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If costs keep growing at their current rate, health care will consume 20% of all spending in the U.S. by 2018.
The federal government is expected to spend $1 out of every $5 in its budget on health care this year.
The biggest chunk -- $425 billion -- will go to Medicare.
The health care reform bill moving through the House would increase the federal health care budget by about 11%, adding a little more than $1 trillion in spending over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office projected. Some of the new spending would go into Medicare, raising payments to providers and supplying more coverage for prescription drugs.
The right steps include shifting from the current fee-for-service approach, which pays by the procedure, to one that encourages doctors and hospitals to focus on prevention and perform the most effective treatments.
Other necessary changes include better coordination among primary-care doctors, specialists, hospitals and clinics; improved systems for sharing records and monitoring follow-up care; and more research comparing the effectiveness of treatments, drugs and devices.
The bills moving through Congress try to reshape the system along these lines, albeit gradually.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-health24-2009aug24,0,378257.story
The federal government is expected to spend $1 out of every $5 in its budget on health care this year.
The biggest chunk -- $425 billion -- will go to Medicare.
The health care reform bill moving through the House would increase the federal health care budget by about 11%, adding a little more than $1 trillion in spending over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office projected. Some of the new spending would go into Medicare, raising payments to providers and supplying more coverage for prescription drugs.
The right steps include shifting from the current fee-for-service approach, which pays by the procedure, to one that encourages doctors and hospitals to focus on prevention and perform the most effective treatments.
Other necessary changes include better coordination among primary-care doctors, specialists, hospitals and clinics; improved systems for sharing records and monitoring follow-up care; and more research comparing the effectiveness of treatments, drugs and devices.
The bills moving through Congress try to reshape the system along these lines, albeit gradually.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-health24-2009aug24,0,378257.story
