Paying for health
Well, they warned us. If Barack Obama gets elected president, they said, the cost of health care will only go up and up. Well, he got elected, and the price of health care is going up.
Of course, Congress has not passed anything yet. The health care industry is managing to raise the prices without, so far, any government mandate.
- Health plan premiums are again on the rise - Jonathan D. Epstein/The Buffalo News
As Congress debates the most significant changes to health care in decades, consumers in Western New York and elsewhere are again facing increases in health insurance premiums that far outpace inflation or any gains in their income.
- Anticipation of health bill raises costs - The Omaha World Herald
Pick a health problem: asthma, high cholesterol, diabetes. Ask a consumer what it's costing to treat such conditions, and you'll hear that, after years of rising drug prices, the rate of increase in the last year has been particularly sharp.
- Seniors' coverage options dwindle as Medicare Advantage programs close shop- The Dallas Morning News
Medicare Advantage enrollees who do nothing and remain in the same plan in 2010 will see their monthly premiums increase an average of 32 percent, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Some other factors pushing health care costs up:
- Medical malpractice, as reported by The Tulsa World
Since 2000, the Oklahoma board has disciplined 328 practitioners for various things including sexual misconduct, writing false prescriptions, unprofessional conduct and alcohol abuse, according to an analysis by the World.
Of those, nearly 190 are still active medical professionals whose disciplinary background remains largely hidden from patients who don't know how or where to look for the information.
- Smoking, as outlined in The Dayton Daily News
Public health advocates foresee a perfect storm heading to Ohio next year that could increase smoking rates, gut enforcement of the indoor smoking ban and allow Big Tobacco to lure children into using new, mint-flavored tobacco products.
- Before any healthcare reform, U.S. doctor supply is already strained - The Miami Herald/McClatchey News
It's a phrase people are loath to hear when they're looking for a new primary-care doctor: Not accepting new patients.
Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services.
-- George Pyle/The Buffalo News
