Health Care Library- Information to Stay Informed
Welcome to the Library. We have gathered over 400 studies, essays, and position papers from many sources exploring the different sides of the health care discussion. We try to include different perspectives and viewpoints. You may agree with some and not with others. The important thing is to be informed and explore multiple ideas and perspectives to form your own opinions and views. We also hope to post informative resources to help individuals navigate some of the particular issues- benefits, long-term care, HIPAA, health care reform, etc. Consumers are being asked to do many things they haven't had to do before and are going to need some help and direction.
Our goal is to provide a source professionals and consumers can use to explore and discuss various views on different health care topics. Just click on the topic of interest at the right to see what we've found. Please let us know if you run across studies or information you think would be worthwhile to share with others. You can also check out the "Web Sites To Use" if you want to dig further into any particular area- or if you need help to start navigating the many information resources available today.
Whether We Like It Or Not- Fixing Health Care Is Key to Fixing Our Economy (Resources and Information That Are Part of the Health Care Discussion)
Whether we like it or not- fixing health care is a financial/economic issue as well as a social issue. All stakeholders need to be informed of the facts facing us in Medicare, Medicaid, and private health care. The costs of these programs are significant contributors to our debt and will influence ability to start growing the economy again. We're including many of the major documents created over the past few years dealing with our debt and our economy to provide a prospective of what we are facing in health care. Almost all of them stress the need to change the way health care works and the consequences of avoiding them once again.
2010
To begin to put the discussion around health care in perspective we recommend reading the July, 2010 Congressional Budget Office report. This was CBO's commentary on "Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis" (July, 2010); This article puts some perspective around the financial impact health care has had and will have on the country.
"The Moment of Truth" from The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; This was released December 1, 2010 (Simpson/Bowles) and highlights the recommendations to address the debt and fiscal crisis facing our country today. Once again, health care costs are identified as a large part of the debt problem and, unfortunately, the recommendations didn't go anywhere.
Budget and Economic Outlook for Fiscal Years 2011 to 2021. This report was released January, 2011 by the CBO and projects our deficit this year to reach $1.5 trillion. The report states, "The aging of the population and rising costs for health care will push federal spending as a percentage of GDP well above that in recent decades." Once again, we received a warning call, and didn't do much about it.
The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise; This is the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Resolution released April, 2011 and introduced by Representative Paul Ryan which was the focus of some heated health care debates. We're also posting the White House response/approach; Shared Prosperity and Shared Fiscal Responsibility which is a different approach striving to achieve the same goals. We had hoped we could come together and reach some middle-ground but politics would not allow that to happen..
We have included another CBO's analysis released June, 2011;CBO's 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook; This analysis only reaffirms the crisis we will face if no action is taken to correct it. Once again, fixing health care was mentioned as a key to fixing the financial crisis of the country.
(August 2, 2011) This is the text of the Budget Control Act Amendment that was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama to avert the debt-limit issue that our country created. While we may have avoided one crisis- there are more to come. The real decisions will be coming before the end of 2011 with the Joint Seclect Committee on Deficit Reducation. We're posting it here as health care will certainly be part of the discussion in the coming months.
Here is CBO's Budget and Economic Update, August, 2011. The CBO projects our debt level to hit $1.3 trillion in 2011, a slight improvement from earlier in the year. However, this budget outlook assumes what is projected to happen (significant Medicare payment reductions in 2012 among others). If these events don't occur, the debt will be much larger. In 2011 the anticipated debt level will be the third largest in the past 65 years- only exceeded by 2009 and 2010-- quite scary.
(September, 2011) This is the text of CBO Director Doug Elmendorf's testimony to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (The Super Committee). The testimony, Confronting the Nation's Fiscal Policy Challenges, is yet another message affirming we must change the way things are. The picture includes a 30% reduction in Medicare payments to providers- I hope we have the guts and fortitude to work together to make the changes we need to make- and they don't always have to be reducing payments to providers or cutting benefits.
(November, 2011); While our political debate continues to center on the balance of increasing revenue and cutting costs, another study by the Congressional Budget Office highlights the reality of the world we live in. Trends in the Distribution of Household Incomes Between 1979 and 2007 shows the income levels of the top 1% of earners increased 275% during the period while the incomes of the "middle income" increased just under 40% and the lowest earners only 18%. This is a signficant health care issue as the costs of health care may be putting health insurance out of reach for many. Further supporting the economic changes we are experiencing Pew Research Center published The Rising Age Gap in Economic Well-Being documenting the changes in economic well-being of the different age segments in our country. CBO Director Elmendorf provided additional testimony to the "Super Committee" in November (before they crashed) painted a continuing struggle for our economy in 2012. Policies for Increasing Economic Growth and Employment in 2012 and 2013 projects the GDP will only grow 1.5% in 2011 and 2.5% in 2012 with unemployment holding at around 12%. Heritage Foundation's Save the American Dream argues the fundamental way our economy works needs to change.
(December, 2011); To top off 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its 2011 Financial Report of the United States; This provides a good overview of the financial picture of the country- and its not pretty. Billions of dollars are unaccounted, and the accounting processes used by many agencies are a shambles. A CEO and financial manager in the private sector would be removed with such a performance. Congress (Republicans and Democrats alike) should be accountable. We really don't have any idea of how "big" our problem is.
Senator Ron Wyman (D Oregon) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wi) introduced a "bi-partisan" plan to reform Medicare. This is another of many different approaches being debated to solve the upcoming crisis in Medicare before it happens. "Guaranteed Choices to Strengthen Medicare and Health Security For All" provides different alternatives to consider and will likely continue to be a part of the health care debate.
2012
(January, 2012); As the Republican nomination process ramps up to begin the Presidential election cycle, many are proposing different approaches to deal with the fiscal and economic challenges that are part of our reality today. Changes in Medicare and Social Security clearly need to be on the table.Raising the Ages of Eligibility for Medicare and Social Security was released by the CBO in January, 2012 and provides an overview of changing the eligibility requirements for these programs. The conclusion? It won't solve all of the problems- but would start things on the right track. State governments stuggle as well. The Widening Gap: The Great Recession's Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs (Pew Center for the States; April, 2011) shows the "gap" of revenue to costs increased to $1.26 trillion in 2009- an increase of 26% over the previous year. Addressing this gap will also be required to get the state budgets under control
Bottom-line- we're still teetering. We've identified the problems- we just can't agree on a solution and the 2012 elections will likely stall any efforts to really move forward and address the problem. What we do to fix the health care mess can either make or break the direction we go as a country. Regardless of your politics, we need to act now to avoid an even bigger mess being created in the future. We all need to be informed to make the right decisions to fix what we need to be fixed.
