Is the U.S. Health-Care System What’s Really Ailing Us?

You’ve probably heard that while the U.S. spends a whole lot of money on medical care, our citizens aren’t healthier than in other countries that spend far less.

In fact, a new study published online in Health Affairs finds that fifteen-year survival rates for U.S. 45- and 65-year-olds declined from 1975-2005, relative to a dozen other developed countries. The survival rate for 45-year-old women is now the lowest among those countries.

Explanations offered for the U.S.’s lagging health stats usually include our diverse population, smoking habits, obesity problems, car-crash and homicide rates and number of uninsured.

The authors of the new Health Affairs study, however, systematically go through those reasons and explain why they can’t explain the gap — for example, obesity rates were actually increasing more slowly during that 30-year period in the U.S. than in many other countries. “We can be confident about what isn’t responsible,” Peter Muennig, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, tells the Health Blog.

Muennig and his co-author, Sherry Glied, a Mailman professor who is on leave at HHS, speculate that the U.S. system itself, with its ever-rising rate of health-care spending, may be to blame. First, Muennig explains, as health costs rise, “the cost of insurance must also rise, putting it further and further out of the reach of employers” and of individuals. Coverage deteriorates, even for people who do have insurance.

In addition, the authors note that when health care eats up an ever-greater portion of the federal budget, funding for other programs that might improve survival — public-health efforts, education and community-development programs — gets squeezed out.

Moreover, the fee-for-service structure of the system, combined with an emphasis on specialty care, may not only boost spending but also lead to unnecessary procedures and perhaps “secondary complications.” And fragmented care “leads to poor communication between providers, sometimes conflicting instructions for patents, and higher rates of medical errors.” (The authors emphasize that it’s not known whether these factors are actually influencing the health of the population.)

“These findings undercut critics who might argue that the U.S. health-care system is not in need of major changes,” the authors write. The study was funded by the Commonwealth Fund — which has advocated for many of the changes in the health-care overhaul law.

Do you agree with their theory?

Further reading:

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

Is the U.S. Health-Care System What’s Really Ailing Us?

You’ve probably heard that while the U.S. spends a whole lot of money on medical care, our citizens aren’t healthier than in other countries that spend far less.

In fact, a new study published online in Health Affairs finds that fifteen-year survival rates for U.S. 45- and 65-year-olds declined from 1975-2005, relative to a dozen other developed countries. The survival rate for 45-year-old women is now the lowest among those countries.

Explanations offered for the U.S.’s lagging health stats usually include our diverse population, smoking habits, obesity problems, car-crash and homicide rates and number of uninsured.

The authors of the new Health Affairs study, however, systematically go through those reasons and explain why they can’t explain the gap — for example, obesity rates were actually increasing more slowly during that 30-year period in the U.S. than in many other countries. “We can be confident about what isn’t responsible,” Peter Muennig, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, tells the Health Blog.

Muennig and his co-author, Sherry Glied, a Mailman professor who is on leave at HHS, speculate that the U.S. system itself, with its ever-rising rate of health-care spending, may be to blame. First, Muennig explains, as health costs rise, “the cost of insurance must also rise, putting it further and further out of the reach of employers” and of individuals. Coverage deteriorates, even for people who do have insurance.

In addition, the authors note that when health care eats up an ever-greater portion of the federal budget, funding for other programs that might improve survival — public-health efforts, education and community-development programs — gets squeezed out.

Moreover, the fee-for-service structure of the system, combined with an emphasis on specialty care, may not only boost spending but also lead to unnecessary procedures and perhaps “secondary complications.” And fragmented care “leads to poor communication between providers, sometimes conflicting instructions for patents, and higher rates of medical errors.” (The authors emphasize that it’s not known whether these factors are actually influencing the health of the population.)

“These findings undercut critics who might argue that the U.S. health-care system is not in need of major changes,” the authors write. The study was funded by the Commonwealth Fund — which has advocated for many of the changes in the health-care overhaul law.

Do you agree with their theory?

