Dr. Brian Casull’s Blog
WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE GAME OF BASEBALL
Healthcare is not a “system” in the United States. Rather it is like a game of baseball where your perceived and actual coverage is determined in large part by where you sit in the ballpark of healthcare.
Read my posts below to discover … learn … realize … understand what you can do about
American Healthcare in Transition.
MEDICAL PROCEDURES AND DEVICES CONTRIBUTE TO TOTAL COST OF HEALTHCARE
If we break down the components of today’s health care concerns, one area where a good majority of voters are “very concerned” with the total cost of health care is medical procedures and devices. The cost of your healthcare procedures is dependent on where you live[1] There were huge ranges in prices even within the same state. In the example below, a colonoscopy (a procedure that allows doctors to look inside and see how healthy your large intestine, or colon might be) could cost anywhere from $202 to $1,966 in South Dakota.[2] The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care addresses [...]
PROVIDER VARIABILITY A MAJOR DRIVER OF HEALTH CARE CONSUMER’S CONCERNS
How Providers of Healthcare charge for their services[1] Again, the constant theme in American healthcare is variability. That is why the prices in the United States are expressed as a range. All of this means there are about as many price tags for that hypertension checkup as there are insurers and providers. There's one party — the provider who provides the service. They each have their own master list of charges for different services, and these charge lists are different from provider to provider. There's a second party — the patient or patients — who receive the service. And [...]
ADDRESSING THE TOTAL COST OF HEALTH CARE
Nationally voters rank health care as the top issue. [1] [2] If we break down the components of that concern, one area where a good majority of voters are “very concerned” is the total cost of health care. VERY CONCERNED-Total Health Care Cost Health care cost have increased to 18% of our Gross National Product[3] Since 1960 when the cost of health care was a mere 5 percent of our Gross National Product, national health spending has increased to a projected 19.9 percent by 2025. In 2016 it was 17.6 percent. In personal terms (as in how does that [...]
HEALTH CARE CONCERNS – LOSING ACCESS TO THE DOCTOR OF YOUR CHOICE
Nationally voters rank health care as the top issue. [1] [2] If we break down the components of that concern, one of the issues is losing access to the doctor of your choice. Concerned - Seeing the Doctor of Your Choice The ability to see the doctor of your choice is called ACCESS. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, here is where you obtain your ACCESS to the doctor of your choice (2016 data).[3] Employer: Includes those covered by employer-sponsored coverage either through their own job or as a dependent in the same household: 49% Non-Group: Includes individuals and families [...]
LOSING MEDICARE AND MEDICAID – Part B: Medicaid
Nationally voters rank health care as the top issue. [1] [2] If we break down the components of that concern, one of the issues is losing Medicare/Medicaid. This discussion is brought to you in part by the official CMS website. Medicare and Medicaid are two of the health care pieces that are paid for by the government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Note: View the previous [...]
LOSING MEDICARE AND MEDICAID – Part A: Medicare
Nationally voters rank health care as the top issue. [1] [2] If we break down the components of that concern, one of the issues is losing Medicare/Medicaid. This discussion is brought to you in part by the official CMS website. Medicare and Medicaid are two of the health care pieces that are paid for by the government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. MEDICARE Health Spending by Major [...]
ADDRESSING HEALTH CARE CONSUMER’S CONCERNS
Tectonic Plates Added to the preferred hierarchy of seating arrangements is the "X" factor. These are the often-out-of-your-control occurrences. In the American Healthcare “System”, these are the tectonic plates moving under our feet, which lead to earthquakes. These are the movements that disrupt American Healthcare in Transition and keep it in ‘transition.’ And make no mistake about it, there be earthquakes here. What are the tectonic plates currently roiling under your feet? Your Top Healthcare Concerns[1] [2] [3] The February 2018 Kaiser Foundation Health Tracking Poll found that 22 percent of registered [...]
WELCOME TO AMERICA’S GAME OF BASEBALL AND TECTONIC PLATES
What are people concerned about? HEALTHCARE! A basic question that requires an answer is just what is health insurance? Depending upon which side of the aisle (Democrat/Republican/Independent), your socioeconomic status, which way you lean (right/left/centrist), whether you are an employee or employer, whether you are a Veteran or active duty/retiree, American Indian or Alaskan Native, a senior citizen, a millennial, Gen X, baby boomer, or none of the above; your bias will come in to play. That said, let me try to establish some basic principles upon which you may hang your proverbial hat as we move forward. There [...]
HOW GOOD ARE THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE (CBO) PREDICTIONS?
CBO 2010 DATA ACTUAL DATA AVAILABLE AS OF 2017 CBO PREDICTION MOVING FORWARD SUMMARY In their 2010 estimates of the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the CBO was right on in predicting that a big drop in the percentage of people under age 65 who would lack insurance, and that turned out to be the case. CBO projected that in 2016 that nonelderly rate would fall to 11 percent, and the latest figure put the actual rate at 10.3 percent. The CBO estimate was 24 million would lose their insurance based on the American Health Care Act [...]
The “Better Care Reconciliation Act”
The Senate Republican Leaders released a health overhaul on Thursday, June 22, 2017. BEFORE WE BEGIN-You can hear this English expression in a meeting. If there are announcements to make, people to introduce, or other things to talk about before the main topic of the meeting, someone will say "Before we begin..." let us look at an overview. THE BCRA CHANGES Coverage for People with Preexisting Conditions Mandates to Buy Insurance Other Insurance Market Reforms (Benefits) Medicaid Expansion Subsidies for Marketplace Plans Taxes Funding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) POTENTIAL IMPACT Shifts away from explicit Republican promise that Insurers [...]