thegreekdog wrote:jj3044 wrote:thegreekdog wrote:Healthcare costs increased substantially, as a percentage of GDP from 1968 to 2008. Why? I'm sure the growing number of obese people and increases in the average age of our population had much to do with it. But one would think technological advancement would breed less need to spend money on healthcare. There are a number of studies showing what drives healthcare costs in the US. Such factors include increase utiliation of health insurance created by increased consumer demand (which will only increase now that we have "free" health insurance), new treatments, and more intensive diagnostic screening. Other researchers indicated that healthcare providers are rewarded for treating and testing patients rather than curing them. None of these cost factors are helped by the Affordable Care Act.jj3044 wrote:The law does much more than create more "freeloaders". It also tries to change the healthcare delivery system, which today is VERY ineffective. Here's how:
-Make preventive well-visits free (fully insurance paid) annually, allowing for much earlier identification of diseases and conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and yes, cancer, which in early stages typically do not have many symptoms. By the time symptoms are noticed, usually damage has already been done. By identifying and treating these conditions earlier, the condition costs much less, and will over all reduce the burden of treatment in the system today.
-Encourage a performance-based fee structure from insurers to providers. I currently live in Rhode Island, and "Patient centered medical homes" are the new buzz word... meaning that most of the resources needed to treat a patient are located within the practice (dietician, physical therapist, nurse case manager) to facilitate better care. When the patient meets better-than-average outcome measures, the practice gets paid more. Also, electronic health records are being installed so that if a patient goes to a different doctor, they can pull up the patient's information, see that they had a CT scan last month that was negative, and NOT order an unnecessary, duplicate test.
-Encourage employers/insurers to utilize value-based benefit designs. Basically these designs encourage proper use of the healthcare system by rewarding plan participants for being proactive in their health such as having an annual physical, taking a health risk assessment, or speaking to a health coach.
I need more details (e.g. links). I've read the law at least twice, and I don't remember seeing anything like this in it.
I am assuming you just mean the second and third point, as the free well-visits has been highly publicized, and I'm sure it was communicated to you when your plan renewed (assuming you are in the USA).
For the other two points, I doubt I'll have time to actually go through to find the sections (although, I may in the next few days... let's see how Thanksgiving goes and how many tasks my wife gives me ). For the third point, I am specifically referencing the grants for businesses to start a wellness program, and the law allowing employers/insurers to now use up to 30% of the premium as a wellness incentive (i.e. the aforementioned well visits, coaching programs, etc).