About 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — do not have health insurance, according to the latest U.S. Census data. Approximately $100 billion would be needed to provide them with coverage. Can we afford it? And where would the money come from? Experts discuss the issues in Part 5 of the Knowledge@W. P. Carey series on health care and the election.
There’s no doubt about it: Americans want choices. In education. In mail services. And in health care, too — even if the government is picking up the tab. In Part 2 of a series on health care reform and the election, experts at the W. P. Carey School and in the broader community discuss the issue of a single-payer health care system versus one that offers individuals the power to choose from a variety of insurers.
Forty-seven percent of registered voters say that health care is an extremely important consideration in their vote for president, according to a June CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Not surprisingly, then, both presidential candidates have outlined proposals to reform the nation’s health care system. Central to each proposal is a plan to lower health care costs. In the first part of a series about health care issues and the election, experts say actually achieving lower health care costs (or even slower increases in costs) may be easier said than done.
Last year, Dennis Quaid’s anguished visage was splashed across the tabloids. Like many Hollywood stories, this one revolved around drugs. But it wasn’t the usual A-list overdose or contraband possession. Instead, Quaid’s newborn twins were mistakenly given two doses of Heparin rather than Hep-lock. The dosage was a thousand times stronger than it should have been, nearly killing the babies. For anyone who’s ever had a doctor handwrite a prescription and marveled at its illegibility, the issues that Quaid faced and which Michael F. Furukawa, an assistant professor in the School of Health Management and Policy at the W. P. Carey School of Business, addresses seem self-evident. But the problem is not just a pharmacist dispensing an incorrect drug or a nurse administering too much of the right one. The health system abounds with medical mistakes. Some have minor effects; some are fatal. Together, they add up to a very real problem.
Ask U.S. consumers about their satisfaction with the existing health care system, and up to 80 percent say major fixes or even a complete overhaul are overdue. But they may not understand the complexities of health care reform, says Marjorie Baldwin, economist and director of the School of Health Management and Policy at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Baldwin is one of a growing number of well-regarded economists who say there is a vast gap between public perception and reality when it comes to what’s wrong with health care — and how to fix it.
Back pain is the most common and costly occupational disability in the United States; it is also among the most difficult conditions to diagnose. Using data compiled from five employers in 37 states, researchers at the W. P. Carey School of Business have been trying to unravel some of the mysteries of back pain and disability. One important conclusion: Overall health — especially mental health — appears to have a lot to do with how successful a worker is at resuming his or her job after a bout of back pain.
