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Joy125

Posted Wednesday, October 21, 2009 2:08 PM

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Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:09 PM
Posts: 2,354, Visits: 4,116

Harvard Study Suggests Assumed Cost for Universal Coverage is Misleading

Study Underscores Need for Primary Care

By James Arvantes

10/13/2009

As Congress continues to debate health care reform legislation, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School suggests that covering the uninsured population is less expensive than initial estimates if certain cost offsets are taken into consideration.

The study in the October 6 Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who were either continuously or intermittently uninsured between the ages of 51 and 64 cost the Medicare program an additional $1,000 annually per person on average compared to individuals who had had continuous insurance coverage before age 65. The increased costs primarily resulted from complications associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes and from delayed surgeries for arthritis.

. . . . "As Congress debates health care reform, this study suggests that expanding coverage for older uninsured adults -- particularly those with treatable chronic conditions -- would produce not only substantial health benefits but also economic benefits, which should be considered when putting a price tag on those health care reform proposals," said J. Michael McWilliams, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and an assistant professor of health policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School.

McWilliams said the cost estimates of proposed health care reform legislation currently do not include these cost offsets.

. . . The most compelling feature of the study is that spending differences between the insured and uninsured were concentrated among the two-thirds of adults with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, said McWilliams. Previously uninsured adults with cardiovascular disease or diabetes were 48 percent more likely to be hospitalized for complications resulting from those conditions.

Yet, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are "very amenable to medical treatments," said McWilliams.

"Our findings suggest that uninsured adults before age 65 receive inadequate care for treatable chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, which leads, in turn, to costly complications after 65, such as heart attacks, heart failure and strokes," said McWilliams.

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE AT:

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/health-of-the-public/20091013harvardstudy.html

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I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition. MARTHA WASHINGTON

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Grandpavan

Posted Wednesday, October 21, 2009 6:00 PM

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Last Login: Yesterday @ 11:54 PM
Posts: 4,500, Visits: 3,620

I don't see this as an insurance problem but as a problem of personal choice. If someone chooses to take care of themselves they are less likely to need hospitilization. Those who are interested in taking care of themselves are more likely to have insurance. I consider insurance being a sign of the basic choice to take care of themselves. God bless.

Age 82, diagnosed RA 12/2001, married since 1952, 4 sons no daughters, 4 grandsons 1 granddaughter. Doing well on Methotrexate and Remicade.

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