President Obama and Health Care Reforms

Introduction

A variety of specific types of reform have been suggested to improve the United States health care system. These range from increased use of health care technology through changing the anti-trust rules governing health insurance companies and tort-reform to rationing of care. Different overall strategies have been suggested as well(kff.org). During a June 2009 speech, President Barack Obama outlined his strategy for reform. He mentioned electronic record-keeping, preventing expensive conditions, reducing obesity, refocusing doctor incentives from quantity of care to quality, bundling payments for treatment of conditions rather than specific services, better identifying and communicating the most cost-effective treatments, and reducing defensive medicine.

President Obama further described his plan in a September 2009 speech to a joint session of Congress. His plan mentions: deficit neutrality; not allowing insurance companies to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions; capping out of pocket expenses; creation of an insurance exchange for individuals and small businesses; tax credits for individuals and small companies; independent commissions to identify fraud, waste and abuse; and malpractice reform projects, among other topics(www.forbes.com).

Health Care Reforms

There have been a number of different health care reforms proposed during the Obama administration to improve the U.S. health care system. These include variety of specific types of reform ranging from increased use of health care technology through changing the anti-trust rules governing health insurance companies and tort-reform to rationing of care. The Obama administration has suggested a package of reforms, as have several Congressional legislative proposals. Barack Obama and Joe Biden's plan strengthens employer-based coverage, makes insurance companies accountable and ensures patient choice of doctor and care without government interference. Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year. If you don't have health insurance, you will have a choice of new, affordable health insurance options. Inefficient and poor quality care costs the nation at least $50 to $100 billion every year (www.washingtonpost.com). Billions more are wasted on administration and overhead because of inefficiencies in the health care system. And given current trends, this problem will only get worse as health care spending is expected to double within the next decade. A growing body of research points to substantial opportunities to improve quality while reducing the costs of care. Health care systems in many parts of the country deliver high quality care to the populations they serve at half the cost of other equally renowned academic medical centers in other parts of the country. The key is to provide information, incentives and support to help physicians and others work together to improve quality of care while reducing costs. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must redesign our health system to reduce inefficiency and waste and improve health care quality, which will drive down costs for families and individuals. The Obama-Biden plan will improve efficiency and lower costs in the health care system by: (1) adopting state-of-the-art health information technology systems; (2) ensuring that patients receive and providers deliver the best possible care, including prevention and chronic disease management services; (3) ...