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WHY IS HEALTH CARE CRITICAL?
Recent surveys have suggested that health care is the most important domestic issue to Americans as we face the upcoming Presidential election in 2008. Why is health care, and how the candidates propose to address it, so important to Americans right now?
It seems clear that Americans feel that health care is at a crisis point in the United States. Despite the fact that we spend over two to three times as much on health care as other industrialized countries, we continue to have a significant number of Americans who do not have access to health care, with the Uninsured
People who lack public or private health insurance, estimated at 47 million in the U.S. in 2007 in America estimated to be 17% of the population. We spend almost $7000 per person on health care, representing about 17% of the Gross Domestic Product
A combination of fixed assets, commodities and services produced in a country during one year of the United States, a far greater percentage than other developed countries. Even with the money we spend on health care, the health outcomes we achieve on key indicators are not at the top of the rankings of industrialized nations, with the U.S. ranking 10th for age-adjusted mortality and 13th for infant mortality overall.
Health care providers in the U.S. are among the best, if not the best in the world at treating serious illness, severe injuries, and diagnosing complex medical problems. Most of the innovations in developing new therapies, technologies and drugs come from the United States. However, Americans are increasingly worried about whether they will continue to have access to the health care they need. More and more employers are not providing health insurance coverage for their employees, and even employers who offer coverage are shifting some of the costs to their workers. Individuals and families who are not covered by employers have a difficult time purchasing private insurance because it is so expensive, and going without insurance for any amount of time can result in worse health outcomes and difficult financial situations.
Additionally, the federal Medicare
Health insurance program administered by the U.S. government covering people age 65 and over or who meet other special criteria program for seniors will face serious challenges as the baby boomers enter retirement age and become eligible for health benefits. There are so many people who will be eligible for Medicare over the next 25 years that there is no way the system, as currently designed, will be able to afford covering them all and the federal government will face critical financial pressures unless some type of Medicare reform is enacted.
Attempts to implement changes in our health care system have been tried in the past, yet the health care system remains basically unchanged over the past few decades. Changes in the system to address the challenges of cost, quality and access will require leadership at virtually every level of government, including the federal level. It is critical for voters to understand the health care plans and proposals of the leading Presidential candidates so they can take their views into consideration when they cast their vote in November of 2008. The purpose of Presidential RX, a service of the Health Care Solutions Group, is to provide voters with understandable information they can use as they make their decision in this election.
