London's Calling....to Help America's Healthcare System.

With the current healthcare policy and system in constant debate, one element remains inevitable, healthcare services are becoming more in demand on a daily basis. 

As we have discussed in other posts there are many contributing factors to the increased demand in healthcare, not to mention the obvious increase in insurance that will be offered as a result of the healthcare policy of the Affordable Care Act.

Occasionally it might be a good idea to listen to our good friends ‘across the pond’ when it comes to how hospitals might handle the challenge of potentially providing services to so many new and returning patients. American’s situation of a higher demand to supply (access to doctors) is not unique. Great Britain is also feeling the pressure of dealing with an increased population demanding healthcare services. However, Great Britain does not seem to disagree with where to focus their efforts in confronting this potential crisis as a recent article in the UK’s Guardian points out.

“Ultimately, in order to increase efficiency in the National Health System and meet the public's top priorities of waiting and access, General Practitioners need to be resourced and equipped to do more. They also need to build teams to perform and complete more episodes of care in their primary care setting in modern, purpose-built 21st-century facilities. It is extremely difficult to change the expectations of the general population, but what we can do is ensure that healthcare practitioners are working in the right environment to respond to the demands effectively.”

Unfortunately Americans appear to be reacting to increased healthcare policy pressure and are not incentivized to see their primary care physicians before an issue becomes a crisis. Ultimately, if we want to find ways to take care of the healthcare system, we have to let them, the physicians, take care of us, early, so that it is not too late.

Thank you to Baylor Healthcare MBA for helping their students see how to prioritize healthcare needs in America.

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2013/sep/09/primary-care-ease-pressure-hospitals

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White House Delays Affordable Care Act for Big Business

Just a week ago President Obama and the White House Administration announced that one of the most essential elements of the Affordable Care Act, or ‘Obamacare’ which states that businesses with 50 or more full-time employees must provide healthcare benefits to their workers was delayed one year. Because the employer mandate deems a 30 hour work week as ‘full-time,’ this provision has affected thousands of businesses in America. One such business, Fatburger, claims that this news has simply come too late since they have been in “slash” mode to cut additional employees now for more than 6 months.

Mike Johnson, the owner of a Buffalo’s Café franchise has said that the mandate has made his life particularly difficult. "I've been worried nearly sick about it," Johnson said. "This gives me another year to look at all the options, and lets the politicians talk about what the best course of action would be. The employer mandate never made any sense to anybody, especially to struggling small businesses," he said.

Still, the White House claims that these changes will make very little difference considering that according to their facts, 96% of businesses already offer their employees some kind of healthcare benefits. What these statistics don’t consider however, is that the Affordable Care Act also mandates that these health plans contain 10 ‘essential health benefits’ which typically expands what current business health plans offer. Many are continually questioning the Presidents healthcare policies.

In a closed meeting to Republicans, Speaker of the House John Boehnor said “Is it fair for the president of the United States to give American businesses an exemption from his health care law’s mandates, without giving the same exemption to the rest of America? Hell no, it’s not fair.” With the Affordable Care Act still lacking favorability, and Americans getting even more nervous about its implementation, comments like this are certain to continue to political bonfire. 

Share your Thoughts:

Do you think the Affordable Care Act Health Policy will benefit or hurt small businesses? Do you think Health Policy should be mandated to all people or should certain groups be except? What do you think the best plan of action would be for Health Policy in America?

Thank you to Baylor MBA in Healthcare Program for continuing to challenge their students’ thoughts on Health Policy.

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/08/smallbusiness/obamacare-fatburger/?hpt=hp_t3

http://www.newsmax.com/politics/boehner-obamacare-business-exemptions/2013/07/09/id/514200

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A Physician's vision of Healthcare in America

In February of this year Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson gave a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in front of President Obama and Vice-President Biden. His speech ranged from quoting scripture, telling of his impoverished upbringing, education, taxation and healthcare in America.

With this blog the ‘Health Policy Institute’ I am constantly looking to find different healthcare leaders who are talking about Healthcare Policy and how they feel it should be improved and how these improvements should be accomplished.

Dr. Carson is one such person. He understands how important healthcare is, saying ‘It’s the most important thing a person can have. Money mean nothing, titles mean nothing when you don’t have your health. But we have to figure out efficient ways to do it.’ He continues stating, ‘we spend a lot of money on healthcare, twice as much per capita as anyone else in the World, and yet not very efficient.’

Dr. Carson then briefly lays out what he sees as the most effective way to handle healthcare in America. ‘Here's my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed -- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members, so that when you're 85 years old and you got six diseases, you're not trying to spend up everything. You're happy to pass it on and there's nobody talking about death panels.

Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.

And what do you think they are going to do they’re going to learn very quickly how to be responsible. When Mr. Jones gets that diabetic foot ulcer he’s not going to the emergency room and blowing a big chunk of it. He’s going to the clinic and he learns that very quickly. Gets the same treatment- in the emergency room they send him out, in the clinic they say now let’s get your diabetes under control, so you’re not back here in three weeks with another problem. That’s how we begin to solve these types of problems. It’s much more complex than that and I don’t have time to go into that all but we can do all these things because we are smart people.’

I think it is important to look at any and all solutions to improve the healthcare system in America. And while working together on these healthcare policies we can improve the nation and the people of this nation’s health and strength.

(The full speech has been posted on this blog.)

Tell the Health Policy Institute what you think?

Do you agree with Dr. Carson’s idea of a Health Savings Account? Do you think a HAS would cause people to live a healthier lifestyle? Would you rather keep the system we have currently?

Thank you to Baylor University Healthcare MBA for advising its students to see problems as a potential opportunity to become creative.

Sources:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/02/07/dr_benjamin_carson_addresses_national_prayer_breakfast_criticizes_obamacare.html