Harvard Takes a Shot at Our Health Care SystemDecember 2007
Medical coverage is everywhere these days. Presidential hopefuls on both sides talk about it. Health sites and newspapers are releasing studies about it. Kids are even speaking out on TV about living without it. But the specifics seem to escape us. Why exactly is our health care system so dysfunctional? How is it that so many Americans are forced to live without coverage?
Well, seven experts from Harvard have decided to clear that up for us.
As it's reported by the
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, seven experts from Harvard University have examined exactly what is wrong with our health care system, and offered suggestions regarding how to fix it.
Their first suggestion is bound to strike fear into the hearts of many, since they suggest expanding medical coverage to all Americans. "An expansion of health insurance to all U.S. residents to improve access to care 'would actually slow the growth in health care spending because people who become seriously ill ... wind up receiving costly medical care, subsidized by society, even if they are insured.'"
Also known as universal coverage, this type of health care system has been a major rallying point for democrats for some time, but tends to make republicans very uncomfortable.
However, the other issues addressed by the panel are, for the most part, easy to agree upon. They suggest a means for minimizing the racial disparity evident in our current national medical coverage plan. They also recommend more Medicare prescription drug benefits, limits on prescription drug spending in general, quality-of-care report cards for physicians, and greater use of electronic health records.
Facts on:
Improving Medical Coverage
Did you know...
The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that 11.4% of all children are uninsured?
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Each of which would improve the quality of medical treatment that Americans receive when they get sick or injured.
And all of which sounds darn good to us.
But in the mean time consumers should keep doing the best they can with what they've got - meaning make healthy lifestyle choices, shop around aggressively for
health insurance, and get yearly checkups to help prevent sickness and disease.
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