healthcare reform. During this event, he remarked that if one of his family members were facing serious illness, he would "always want them to get the very best care," regardless of cost. This comment has been quite controversial in the health policy arena, as some experts interpret it to mean that he himself would not want to be subjected to the kind of healthcare rationing that he is proposing for the rest of America. However, others believe he was really trying to make a point about healthcare quality, and what exactly it means to get the "very best care." Sometimes, especially with healthcare, more is not always better. The "very best care" could be nothing at all.
These issues of cost containment and healthcare quality take center stage as the Senate and House work towards finalizing their reform bill drafts. They will be faced with difficult decisions about how to direct our limited and finite financial resources towards providing the best possible care for as many Americans as possible.
Comments
Market-based policies are more cost effective for the government – and therefore the taxpayers- than publicly funded healthcare. According to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, January 2005, if every uninsured individual was covered by a government program such as Medicaid, the cost to the federal and state governments is approximately $2000 each. If, however, low-income and modest-income Americans could purchase their own health insurance by utilizing a $1000 tax credit, the federal government would save 50% of that money. With over 45 million uninsured Americans, that savings would be substantial indeed.
Market-based insurance would not only be more affordable health coverage, it would also provide consumers with more choice. Because savings come from a tax credit, the option to choose insurance companies, policies and doctors is left to the person who purchases the insurance, not a group of politicians. Health insurance needs vary widely from one individual to the next and having the ability to choose the options that work best for an individual’s circumstances is fundamental to quality health care.
Health insurance needs to be available to all Americans and at an affordable price. Making the states fund this idea would cause even greater debt to everyone. I agree that reforms need to be made to the system but dumping this onto the states will affect us all when the taxes on everything go up to pay for it.