NEW YORK, June 17, 2008
Study Predicts Ballooning Health Costs
Hospital-Building Boom And Cost Shifting From The Uninsured Are To Blame, Audit Finds
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The study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts that medical costs will increase 9.9 percent in 2008 and an additional 9.6 percent in 2009.
"Health care providers, insurers and employers will have to monitor medical costs carefully if we are to avoid a resurgence of the double-digit annual increases seen in the past," said Dr. David Chin, leader of the Health Research Institute at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The report identified two factors driving the increase:
- A hospital building boom, as hospitals replace facilities and add private rooms and centers for outpatient treatment.
- An increase in the expenses those with insurance are paying for those without. Cost-shifting from the uninsured, Medicare and Medicaid will account for nearly one in every five dollars spent by private insurers in 2009, according to the study, as the federal government underfunds public insurance programs and the number of people with private insurance continues to decrease.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers surveyed more than 500 employers and health plans, with total coverage of more than 11 million people, for the report.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 115 CommentsIf you currently have employer paid health care it is COMPENSATION - get it? It was negotiated at the time of hiring. They aren''t "entitlements" any more than WAGES are.
So essentially McCain''s campaign promise (and one you agree with) is "vote for me and I''ll cut your pay".
Hmmm....unlike you I think I''ll vote for my self-interests, and those clearly aren''t represented by McCain
Boy, that''s great! Take a pay cut effectively and then shop for health insurance with less money. What are you smoking faith?? Old tires?
A vote for McCain is a vote for $10 per gallon gas.
A vote for McCain is a vote for a bigger house and a bigger car for faith_in_w.
A vote for McCain is a vote for your children to go hungry.
The choice is simple, direct and self-evident. faith_in_w is TELLING YOU WHAT TO EXPECT. MCCAIN IS GOING TO STICK HIS HAND IN YOUR POCKET AND TAKE YOUR WAGES AND GIVE THEM TO faith_in_w. For no reason other than that he CAN.
What are you going to do? Vote your own self-interest, not McCain''s and not Bush''s.
Silly little Americans. Health care is only for rich people.
lol!
Meanwhile all the other major industrialized nations have free health care.
Instead of having health care in the U.S., we invade Iraq and spend three trillion dollars trying to fix what we''ve broken there.
Thanks Republicans.
Republican Logic:
Free health care paid for by U.S. taxpayers for all Iraqis is a very good idea.
Free or government subsidized health care here at home is a very bad idea.
lol!
Posted by lovemy3boys
Well with an attitude like that I''m sure you''re right.
Here''s the entire proposal:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
Does the w stand for war or the chimp trying to run the country.
How will they monitor costs? Maybe if they went to Disneyland instead of Honolulu for their annual meetings... :)
It''s the cigarette smokers and the 300 pounders who are driving health care costs through the ceiling. They are the ones who should pay for their care.
Folks who lose weight, stay tobacco-free, and keep their cholesterol controlled should get their health care at a reduced cost.
If you cannot control yourself to step away from the pastry cart, if you are too weak-willed to quit smoking, then YOU should have to pay every penny for your heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, etc.
In the end, choosing to be healthy is the most cost efficient for both individuals and the country.
Because, idiots, the faster something rises the quicker it hits its top price, and becomes overpriced, and then cannot rise anymore. so health care will stop increasing rapidly soon, it is going through a boom right now so you cannot project these rates of increase indefinitely into the future. The writer of this article should be jailed for ignorance of basic math and price cycles.
For example, if the price of milk goes up in my supermarket by 10 cents on Tuesday, that rate of increase is $36 a year. now some idiot media type may panic, projecting milk at $40 a gallon by the end of the year. It''s bad math. There is a short-term rate of increase, which can vary widely, and a long-term rate, which is absolutely governed by the income levels of the people in the society. they cannot pay more money than they have, the price cannot rise above a certain level. with health care, short-term would be 2 decades of fast growth, unsustainable, long-term you will find is pretty much a small and reasonable increase commeasurate with income growth.
Posted by tmcattack at 12:31 PM : Jun 17, 200
No one has mentioned it because maybe it isn''t true? All right, let''s say they impact health care. Give us numbers.
