Posts Tagged ‘medicare’

New Health Care Law Shifts Funds Toward Younger Patients

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Costs from the health care overhaul are largely being covered by cuts to health care programs for the elderly.

  • Although the new health care law provides coverage for the uninsured, it will also result in cuts to Medicare. This marks a change in the state of affairs in this country: we are accustomed to a system in which the young support the old.
  • The elderly won’t lose any benefits that the law guarantees them, but many Medicare programs are hybrids of public and private insurers, and these will be adversely affected.
  • The change has some seniors worried about a decrease in their quality of life, even as the previously-uninsured are looking forward to an increase in theirs.

Facts & Figures

  • Medicare Advantage, a combination of public and private insurance for the elderly, currently supports 11.3 million people. Cuts to these plans will pay for 15% of the health care bill’s costs.
  • The bill will cost $938 billion over ten years. $455 billion of that money will come from cuts to Medicare and two other federal programs.
  • Medicare Advantage customers will have their benefits reduced by an average of $68 per month by 2019, the Congressional Budget Office says.

Best Quote

“I’m sure that some of those additional benefits have been nice. But I think what we have to look at here is what’s fair and what’s important for the strength of the Medicare program long term.” – Nancy-Ann DeParle, White House Office of Health Reform

In The Future, There May Be Fewer Doctors, More Patients

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Access to adequate medical care is a serious problem in the developing world. But could the U.S. face a similar crisis?

  • Some major medical associations are warning that there may be a deficiency of tens of thousands of doctors as soon as 2020, especially in traditionally underserved areas like inner cities and rural towns.
  • There are many reasons for this: an uneven concentration of specialists in certain fields due to compensation differences, an aging population with unique and extensive medical needs, an increasing overall population, and increased access to medical care thanks to health care reform.
  • But not everyone agrees that the problem is so dire – there are doctors who suggest that this warning is simply an attempt by medical training institutions to demand more funding.

Facts & Figures

  • For a 30-minute office visit, Medicare will pay a general physician $103.42; it will pay $449.44 for a colonoscopy performed in the same amount of time.
  • Between 2000 and 2030, the number of Americans over 65 will double.
  • The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that by the year 2020, there will be a deficit of 65,560 primary-care physicians.

Best Quote

“When we talk about a shortage, we are looking at the current way we provide care to people and say it has to be provided by a primary care physician. From community health workers to other services provided by physician assistants and nurse practitioners, so much of what can be addressed in terms of routine care can be performed by others.” – Kevin Barnett, Senior Investigator, Public Health Institute (Oakland, CA)