Healthcare is a Top Concern for Americans

Still A Concern and Growing: Healthcare in America

 According to recent polls in the United States, healthcare is still a top concern for Americans-even above other major issues such as escalating gas prices and problems within the housing market.  In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO), ranked the U.S. healthcare system first in both responsiveness and expenditure, but 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health out of 191 other nations that were included in the study.  Recent and past debates over the direction of healthcare as well as the rising cost of healthcare are a major issue for many Americans.  Other health care concerns include things such as access, efficiency and quality purchased by the high sums spent.  The representatives at IBD Insurance appreciate and understand how much Americans are concerned with the rising costs of healthcare, which is why we're proud to offer an affordable array of health care choices to customers.  Simply contact an IBD agent to help you find the ideal health care plan for you and your family.

Inefficiencies in Healthcare Coverage

At IBD Insurance, we understand how important it is to have health care without the hassle.  This is where we can help by walking you through the process of getting you a health insurance plan that  can fulfill all of you and your family needs.  A good portion of the frustrations that many Americans have with healthcare are the inefficiencies that are associated with it. Some of these inefficiencies include:

• Delays in Seeking Care/Increased Use of Emergency Care -- Uninsured Americans are more likely to delay seeking care, which can result in more medical crises-hence more trips to the emergency room, according to recent studies. These trips to the emergency room actually end up placing more of a financial burden on the healthcare system versus using preventive services such as ongoing treatment for conditions such as diabetes.
• Shared Costs of Uninsured  -- Often, the cost of treating the uninsured has to be absorbed by providers as free care, which is then passed on to the people who do have health insurance via cost shifting.  This results in people paying higher health insurance premiums and/or taxpayers paying via higher taxes.
• Variations in Provider Practices  -- The type of health care provider that a patient has can and will often dictate they type of treatment that they receive.  Research shows that there are many cost-effective treatments, which are simply not being utilized; therefore, treatment costs can be expensive.  One such study found geographic variations in Medicare spending for patients during their last two years of life.  The spending levels, as it turns out, were associated with the amount hospital capacity available in each area and increased spending did not result in patients living longer. 
• Poorly Coordinated Care  -- Due to the fragmented health care system in the United States, many patients experience delays in treatment as well as problems with care coordination.  Some of these problems include things such as patients having to wait long periods of time for diagnostic tests as well as having to repeat tests due to confusion experienced by doctors in their inability to locate test results during a scheduled visit.
• Administrative Costs -- According to America's Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry group, the cost of settling claims has fallen; however, insurers are spending more money on other administrative activities such as medical management, nurse help lines and negotiating discounted fees with health care providers. 
  

Other Issues of Concern

In addition to all of the concerns addressed above, there are also issues pertaining to coverage gaps and rejection.  The U.S. Census Bureau indicated approximately 47 million Americans were without health insurance coverage during 2006.  Most of these people were working-class people whose employees did not provide health insurance, and who had  just enough money to not be able to qualify for one of the state programs to provide health insurance to the poor.  At IBD we pride ourselves in being able to provide health insurance that is not only of great quality, but is also affordable regarldess of of your situation. Contact IBD today to find out more about what BCBSNC has to offer you and your family.