Further reading:

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

Is the U.S. Health-Care System What’s Really Ailing Us?

You’ve probably heard that while the U.S. spends a whole lot of money on medical care, our citizens aren’t healthier than in other countries that spend far less.

In fact, a new study published online in Health Affairs finds that fifteen-year survival rates for U.S. 45- and 65-year-olds declined from 1975-2005, relative to a dozen other developed countries. The survival rate for 45-year-old women is now the lowest among those countries.

Explanations offered for the U.S.’s lagging health stats usually include our diverse population, smoking habits, obesity problems, car-crash and homicide rates and number of uninsured.

The authors of the new Health Affairs study, however, systematically go through those reasons and explain why they can’t explain the gap — for example, obesity rates were actually increasing more slowly during that 30-year period in the U.S. than in many other countries. “We can be confident about what isn’t responsible,” Peter Muennig, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, tells the Health Blog.

Muennig and his co-author, Sherry Glied, a Mailman professor who is on leave at HHS, speculate that the U.S. system itself, with its ever-rising rate of health-care spending, may be to blame. First, Muennig explains, as health costs rise, “the cost of insurance must also rise, putting it further and further out of the reach of employers” and of individuals. Coverage deteriorates, even for people who do have insurance.

In addition, the authors note that when health care eats up an ever-greater portion of the federal budget, funding for other programs that might improve survival — public-health efforts, education and community-development programs — gets squeezed out.

Moreover, the fee-for-service structure of the system, combined with an emphasis on specialty care, may not only boost spending but also lead to unnecessary procedures and perhaps “secondary complications.” And fragmented care “leads to poor communication between providers, sometimes conflicting instructions for patents, and higher rates of medical errors.” (The authors emphasize that it’s not known whether these factors are actually influencing the health of the population.)

“These findings undercut critics who might argue that the U.S. health-care system is not in need of major changes,” the authors write. The study was funded by the Commonwealth Fund — which has advocated for many of the changes in the health-care overhaul law.

Do you agree with their theory?

Further reading:

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

How Carlos Boozer really broke his right hand

On Sunday evening we told you about Carlos Boozer's(notes) Saturday evening fall, which resulted in a broken hand, and a likely two-month stay on the injured list.

Later Sunday evening, before an already-shook Chicago area was about to be hit with the worst pro football game since the invention of the pink headband, Carlos Boozer explained just how he mangled his right hand.

[Photos: More images of new Bull Carlos Boozer]

As quoted by the Arlington Heights Daily Herald's Mike McGraw:

"It happened last night, probably 5:30-6 o'clock at night, got it looked at right away. I find out for sure today when I saw the hand specialist. I'm going to get it done as soon as possible, so Tuesday morning I'm going in early to get the surgery taken care of so I can start my rehab process.

"It was just dark. My doorbell had rang and I tripped over a bag, tried to brace myself and it popped. I jumped back up, opened the door and my hand was still a little bit numb.

"It was a gym bag. It was a big bag I had first thing over here at the hotel for training camp. I went back to my place, hadn't unpacked the bag yet, came around the corner, running to get the door and fell over it. I'm 265, 5 percent body fat. I'm heavy, man. I guess I had to brace myself and my weight just collapsed the bone right there."

[Related: Player misses time with pizza-place injury ]

Ouch. At-home injuries are just the worst for guys like this, because nobody believes you. Last summer I destroyed my big toe just walking into a heavy industrial fan, and everybody believed it, because they knew I was clumsy enough to pull off something like that, and don't really enjoy an interesting enough life to hurt it any other way. Pro athletes, even ones as injury prone as Boozer, still get no benefit of the doubt.

How do I know this? Well, based on some research I did in a parking lot last night after the Bears game, the general consensus is that Carlos popped the bone in a thumb wrestling bout with Tom Donaghy (not "Tim," just a guy named "Tom Donaghy"), while James Caan and Rahm Emanuel cheered on from behind a two-way mirror. Should make for an interesting recovery.

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View the original article here