Health Care Reform 2009 at healthcarereform.nejm.org  

Oleh:

Curfman, Gregory D. ; Morrissey, Stephen ; Malina, Debra ; Drazen, Jeffrey M.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: The New England Journal of Medicine (keterangan: ada di Proquest) vol. 361 no. 07 (Aug. 2009), page 709.
Topik: Health care

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan FK Nomor Panggil: N08.K.2009.04 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

Lihat Detail Induk

Isi artikel

During the past year, the nation has witnessed a remarkable example of the democratic process at work. A national debate on health care in the United States has captured the country's attention and is the focus of daily coverage in the media. The debate has been most compelling in two arenas. In Washington, the nation's lawmakers have engaged in ongoing — and largely partisan — discussions about health care reform. And at universities and think tanks, policy experts and economists from across the ideological spectrum have produced scholarly analyses. There has been an impressive degree of communication between lawmakers and scholars in public hearings and private meetings. Stakeholders of virtually every stripe have been involved, and no part of our health care system has evaded scrutiny and challenge. The process has often been intense, and today it is far from complete. Given the complexity of our health care system, the national debate has had to address many important questions. Can we achieve health care coverage for all Americans? Should we mandate that all citizens have health insurance and that employers cover their employees or pay a penalty? Should Medicaid be expanded? Do we want tighter regulation of the private insurance market? Should a public insurance plan be created to compete with private insurance plans? Is there a role for health insurance exchanges? How can we rebuild our dwindling primary care workforce, which will be critical to a successful health care system? And most challenging of all, whether our aim is to provide health coverage for every American citizen or only to avert economic crisis in coming decades, how will we pay for reform? Do we have the will to provide coverage for all while also reining in health care costs, which continue to increase three times as fast as wages? Can we sustain our health care system as the largest single sector of our economy? Should we eliminate or modify the tax exemption for employers' contributions to their employees' health insurance? Should we move away from fee for service and instead adopt a salaried model or bundled payments? Should the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the expert advisors to Medicare, be given explicit authority to control health care spending? And can we, in the end, have a high-value health care system in which each dollar spent contributes to better health outcomes for our citizens? To explore these questions and many others, we invite readers to visit our Health Care Reform Center at healthcarereform.nejm.org. In a growing series that currently includes almost 100 Journal articles and online features, a diverse group of authors representing all parts of the health care system and all points of view have wrestled with the issues the country faces. The articles provide thoughtful commentary on universal coverage, comparative-effectiveness research, outcomes research, health information technology, economic challenges and cost containment, and new delivery systems. In addition, a regular Washington Update tracks events in Congress and at the White House. Because health care reform will affect everyone, we have made these articles, along with links to breaking news and primary source material, free to all. As the national debate on health care reform proceeds during the coming weeks and months, we will continue to add new articles and multimedia features to the site. We welcome inquiries and submissions, but the Center is also set up to encourage interaction and debate. We urge readers to visit the Forum section of the Center and share their ideas for the future of American health care. It is our hope that the entire body of work in the online Health Care Reform Center will inform the political process. Although the debate over how to repair and reinvigorate our health care system has been lengthy and often contentious, we must find common ground and consensus. As a nation we will be far better off with meaningful health care reform than without it.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali