Friday, October 08, 2004
Cost Cutting?
I've written before about the hazards of patient populations skimping on their care/meds/etc. A new study just published gives some even scarier numbers: among older adults, 18% with chronic conditions skip some of their meds because of out-of-pocket cost pressures, and 14% do so at least every month.
It's not discussed directly, but the costs of this, in terms of peoples' health and quality of life, and also in terms of impact on the rest of us, has got to be tremendous. These people are sicker, which means they can't be as productive (many are still working), their medical bills are likely to be higher (which means Medicare or insurers have to pay more, raising premiums), and this will all take serious tolls on their families.
We need serious healthcare reform. Now.
It's not discussed directly, but the costs of this, in terms of peoples' health and quality of life, and also in terms of impact on the rest of us, has got to be tremendous. These people are sicker, which means they can't be as productive (many are still working), their medical bills are likely to be higher (which means Medicare or insurers have to pay more, raising premiums), and this will all take serious tolls on their families.
We need serious healthcare reform. Now.
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