Posted by Roachcrusher at 12:53 PM : Jun 17, 2008
I agree. It''s one step anyway.
............
Think about it, if and American worker worked for the same low wages the illegal did he would be eligable for medicaid (free health care)for him and his family, pay no taxes and get a $3000 earned income check from the IRS every year, get food stamps, be eligable for Social Security, disability, workers comp, unemployment insurance and on and on. So tell me, how are illegals causing the health care crisis?
- Drug companies: The world%u2019s 13 largest alone recorded $62 billion in profits in 2004.
- HMOs: The 20 largest in the U.S. made $10.8 billion in profits in the most recent fiscal year.
- Hospitals: Aggregate profits for U.S. hospitals reached a record $26.3 billion in 2004 %u2013 and profits have risen substantially the past few years even as the number of hospitals and hospital beds has been shrinking.
- Executive compensation: 12 top HMO executives pocketed $222.6 million in direct compensation in the most recent fiscal year. The top 12 drug company executives collected $192.7 million for the same period.
- Mergers: $1.15 trillion has been consumed by pharmaceutical, hospital, HMO, medical device, and biotech corporate mergers and acquisitions in the past 12 years.
http://www.calnurse.org/media-center/press-releases/2005/december/page.jsp?itemID=27509278
Here%u2019s some more disturbing comparisons between charges (to you) %u2026 and true costs.
http://www.ahd.com/sample_outpatient.html
Posted by tmcattack at 01:14 PM : Jun 17, 2008
+
............
I think I do, ecnomically you pay either way. Either through higher prices for higher wages without illegals or lower wages for Americans as illegals drive down wages. I just don''t think Illegals are a major factor in health care cost.
Not only would it lessen your health problems, you would be bale to fit your carcasses into vehicles smaller than 12 gallon to the mile SUVs etc and reduce your gas usage and gas costs
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Posted by dmw1167 at 01:50 PM : Jun 17, 2008"
Amusing comment coming from a moron who like 99% of americans has never travelled outside his trailer park let alone outside the USA
You don''t have to wait for months to see a doctor in any of the Western european countries that have NAtional Health Care systems
Whilst in the US ,it''s common practice for 10 year olds to die from a lack of dental care
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Posted by thebruce384 at 02:05 PM : Jun 17, 2008
Please provide your statistics and source for this claim. ''common practice"? I think you''ve worn out your DVD of sicko.
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Posted by dmw1167 at 01:53 PM : Jun 17, 2008
Because that''s the way the tax code is written.
[Posted by thebruce384 at 02:02 PM : Jun 17, 2008]
how do you expect the continuation of indiscriminate consumption to carry on if we can''t eat and spend indiscriminately?
this wouldn''t be good for the economy ... and so we''ve been told to keep living beyond our means and w/ wanton disregard for our own well being ... and especially the well being of others.
America ranks #42 worst in Infant Mortality Rate in the modern world:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html
America ranks #47 in Life Expectancy Rate in the modern world:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html
America got the #1 highest healthcare cost (twice (2X) 2nd place Sweden): http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf
What good is our advanced/high-tech medical system if Americans cannot afford it?
There is a new industry now of flying you to India for all your operation/surgery. See http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/18/health/webmd/main2104425.shtml
What good is the best Healthcare in the world when only the Rich and those few with Health Insurance like our Congressman are the only one that can benefit. The remaining Americans without insurance or under-insured are counted as dead if they do not travel to Canada, Mexico or India.
Legit stats. This "free market" patchwork system of health insurances is ridiculous. Healthcare with a profit motive is ridiculous.
Maybe someday the US will move into the ''80''s, with the rest of the world...
When you have trouble with health insurance, thank the republicans...
Americans fear a Government-based HealthCare system like in many countries around the world will limit their Choices.
However, of those few Americans today with Insurance, 81% are with HMOs, POSs or PPOs which mean you are limited to which doctors, clinics and hospitals you can visit. Where in the hell is our freedom to choose?
Even if we had that freedom to choose, when you have an emergency, you visit the Closes Clinic, Doctors or Hospitals and not the best one in your state.
