Increasing ‘Inequality’ Related To Health Care Costs Shows Need For Change, Editorial States

“The rise of inequality over the past generation calls for … reform” of the U.S. health care system, a Washington Post editorial states. “Workers’ total compensation may be rising, but health benefits gobble up an increasing share of that, so wages lag,” the editorial states, adding, “Equally, out-of-pocket medical expenses are believed to cause at least 425,000 bankruptcies annually, and one in six working-age adults carry medical debt.” In addition, as more companies “drop coverage, the prospect of losing health care will be a growing source of anxiety for all but the most financially secure” U.S. residents, the editorial states. The elimination of the “twin problems of insecurity and squeezed pay” should begin “with a fix for the insurance market that serves individuals and small firms,” the editorial states. Under the current system, as “low-cost patients leave the insurance pool, health plans are left with older, sicker people, which forces them to raise premiums further — which in turn drives more young and healthy workers to exit,” the editorial states. According to the editorial, to address the problem, “taxpayers could cover part of the cost of insuring sick individuals, thereby driving premiums down and enticing healthier people to buy insurance,” and states could allow residents to “buy into the health plans that are offered to state employees.” The editorial adds that reforms also must include “reining in the costs” of health care. Health insurers should “take the lead on price discipline,” and “cost containment … could be smarter and more palatable if government encouraged doctors to maintain” electronic health records, which could help eliminate unnecessary diagnostic tests and determine which patients would benefit most from new treatments, according to the editorial. The editorial concludes, “So long as a third of the workforce lives in fear of losing access to doctors, nobody should expect the nation to believe a rising tide is lifting all boats” (Washington Post, 12/13).

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