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Healthcare | 15
The US healthcare
system – have we
found the cure?
Barack Obama’s plans for reform herald a
new era of change for the US health system.
Dr Sneh Khemka, medical director for Bupa
International, takes a closer look at the
proposed changes
A
s the most economically pow- reform and the American people hope Barack health insurance to all employees. In turn indi-
erful country in the world, the Obama can provide the solution. viduals are less able to fill the cost-sharing gap of
US healthcare system should paying contributions to insurance premiums or
be exemplary. America spends What of today’s system? find the money for deductibles or co-payments.
$2.4 trillion dollars on health- There are three ways US citizens can be insured This leaves the average Joe in a limbo of perpet-
care a year. To give this some – employer-sponsored insurance, individual pri- ual fear about seeking healthcare, with a propen-
perspective, other world pow- vate cover and government-funded schemes. sity to avoid seeking out a doctor until the
ers like India and China spend a mere 15 per- Between 2001 and 2007 health insurance pre- problem is both clinically and financially more
cent of this annual budget. But more money miums have increased by 78 percent. During the onerous.
doesn’t mean better care – the World Health same time period, US wages have only increased In fact, some hypothesise that the problem is
Organization ranks the US health system 37th by 19 percent and inflation by 17 percent. But so large that it is healthcare that was at the
in the world. Will the proposed reforms make this rise in premiums hasn’t led to a better level source of the financial crisis. The mortgage
this so-called “sick system” a health system the of cover. In fact the opposite is true - people are defaulters were principally in the Detroit car-
US can be proud of?In a country with no state now getting less for their money. US health manufacturing belt; they defaulted because they
run healthcare system to speak of, Americans insurance providers operate largely independ- had been laid off by their employer; they had
must pay for their own medical costs via med- ently, which has left the industry open to fraud, been laid off by their employers because the car
ical insurance policies. However, healthcare abuse and conflict of interests, sometimes result- industry had been brought to its financial knees;
costs in the US are currently spiralling out of ing in the consumer getting a rough deal. In and the main cause of financial strain was pay-
control at an unprecedented rate. Many some states relative monopolies even exist; for ing for the ever-increasing insurance premiums
employers and individuals can no longer afford example, 90 percent of healthcare coverage in the US system encouraged.
to pay for insurance. In 2007, almost half of Alabama is provided by one company. Government-paid insurance schemes are also
adults in the US were either underinsured or Employers are now in a situation where they in trouble. These schemes are reserved for those
uninsured. This growing need is driving are no longer able to offer fully comprehensive aged 65 and over, people with certain disabilities
www.investmentinternational.com November 2009 Investment International
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