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.
HEALTH CARE CONSUMER’S CONCERNS ABOUT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT — THE LAW OF THE LAND (Part A)
(THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY) One area of health care related concerns where a good majority of voters are focused is the AFFORDABLE CARE ACT or ACA. This blog is about three components of that major driver of consumer concern. In this blog we will set the stage by describing what it is and what it isn’t. Setting the Stage-The Affordable Care Act Then came the Affordable Care Act. whose purpose was to improve affordability and accessibility, oversee, coordinate and govern the many pieces in play. It did, and it didn’t. What it did do was stretch [...]
HEALTH CARE COSTS AND PATIENT COMPLIANCE
This blog is about a major driver of health care cost which has not received the attention I believe it should: Our own involvement in our health care and how COMPLIANT we are in doing the appropriate things to improve our health and, by extension, decrease the total cost of healthcare. Compliance Along the Health Care Continuum The last variable we will take up before we close this discussion on concerns about health care costs is one that you, the reader and patient, can control: compliance. In medicine, compliance describes the degree to which a patient correctly follows medical [...]
THE HIGH COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – Part B
Last week, we discussed how much prescription drugs are costing you and what the drivers were for those high prices. (Read: “The High costs of Prescription Drugs, Part A”). In this, Part B, of my blog talking about the high cost of prescription drugs, we continue that discussion … RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT To be fair, there is a cost associated with research and development. The cost of developing a prescription drug that gains market approval was $2.6 billion recently. This represents a 145 percent increase (correcting for inflation) over the estimate made in 2003, which was $1.4 billion. [...]
THE HIGH COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – Part A
Nationally, voters are “very concerned” about what is going on in the world of pharmacy and how it impacts you. Not only how much prescription drugs are costing you, but also how to lower those drug prices. The Cost of Prescription Drugs [1] The chart below gives you a visual example of the dramatic increase in the retail price of prescription drugs. [2] Current trending has leveled off at just under 6 percent and is predicted to stay in that range through 2025. [3] Here is a summary of pharmaceutical cost drivers based on the current situation. Pharmacy (Prescription Costs) Cost Drivers [...]
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 [...]