Benefits PRO - Benefits Pro Broker Expo Show Daily 2017 Day 1

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2017

FORMERLY BENEFITS SELLING EXPO

By Daniel Williams

The American health care system ay have a myriad of problems, but health care expert Aaron Carroll said we sometimes make the issue more complicated than is needed.

Carroll, who is the director of the Center for Health Policy, Indiana University School of Medicine, served as the opening keynote yesterday.

“Think about health care as the iron triangle,” said Carroll.

That iron triangle draws its strength (and weaknesses) in the answers to three questions: how much coverage costs; how good is the coverage; and, how well do people get access.

“If anyone promises they can improve all three, they are either lying or a politician or both,” said Carroll.

The three-legged stool

The U.S. did not invent universal health care
out of thin air, according to Carroll. “The vast
majority of developed countries offer universal
coverage,” he said. “The U.S. remained alone
in not offering it along with Chile, Turkey and
Mexico.”
The Affordable Care Act made its promise on
the idea of a three-legged stool, stated Carroll.

1. Everyone should be able to get insurance even if they have a pre-existing condition.

2. To prevent people from gaming the system.

They need to buy insurance even if they are healthy.

3. To make sure everyone can afford the insurance, many people will be given tax credits to help offset the costs.

“For it to work,” said Carroll. “We need all
three legs of the stool. This is how all of the
countries with universal health care make it
work. They all start with a similar model in
mind.”
In making his case about America’s woes,
Carroll submitted a series of slides comparing
the U.S. health care system to other countries
who are members of the OECD (Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development).

After looking at the results, let’s just say, thank you, Canada.

Access

At least in one measure, the ACA has worked. “We have reduced the number of uninsured to an all-time low,” Carroll said.

But that’s only one way to measure the success of the ACA. A 2016 Commonwealth Study looked at a myriad of health topics that often placed the U.S. in an unfavorable light.

The U.S, was second to last in the percent of people unable to get a same-day appointment when sick, just above Canada. Half of Americans cannot get an appointment on the same day if they call in sick.

Cost, however, is the biggest barrier to access, and that barrier stretches across socioeconomic lines. About one-third of all Americans neglect care because of costs. The richer half of Americans are more likely to forego filling a prescription or going to a doctor when compared to the poorest people in other OECD countries.