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The Jackson & Coker Industry Report is a compendium of healthcare news,
commentary, and other important information for busy physicians and hospital /
practice administrators. The monthly newsletter incorporates original research
and studies supplied to Jackson & Coker by a nationally recognized research
firm.
“Politicians and physicians need to work in tandem if the United States is to develop the most effective and efficient healthcare delivery system in the world.”
This paraphrase has been repeated by the thousands of physicians that Jackson & Coker speaks to on a daily basis.
As a result, Jackson & Coker commissioned a survey to determine the opinions of health professionals, especially practicing physicians, on the topic of healthcare reform. The survey results convey their views and advance the ongoing debate at this point in the presidential election cycle.
| 1. Which current presidential candidate do you feel
would most improve the US healthcare system? (In alphabetical
order). |
| Hillary Clinton |
 |
28% |
| John McCain |
|
30% |
| Barack Obama |
|
24% |
| Other, please specify |
|
18% |
|
| Physicians' unedited comments listed below: |
| Ron Paul |
| I don;t think politicians or insurance co should regulate healthcare. |
| Whoever adopts the Healthy Americans Act or something similar. |
| View All Comments for this Question |
| 2. How important are healthcare issues when you are
selecting a presidential
candidate? |
| Extremely important |
|
55% |
| Somewhat important |
|
39% |
| Not that important |
|
6% |
|
| 3. How familiar are you with the concept of
Universal Health Care (UHC) proposed for the United
States? |
| Very familiar with the issues |
|
42% |
| Somewhat familiar |
|
47% |
| Admittedly, not too familiar |
|
11% |
|
| 4. How long have you been practicing
medicine? |
| Less than 5 years |
|
12% |
| 6-10 years |
|
15% |
| 11-15 years |
|
12% |
| Over 15 years |
|
61% |
|
| 5. Which model would be most beneficial in the
US? |
| The current healthcare model |
|
2% |
| The current system—with significant
improvements |
|
46% |
| A
universal healthcare delivery system |
|
38% |
| Other, please specify |
|
14% |
|
| Physicians' unedited comments listed below: |
| For better QUALITY care, go back to 100% market-driven, private, fee-for-service care (i.3. get the government OUT of the health care business). For better ACCESS to care (regardless of quality), the governmment would have to "take over" the whole industry (including pharmaceuticals)--quality would undoubtedly suffer, but everyone would have coverage of basic health care. This "in-between" stuff is bad for everyone! |
| Removal of the government from any healthcare plans except catastrophic insurance coverage, and then this should be for everyone. |
| I would like to see the developement of a 2 tiered health care system, with a basic program availiable as sort of a UHC. This could cover basic needs, er care, preventiive care, but would have inherent delays in non emergent care. A second tier would cost more, but allow patients access to care more in the way they wish, more like our current system. This would give basic health care to those who cannot afford the current insurance, but also give choice to those that can afford it |
| View All Comments for this Question |
Hot Topic and Coming Attractions
“Healthcare reform.” The concept is on the minds of most Americans and on the lips of Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama and their political surrogates making their case with the general electorate.
Most surveys and opinion polls query voters concerning the best proposal offered and how to implement it. This month’s edition of the Jackson & Coker Industry Report reveals the results of a recently commissioned survey focusing on the views of health professionals, especially practicing physicians who actually provide medical care. Along with expressing their general opinions regarding some modified healthcare system, such as “Universal Health Care,” survey participants offered informed opinions on which presidential contender appears to offer the best proposal—and why. All three presidential campaigns have requested copies of the survey results.
Also noteworthy: starting next month, our newsletter will showcase two new features that will appear regularly. “Special Reports” will discuss topics of general interest to the healthcare community, paired with guest articles from leading experts in the medical field or other “industry gurus” offering key insights related to the concerns of physicians and hospital / practice administrators.
We are pleased with the positive response to the Jackson & Coker Industry Report and are excited about the more robust content it continues to offer to subscribers.
Cordially
Calvin Bruce
Managing Editor
Many U.S. Consumers Want Major Changes in Health Care Design, Delivery
Source: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Date: 02/26/2008
In a poll of over 3,000 Americans between ages 18 and 75, the consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu gathered information on public attitudes towards healthcare.
Financial concerns top the list of important issues, as 93 percent of consumers claim they are unprepared for future health care costs. 84 percent prefer generic prescription drugs over name brands, and 39 percent say they would travel abroad for comparable treatments in order to cut fees in half. 16 percent have already used a walk-in or retail clinic, and 34 percent said that they would.
