Current State of the US Healthcare System and How to Fix it?

[closer23]

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[ufgrad00]

There are different levels of our system from which you can look at policy to looking at the business of private practice. As far as policy, there are many posters on here who will fill you in, hopefully without highjaking the thread into a Rep vs. Dem thing. As far as the business of private practice for instance, most books I 've seen are really jaded and weren't helpful, but the best experience I got inunderstanding reimbursements and such was from actually doing administrative work for a practice.

 

[nevercold]

Warning: Ignore most opinion statements that people will respond with. Instead, figure out the topics you need to understand and search for reliable information on those topics.

I would recommend you consider the following issues to really approach the topic:

1) How are we paying for healthcare now?
a. To what degree is it federally funded?
i. Medicare/Medicaid
ii. Veterans Health Administration
iii. Tax rebates/benefits for private insurance
iv. Funding for emergency care and local emergency response
b. To what degree is it state funded?
i. Any medicare-like programs?
ii. Tax rebates/benefits
iii. Emergency response, state run hospital systems, etc.
c. To what degree is it privately funded?
i. Private insurance options?
ii. Employer provided insurance options (read up on how companies used health insurance to lure in employees during the frozen wage years around WWII, starting the concept of employer-provided private insurance)
iii. Options for medicare/medicaid patients to cover the copayment (20%) and the "donut-hole"

2. Who gets paid?
a. Typical salaries/compensation for various health professions
b. How do hospitals or health organizations actually work?
c. What costs are added by medical technology/biomedical engineering?
d. What do medications cost? (And why do they cost so much? Why does it cost so much to get a drug to the point of FDA approval?)

3. Where are our healthcare needs?
a. Underinsured
b. Availability of primary care in rural, suburban, and urban settings
c. Availability of subspecialty care in rural, suburban, and urban settings
d. Obligation or not to international health?
e. Healthcare for non-citizens
f. Medical research/end of life care vs. preventative care
g. Reducing medical errors

4. What changes are on the way?
a. What has Congress or your State gov't tried to change this past year?
b. What do current candidates for political office propose that we change?


You don't have to be an expert in those things, but if you start tackling some of those topics you will quickly find yourself able to carry on a conversation with others about healthcare reform

 

[RySerr21]

I read the Healthcare Fix for my health psych class. its only one persons opinion, and you can agree or disagree, but he lays out the main problems he sees with the US health care system and then states his idea on how it should be fixed. its short (90 pages) and a good read, and youll learn a lot.

its written by Laurence Kotlikoff...published in october 2007 so it is definitely "current"

"This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to enter the debate about how to achieve universal health care and fiscal responsibility at the same time. Kotlikoff lays out the problem and convincingly argues that the status quo is leading us to a catastrophe. Moreover, he offers a simple, yet radical solution." --John B. Shoven, Charles R. Schwab Professor of Economics, Stanford University and coauthor of The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security

"Laurence Kotlikoff has done it again. He presents in his usual fast-paced but understandable style the immense financial problems faced by the Medicare and Medicaid programs. But he goes further, introducing and defending a complete solution. Whether or not you agree with his proposals, the importance of the question, and the brilliant defense of his solution, make this book a must-read for both health policy professionals and interested citizens."
--Thomas R. Saving, Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, and Department of Economics, Texas A & M University

 

[copperfrog09]

Try the American Medical Student Association website (amsa.org). They have some great resources that are a "crash course" in the various viewpoints on the American health care system