Reforming Health Care: Rural America
Posted by Jonah on May 5, 2009 at 10:54 AM
On Monday Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform held one in a series of discussions on health care. The discussion focused specifically on health care in rural America. The Department of Health and Human Services had earlier released a report showing;
- Nearly one in five of the uninsured – 8.5 million people – live in rural areas.
- Rural residents pay on average for 40% of their health care costs out of their own pocket, compared with the urban share of one-third.
- In a multi-state survey, one in five insured farmers had medical debt
Rebecca Adelman of the Department of Health and Human Services noted;
The meeting participants gathered at the White House included farmers, ranchers, teachers, and fishermen, who spoke of their shared difficulty affording health care. Dr. Wayne Meyers, a pediatrician and organic farmer in rural Maine, summed it up by saying: "For most rural people, cost is the bottom line…health care costs are eating us alive." Many participants expressed frustration that farmers who spend their lives growing healthy food for the nation are struggling to afford medical care they need to live healthy lives. Jon Bailey, Director of the Rural Research and Analysis Program, spoke to the difficulty many small businesses are having in rural areas as they attempt to remain profitable while paying huge sums for health care coverage. Bailey said, "If we don’t solve the health care issues of small businesses, and farmers and ranchers and fishermen in rural areas, we won’t have an entrepreneurial economy, and that means we won’t have much of an economy in rural America."
While these listening events have been taking place the top two leaders on this reform effort in the Senate, Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Baucus have told the President they intend to have a health care reform bill ready in June.
Comments (5) «
It's always nice to see politicians who cross party lines, even if that means joining another party. I think more politicians like this are necessary to tackle some of today's biggest issues such as global malaria, measles, and malnutrition. The Borgen Project has good info on the estimated cost of ending global poverty:
$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$550 billion: U.S. Defense budget.
Health care reform must be an issue for this administration. But instead of just focusing on the health of Americans, it would be wise to help combat severe health concerns abroad such as measles, malaria, and malnutrition.
The Borgen Project has good info on the estimated cost of ending global poverty:
$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$550 billion: U.S. Defense budget.
All one has to do is look at what passes as health care in the less populated areas of this country to see where the real holes are developing in more urban areas as well. Fewer family/primary care doctors, less facilities, and hardly any preventive care.
Not only have more people become uninsured, but health care for everyone is becoming harder to get and more expensive. Our delivery system is completely broken and is leaking blood. The professionals trying to fill in the gaps are being punished with long hours and less compensation. This is madness.
Everytime I hear Republicans threatening the public with the horrors of a universal system like in Canada and England, I know they are either rich or are politicians who can demand whatever they want. The rest of us, including the care givers and hospitals, are getting whatever the insurance companies dole out after they take excessive profits.
Look to the countryside. They don't have any choices any longer except to drive long distances and wait with those trying to see specialists. There will be fewer choices for all of us in the coming years if we do not address the real problem....the inefficiencies of a disjointed marketplace with no coordinated care plans to stop people from getting sick to begin with.
Give me the horrors of family doctors, hospitals, and nurses and techs who are paid enough and fully rested so they care that I stay well.
The President desires to make health care available and affordable to all Americans. I agree with this ideal, but achieving this goal has to be affordable to the taxpayers. The potential, contingent liability for this government program has the possibility of being significantly more than the current costs for social security and medicare. Both of these programs are underfunded, approaching insolvency, and we the taxpayers are more than broke. How can we afford another large, social program when we're already $1.8T in debt? As long as each American is offered health insurance and pays the bill himself, then we can achieve this goal.
The simple fact is that when government manages things, it screws up terribly. If this not obvious yet, go find out why Canada has a 10% higher mortality rate for certain health problems, and a retracting budget for qaulity supplies.
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