Increasing online access to healthcare information is another major trend in this year’s survey, with over 60 percent of respondents saying they want to be able to retrieve their medical records and test results online. A further 25 percent would be willing to pay a premium for these services.
For the upcoming presidential election, 79 percent of respondents believe health care will be important, and 46 percent place it in their top 3 voting issues. On the question of increasing taxes to help the uninsured, 29 percent would support an increase, and 37 percent would be willing to “consider” a tax increase. Sixty-six percent are either strongly in support of or lean towards state-mandated health coverage.
Health care still remains enigmatic to many; only 52 percent claim to understand their health plans, and just 25 percent of those surveyed keep a personal health record.
Full Article | Comments | Back To Top
Who Really Pays for Health Care?
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
Date: 03/05/2008
A commentary in JAMA by Drs. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Victor R. Fuchs attacks the notion that healthcare coverage in the United States is a “shared responsibility.” In actuality, the commentators argue, healthcare premiums are paid for by individual workers in both public and private healthcare schemes.
The authors point out that when adjusting for inflation over the last 30 years, though healthcare premiums have increased by 300 percent and corporate profits have increased by 150 to 200 percent, employee wages have only increased by 4 percent. Additional studies that further drive home the point show that a 10 percent increase in state health insurance premiums resulted in a 2.3 percent decline in employee wages. Though employers pay the premiums directly to providers, the actual costs are passed along to employees through reduced wages and consumers through increased prices. The same can be said for government healthcare programs that substantially increase taxes as state and federal programs increase their scope.
According to Emanuel and Fuchs, dispelling the rumor that ordinary workers and citizens do not pay the full cost of healthcare coverage is crucial for reforming America’s healthcare system in a responsible manner. As employees begin to understand that they are already paying for their own coverage, they will be more likely to abandon their reliance on a system where employers supposedly foot the burden of premiums.
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US Healthcare Spending to Double by 2017, Report Predicts
Source: HealthDay
Date: 02/26/2008
Already high numbers for healthcare spending in the US could double within 10 years, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The new government report follows a January 2008 report that revealed an increase in healthcare spending to 2.1 trillion dollars in 2006, a figure that represented 16% of Gross Domestic Product. The new report predicts a major shift in healthcare spending from the private sector to the public sector as the costs of maintaining the Baby Boom generation increasingly fall to the government.
The increase in healthcare spending, coupled with the economic downturn widely forecast, is likely then to increase healthcare spending to 20% of GDP by 2017. While private spending is expected to drop from 6.6% of GDP in 2009 to 5.9% in 2017, Medicare is expected to balloon to $884 billion by that time. Prescription drug spending is expected to more than double in the same time span, reaching $515.7 billion in 2017.
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Hospital’s Accounting is Under Fire by a Union
Source: The New York Times
Date: 02/20/2008
In an encounter that could have far-reaching consequences for hospitals around the country, a powerful labor union is pressuring a Boston hospital to modify its accounting procedures. The outcome of the confrontation could have an effect on non-profit hospitals and other organizations everywhere.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Boston hospital, included the bad debt the hospital had incurred in its calculation of its 2005 and 2006 financial reports. Some $11 million of bad debt was included in the hospitals tally of its 2005 charitable care, raising the total value attributed to charitable care to $67.6 million.
This figure is disputed by the 1.9 million member strong Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is engaged in a nationwide reform movement. The SEIU contends that the debt write-off is in conflict with the accords of the Sarbannes-Oxley regulations, enacted after the Enron scandal to govern the accounting conduct of for-profit institutions. The IRS has made clear that such debt cannot be ascribed to charitable care, but that decision came after the filings in question and is not retroactive in nature. The matter is currently under evaluation by all involved parties and—though the hospital contends that there is no legal standing for the union’s objection—shows no signs of a quick resolution.
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Doctor Shortage Impacts Rural Areas
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal
Date: 02/26/2008
Medical school enrollment caps in the 1980s and 1990s are the root cause of the shortage of surgeons and primary care physicians nationwide. So says an article in the Reno Gazette-Journal, and the effects of these decisions are said to be especially hard felt in rural areas.
With the expectation that Managed Care would result in a glut of doctors, medical schools implemented caps on enrollments in the 1980s. These caps on enrollment numbers held steady throughout the next two decades, even though the American population increased by 70 million from 1980 to 2005.
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