Is There Any Doubt It’s Broken?

What have we learned from the Massachusetts healthcare reform effort? Although costs to the state are running higher than anticipated - a problem in a recession – about 97% of MA residents enjoy some type of healthcare insurance. Considering the national rate is about 81%, this is a monumental achievement.

As for our lessons learned, the individual mandate is necessary to achieve universal coverage and the employer mandate helps get you there.

Additionally, a competitor to the insurers must be established, whether a public option or a non-profit regional option, to incent the insurers to better manage costs.  Currently, these options do not exist in Massachusetts. The state now subsidizes healthcare insurance for those who cannot afford it by paying private insurers to cover these individuals.

Realistically, the Massachusetts reform plan is just a partial framework for what is needed nationally, not the entire plan. Any federal effort must be more broadly based and far reaching, something states, due to existing rules on trade, Medicare, and Medicaid, cannot achieve on their own.

Success requires all stakeholders to sacrifice a bit of their pie or fiefdom. Right now that is not happening fast enough or in significant areas to deliver meaningful reform. For example, there is a good argument presented by physicians for tort reform, but there is little talk about linked changes in licensing that can help identify and retrain poor physicians.

The goal needs to be universal coverage. Actually, we have that already. Unfortunately, it is very inefficient and possibly the dumbest deployment of universal coverage possible. (See – Marking 33 Years of Universal Health Coverage) Although the uninsured eventually get care now, it is the rest of us through our insurance and taxes who pay for it indirectly. And for those unfortunate enough to get seriously ill, they often lose their homes and life savings. About 50% of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are related to medical bills.

How we get to universal coverage is through a holistic approach that addresses access, quality, and cost. Considering the number of powerful stakeholders – physicians, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and consumer groups - passing any meaningful legislation would be an amazing accomplishment.

Paying $7,300 per capita per year for healthcare is way too much considering the poor outcomes we get from spending all that money. Other countries pay less and receive more value. And if you want to make the argument that the U.S. healthcare system is better at this procedure or that treatment, considering we are spending at least 40% more than the other countries, we should be trouncing those other countries on all measures of quality, safety, and clinical outcomes. Sadly, we are not.

If George Steinbrenner expects the Yankees to win the World Series every year considering he spends 40% more than any other team on payroll, is it wrong for us to expect the same from our spending on healthcare? Should we not receive the best care in the world?

Anyone who thinks healthcare is not broken is not paying attention to the facts. How it gets fixed, is debatable. Whether it is broken, is not.

Photo Courtesy of Don Guerwitz Photography – Daycare Center, Havana, Cuba.