[Posted by lovegetpeace at 03:00 PM : Jun 17, 2008]
not only is this true ... but the next time the doctor orders up a procedure (like say an ultrasound or some type of radiology scan like an mri, or an upper gi) ask the doctor how much that test will cost ... he won''t know.
then go out in the waiting room and ask the receptionist for that doctor how much that test is ... he/she won''t know.
then go to the facility where the test is performed and ask the receptionist there how much the test costs ... he/she might know ... but my experience has been that this person won''t know either.
then ask the technician who performs the procedure how much it costs ... they won''t know.
Posted by tmcattack at 03:03 PM : Jun 17, 2008.
Excellent point. Instead, your employer pays part of your premium (how much is their contribution?), and your paying part of the premium, and then your out-of-pocket, and then those that voluntarily have no insurance, etc etc etc.
Solution? Everybody pays for it in TAXES. Yes, i said taxes, and it''s likely you''ll pay less than all those bills you pay now.
It''s time.
1) to pay the costs for all of those who don''''t pay, i.e. illegals, those who chose not to get insurance, etc.
Answer: We all have the choice to get private health insurance or thru our employer but its too expensive - OUCH your wallet.
2) Now also lets see about life expectancy and infant mortality.
Answer: Nobody take their sick children to doctor because its OUCH your wallet.
3) how about these facts adding to the rankings, Americans are unheathly, they don''''t eat right, they don''''t exercise, they do hazardous activities (like driving), they take drugs, they have dangerous jobs, they fight in wars, etc.
Answer: All the other countries with better ranking than America have similar if not same lifestyles if not worst. It is to the benefit of Capitalism to have more obesity (as one example) than to have none - profit goes thru the roof. It is to the benefit of our Pharmaceutical companies to have you on medicine all year round rather than to cure you with one drug.
4) All those things effect those rating however they have nothing to do with the quality of health care.
Answer:
As the other countries with better ranking than America, I would in a heartbeat take a lower quality of health care to have a much better life expectancy and infant mortality rate.
Posted by tmcattack at 03:15 PM : Jun 17, 2008
Now that''s just being a jerk. Sad ''con strategy, when you can''t win, just shout out ''em down.
Think again about the forces at play to keep the profit motive in healthcare. You''re being a good little tool...
1) if it SOOOO MUCH better in Mexico, Canada and India, feel free to move there, if they will let you. They have stricter immigration laws and might not let you in.
Answer: Check out on the internet how easy it is to immigrate especially to Canada since they wish to populate the country.
2) Additionally why do you think people from all those countries want to move from there to here if our system is so bad.
Answer: The perception from American''s Movies and News is great. Once they are here, good luck with your paycheck (reality check).
3) We have large populations from all those countries and more coming to the US for a better way of life and all you can do is bad mouth it.
Answer: My statistic are from the U.S. CIA - not me.
4) We are and should be a free market society.
Answer: Protect your wallet.
5) If the politicians would leave it alone and quit over regulating everything, especially the democrats,
Answer: Good luck with the NeoCons'' policies.
6) you seem to know a lot about how great other countries are and yet somehow I doubt you have ever been there. I have traveled the world and have seen whats out there.
Answer: I came here from another country and perception and reality are 2 different things with regards to the Healthcare system. I am glad the Democratic Party will fix this expensive Market (PROFIT) based Healthcare system with your help.
1) insurance and medical costs go WAY down IF you don''''t have pay the costs for all those who don''''t pay. Affordable health care and insurance because we don''''t have to pay the costs of others, what a novel idea.
Answer: These ''others'' cannot afford it because the ''POOL'' for insurance companies is decreasing. The biggest cost is the Emergency Room where they treat whomever comes in with or without insurance.
2) no other country in the world has the same life style americans have....lack of power, clean water, no luxuries, even in countries like Italy, Greece, Germany, England, France, etc.
Answer: Sounds like you live in a Gated Community. Give me the city where you live and I will give you the neighborhood I want you to visit once in your life.
3) the lifestyle the many americans live shorten our lives and the lives of infants, i.e. drug use by expantant mothers, obesity, etc. so don''''t just assume those numbers mean that if you live a healthy life style in the USA you won''''t out live those from other countries.
Answer: Thank you for admitting how ''bad this free market society'' really is.
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