Stories on Health Care and Health Insurance Reform
Welcome to this installment of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. Once again health reform was big in the news recently, so I chose some articles of interest covering this very topic. The first article comes to us from Human Resource Exective Online magazine, and is entitled, "National Health Reform Begins." This article discusses what they feel are needed steps in order to gain true health care reform.
These steps include expanding SCHIP -- the national children's health insurance program -- to include more children; passing an economic stimulus package that helps promote better health care technology and workforce training; and developing legislation that makes the process and transition to a new and more efficient health care system smoother for everyone.
The article then goes onto to lay out some goals for the coming year, including approaching individual responsibility, granting subsidies, guaranteed coverage despite pre-existing health conditions and much more. While these goals are ambitious, the article's author doesn't feel they are impossible to achieve. I guess time will tell if they're correct.
Our next article comes from Newsday and is entitled, "Children get into the spirit of promoting health reform." This article discusses how a recent project called the "America's Future Starts With Healthy Children Art Exhibit" recently took in over 400 displays from children around the country, and will be showcasing sixty of the works. Organized by the Health Rights Organizing Project, they intend to "put a face on an issue that is really dehumanizing," referring to uninsured or underinsured children and families. It's good to get everyone involved, and I hope this project raises awareness for this hot button issue.
Our final article comes from Reuters and is entitled, "Obesity epidemic shows perils to health reform." In this article, they first use the example of a man who recently got gastric bypass surgery. At nearly 400 pounds, his health problems were causing his insurance company thousands of dollars a month, as well as severe issues such as sleep apnea. While his insurance company wouldn't cover the bypass surgery, they would cover the tracheotomy needed to relieve his sleep apnea.
This kind of confusing coverage is one of many problems facing those looking to reform health care and health insurance. According to the article, medical costs for the obese can directly and indirectly reach $117 billion a year. This is due to other health issues caused by obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and much more.
The article goes onto discusses the bias and stigma surrounding obesity, and why it's a tough sell in the case of reform, especially when it comes to prevention. Legislators in states like New Hampshire are striving to pass laws helping cover more obese people by insurance companies so that they will have an easier time getting the coverage they need, but there is resistance by the insurance companies.
Overall, the road to reform won't be easy, quick or efficient, but hopefully we'll get there mostly unscathed. This concludes this issue of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. Until next time, may you remain both happy and healthy.
