HEALTH CARE 2015

I have, as I trust my writings have indicated, among other interest two that are paramount concerning people. The first is of course good governance which seems difficult to obtain. The second is as a result of a lifetime involvement; the availability of quality health care to all. That is irrespective of economic status or ethnic origin or national allegiance.

Unfortunately the present status of health care leaves much to be desired. Overall it has regressed from what I would term the “golden years” of my era, the 60s and 70s despite tremendous advances in knowledge and technical applications. This is due to attempts to be all encompassing without finite fiscal resources.

That has been subject matter previously, but today I am interest in two newspaper reports of which the first and perhaps the second has to do with the ACA.

The second year of the mandated but not completely universal health insurance coverage is approaching. Already those carriers offering proscribed plans such as bronze, silver, gold, and platinum through the various state or federal sponsored exchanges have filed in 10 state exchanges their desire premium scale for 2015.

Taking their Silver Plans, the most popular, as an example in all but one state the largest insurer has proposed premium increase ranging from 8.5% to 22.8%.

I had foreseen large increase in previous blogs during the past year since the companies are beginning to get a handle on the risks they have assumed. Also the acceptance of the 17 to 34 year old healthy individuals of purchasing mandated insurance has been less than prognosticated in part due to the fact that the income tax penalty is much smaller than the insurance costs.

There are some bright spots though; in many of the exchange venues companies that did not acquire large numbers  of policy holders are offering same level coverage at only slightly above the lowest 2014 coverage in that state. So people can change carriers for a cheaper policy. 

The danger is that with decreased federal subsidy to the insurance companies some may land in a financial crisis.

There is however another encouraging fact in that many of the larger carriers after getting their toes wet are expanding into other states.

The one state where the lowest silver plan will remain the same is Maine where the cheapest silver plan premium will remain at $307 per month single coverage. That is still the 5^th highest of the present group.

The other article has to deal with long care facilities or nursing homes. 

According to the media New Jersey is the 5^th most costly state for that type care. But what is even more disturbing is that the decubitus ulcer rate is well above the national average.

That of course is a reflection of the quality of care given the bed ridden patient. The man factor involved is most likely a sparse staff in an effort to control costs.

Less likely is an uncaring staff which does not suffer from an excessive patient case load.

Once again dollars are impacting on the quality of health care.