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Will America's Health-Care System Be the Next Financial Meltdown?
Recent crises in the U.S. financial sector have frightened the federal government into action. But, we are ignoring an even-larger impending crisis in the health-care system--a crisis that's placing hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars at risk. Treatment of chronic illness accounts for over 75 percent of the more than $2.2 trillion that the nation spends annually on health--and represents even higher proportions of spending in public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. With the aging of the population--and growing problems of childhood obesity--a financial crisis in health care is inevitable without strong leadership for change. We can't afford another bailout. But, we won't need one if we take action to prevent chronic diseases today--before they become a crisis tomorrow.
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is a national and state-based coalition of more than 100 patients, providers, community organizations, business, labor, and health-policy experts, committed to raising awareness of policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more-effective prevention and management of chronic disease.
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"Right now, while everybody is looking at the economic downturn, and the bailout or the loan program up on Wall Street, the same thing has got to be taken care of--and it's just as immediate--and that's the reformation of health care in America, and dealing with chronic illness, wellness, and prevention."
"On the issue of health-care reform, going forward into 2009, obviously making health care more affordable [and] less expensive, improving the quality, and finding ways to improve access are a centerpiece of this debate about health-care reform. And, I think that there's some concern, in some quarters, that--given the current state of our budget and the economy overall--that taking on health care may be just too much, too big. I would argue exactly the opposite: The bottom line is, failure to act on this issue of making health care more affordable--both for private insurance and for Medicare--is a recipe for long-term disaster. And, in fact, I think that the economic downturn has made paying attention to the issue of health-care reform in 2009 an even-more-important priority."
