Most people would consider health care a crucial, vital aspect of modern life. That is why any changes to the system can generate an emergency level of concern. Whether it be political debates, new partnerships with hospitals and doctors, or even individuals who are in need of help or support with their day to day living situations, many people have opinions on what they see as the key issues in this ever changing world.
In this health care blog, the top 11 issues in health policy, based on a source from the Center for American Progress are given below:
1. The Health Care Law:
It is important to note that this is not an all or nothing argument. The system we have is flawed, and there are many ideas floating about as to how to make it better. The Health Care law was basically a big step towards fixing some of the flaws that had been present in the system. It was a huge step forward, but it did leave open a number of issues that continue to be debated now and into the future. If you would like more information on why this law was enacted, check out this article from Pew Research Center .
2. Medicare:
The current debate in the aisle is whether Medicare will be run by the government or the free market? The problem with Medicare is that they are underfunded, and they are not able to deliver on benefits to participants. Not only this, but there has been a huge increase in costs over the past decade or so.
3. Medicaid:
This is an issue that affects millions of Americans, and it is important that you know what you are talking about when discussing it on social media. According to research conducted by Center for American Progress , ” Medicaid does not work very well as a health insurance program and in many ways is more expensive than private insurance. It has a poor benefit design, delivers services more slowly than private insurance, and works worse for lower income people who often can’t find providers who will see them.”
4. Medicare Advantage:
This is a way for elderly people to get access to better health care at a lower rate. This strategy was put into place by the Bush administration in 2003. The only problem with this is that the government is not making very much money off of it. The exact numbers speak for themselves in that this gives seniors better coverage, and costs less money to administer.
5. Health care cost:
The health care costs have been skyrocketing over the past few years. According to the Center for American Progress , “the average annual increase in annual health care spending per person is 80 percent since 2000 and that total national health expenditures grew by 61 percent between 2000 and 2008”. Health care costs are a big problem, and there is debate on what will be the best fix. Some just want to throw money at it no matter what, while others want to rein in the costs of some of these treatments that are not really necessary.
6. Pharmaceuticals:
The pharmaceutical industry has been under fire lately, mainly because of their high prices. It doesn’t make sense to pay $1000 for a pill that is supposed to work the same as one sold at the drugstore. For more information on this issue, go to Fair Pricing for Pharmaceuticals .
7. Addiction:
There has been a huge increase in addiction in recent years. In fact, it is at an all time high. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , “the rate of substance abuse disorders (including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and illicit drugs) among adults increased from 6.9 percent in 2004 to 12 percent in 2013”. This is definitely something we need to look into more deeply!
8. Mental Health:
We have been dealing with the issue of mental health for a long time. But, the Affordable Care Act took an important step in making sure that people with pre-existing conditions were not charged too much for their insurance plans. We need to keep fighting for this to continue!
9. Obesity:
This is definitely something we need to get our heads around. Obesity is growing at an alarming rate, and there is so much more awareness about it now than there was even just 10 years ago. The CDC has released a report called “Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme Obesity Among Adults”. This report has a lot of numbers for you to peruse.
10. Communication:
It is ironic that we are more connected than ever, and yet our communication skills have never been worse. People are so short tempered on social media, and this needs to change in order to fix some of these problems. A good place to start would be by reading this article from the Huffington Post .
11. Increase in Opioid Abuse:
According to the USA Today , “90 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day”. It is time to get a handle on the situation before it becomes even more of an epidemic. A good starting point would be something called the Opioid Epidemic Act .
There are a number of additional issues we could be discussing, but these are the top 11 in health policy as of today. Please feel free to share your thoughts about these topics in the comments section below! Thank you for reading!
This content is not intended to be legal advice. You should contact an attorney if you have specific questions regarding any legal issue. This post is intended for educational purposes only.
