Health Care
Reforming Our Nation's Health Care System — Americans will spend over $2 trillion on health care this year and that number is only growing. This translates into $6,700 in health care for each individual, more than twice the amount allocated by any other country. Even with such a large investment, 46 million Americans still do not have health insurance and an additional 25 million Americans have inadequate health care coverage. Such high costs jeopardize the economic well-being of millions of Americans. As President Obama recently noted, an American goes bankrupt every 30 seconds because of high health care costs and by the end of this year, 1.5 million Americans could lose their homes as well.
As we work to provide health coverage to more Americans, we must also improve the quality of health care in this country. Right now, almost one-third of health care services delivered in the United States do nothing to improve health outcomes. We can do better and we must do better. By giving healthcare providers incentives to coordinate care with their patients' other doctors and by bolstering the use of health information technology, we will not only improve the quality of care, but also reduce health care costs.
Under current payment practices, our health system does little to incentivize providers to focus on prevention and wellness. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, are rampant in this country, but also in most cases, preventable. Instead of keeping people healthy, we struggle just to keep the sick from suffering or death. Prevention and wellness must be at the heart of any health reform debate by encouraging initiatives and policies that will promote healthy behavior.
Equally important, we must find effective ways to reduce the growth in health care costs.
Recent comprehensive studies suggest that without changes, health care spending will increase from less than 20 percent of GDP to 25 percent in 2025. Spending on Medicare and Medicaid alone will reach 12 percent of GDP by 2050.
In less than 10 years, the United States will be forced to spend $13,000 on health care for every American, every year. Meaningful health care reform must strengthen our economy by giving both large and small businesses the tools to improve their productivity, stay competitive in a global market, and increase their capacity to create more jobs.
There is no one magic bullet that can fix our health care system, but there are changes we can make to improve the lives and health of Americans. While many challenges remain, we cannot afford to let the current health system continue draining our resources and undermine the future well being of all citizens. To ensure the people of Delaware and all Americans have comprehensive, effective, and equitable health care, we must meet the following goals:
- Ensure Access to Quality Affordable Health Care
- Contain the Rising Costs of Health Care
- Improve Health Outcomes and Qualities by Focusing on Wellness and Prevention
- Keep Our Nation Competitive in Health Care Research
Leading up to the health care debate of 2008, I will be posting a series of blogs on policies and initiatives that I believe will help rein in health care costs while also improving the quality of patient care.