The McKinseyinformation below is clear evidence that the US needs some form of universal coverage. Senator Baucus (D-Mont), The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, stated this week that any government overhaul of health care would include coverage for 95% of all Americans, and he felt there was a 75% chance that significant legislation would pass this year http://tinyurl.com/o54bxo.
One of the big questions still to be answered is will this legislation include a public plan similar to Medicare that would compete with the private health insurance plans. Many are worried that such a plan would compete unfairly with the private plans reducing people’s options. Whatever direction is selected, new and innovative ways to produce true and immediate cost reductions are needed. Unfortunately many of the discussions around IT solutions will not produce any cost reductions for at least 3-4 years at substantial investment.
Chart Focus Newsletter May 2009
View on the web: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/newsletters/chartfocus/2009_05.htm
Health care and US income disparities
As US health care costs rise, so do insurance premiums and the amount of money employers spend on them—from 1996 to 2005, the average contribution rose by 5 percent a year in real terms, to $5,068. Some employers are rescinding health care benefits altogether, while others are limiting the number of eligible employees, so enrollment in employer-paid schemes is stagnating or declining, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study. This research also reveals growing disparities in the percentage of employees at different income levels receiving employer-paid health benefits: only 22 percent of employees in the lowest income group (earning an average of $14,800 a year), but 56 percent, 81 percent, and 89 percent of those in the lower-middle, upper-middle, and top income groups, respectively.
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