The US health-care system needs a dose of medicine

2008-12-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE appetite for change in the United States, as seen in the recent election, seems to extend to the nation's health-care system. After years of rising costs and less accessibility to quality health care for millions of Americans, they finally seem ready to accept reform.

According to the 11th annual Health Confidence Survey conducted by the nonprofit Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), virtually all Americans say affordable, high-quality health care should be at the top of the nation's health-care goals.

Significantly, more than 80 percent are willing to support tax incentives and other government involvement as a way to make health care more affordable and more available.

Add to these statistics the fact that only 51 percent of respondents are extremely or very confident they can get the treatment they need, and only 42 percent say they have adequate choice of medical providers, and the desire for real health-care reform seems pretty clear.

Not surprisingly, cost is one of the main health-care issues today. I think we're all feeling a bit battered by rising health care costs ?? from insurance premiums to prescription drugs - especially when we're experiencing an economic slowdown.

While 55 percent of Americans with insurance coverage report an increase in costs in the past year, that percentage is down from 65 percent in 2007. On the face of it, that seems like a positive. But on the flip side, far fewer are satisfied with the cost of health insurance and with the cost of services not covered by insurance.

Especially troubling to me is that 42 percent of survey respondents are not too or not at all confident about the affordability of health care - an increase from 36 percent last year. This lack of confidence translates into daily decisions that can impact the health as well as the finances of people in the US.