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The State of Our Health Care
The American College of Physicians (ACP) held a webinar last week to release its report, The State of the Nation’s Health Care 2012: How Bad Budget Choices and Broken Politics Are Undermining Progress in Health, And What Should be Done About It. During the webinar, ACP President Virginia Hood and ACP Advocacy SVP Bob Doherty discussed recent progress and current challenges as they see them:
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Health care costs increased at the lowest rate in 50 years, continuing an eight year slow-down, although some of the most recent drop may be due to Americans forgoing needed care.
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Even so, spending on health care has reached an all-time high, and is projected to continue to grow faster than the economy.
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Increased federal spending associated with an aging population and rising costs of health care continue to pose the greatest challenge to the fiscal health of the U.S.
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Health status has improved on several key indicators of population health, including reductions in all five leading causes of death, but disparities continue for many demographic groups and poorer residents.
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The Affordable Care Act has begun to reduce barriers to care for tens of millions of persons, including young adults, children with pre-existing conditions, and seniors, however more than 46 million still went without health insurance.
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Despite a dramatic increase in primary care physicians and other health professionals serving in underserved communities, the U.S. still is facing a projected shortage of more than 40,000 primary care physicians.
All in all, ACC would agree with much of their enumeration of risks and opportunities. I would have liked to have heard more about how registries and systematic quality improvement could help lead the nation out of the rising cost dilemma we are in. What are your thoughts?
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