Healthcare Charges WILL Continue to Rise
Today is April 1 and tradition says we should try to do some type of prank or joke to pull the wool over someone’s eyes to have fun. Just over a year ago PPACA was signed into law and with much fanfare over how the bill will change healthcare for the better, we are now scratching our head and wondering was this some type of April fool’s joke. First lets be fair, there needed to be something done to the current healthcare system. Some of the provisions of the law I do agree with however, we are no closer to resolving the real problem and that is affordability of healthcare. Just providing access and coverages for certain ailments are important but not addressing the real issue of “charges” will send us back to where we started, and that is more and more employers and individuals going without health coverage.
In the March 21 issue of FORTUNE the CEO of Humana, Michael McCallister was interviewed. The interviewer asked him this question and I have posted his response:
Q: What’s your bottom-line prediction of what will happen to health care costs in the next five to 10 years?
A: “They’re going to rise because we have not addressed the drivers. Nothing in this bill (PPACA) has done that. We have a system where we’re insulated from real-world cost and quality measures, and we as consumers can’t behave in the way we normally do, and we’re not taking care of ourselves in an appropriate way.”
His comments are right on. We have not addressed the key drivers of charges within the healthcare delivery system. Add to this the consumer is removed during most of the interactions of what is being charged, how it’s being charged and if what is being charged appropriate.
Today is April fool’s day. But it is not joke, charges will continue to rise in healthcare and that is no laughing matter.