Improving Quality of Health Care

Evidence of quality problems

Variation in services

There are wide variations in health care practice from regional to small area which indicates health care practices have not kept pace with the evolving science of health care

Underuse of services

18,000 people die each year because they do not receive effective interventions.

For example a study of Medicare patients who had suffered heart attacks found that only 21% of eligible patients received beta blockers. The mortality for patients receiving beta blockers is 43% lower than those who do not.

Misuse of services

A national study conducted over a ten year period found that deaths from medication errors rose more than two fold, 7, 391 deaths were attributed to medication errors in 2003 alone.

Disparities in quality

While we would like to think that prejudice would not stretch into the medical arena Researchers at the University of Alabama found than the use of thrombolysis (clot buster) for patients who experienced heart attacks was evidence-based life saving and Black Medicare beneficiaries were significantly less likely to receive the treatment than white who received this treatment.

Decrease the Cost

under national health insurance could:

Offset the cost of covering the uninsured (estimated at $80 billion)

Cover all out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs for seniors as well as those under 65 (estimated at $53 billion in 2003)

Fund retraining and job placement programs for insurance workers and others who would lose their jobs under NHI (estimated at $20 billion)

Make substantial improvements in coverage and quality of care for U.S. consumers who already have insurance

Single payer system

Single-payer health insurance collects all medical fees and then pays for all services through a single government (or government-related) source.

This will offset the administrative overhead from insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors and save $286 billion annually

As an example of the extremely high U.S. drug prices, consider the cholesterol drug Lipitor, one of the best selling drugs in the world. At CVS, a leading U.S. pharmacy, Lipitor (40 mg/90 tablets) costs $361.99. At Drugstore.com, another U.S. pharmacy, the same drug costs $335.97. While in Canada at CanadianOnlineRx.com pharmacy, the cost is $215.46, and in India at licensed pharmacy InternationalDrugMart.com, the identical generic drug costs $120.94

Why do they charge so much because they spend millions and millions lobbying to congress

$855 million between 1998-2006

Putting a cap on mal practice jury awards

$500,000 for mal practice

$250,000 pain and suffering would ease doctor necessity for practicing defensive medicine decreasing health care costs