Chronic Disease: The Financial Crux Of The Healthcare Crisis
Mead Over wrote:
A guest post by Val Jones, MD.
On the eve of our second presidential debate, I had the chance to interview Dr. Ken Thorpe, Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), about America’s healthcare crisis. Here’s what he had to say (click here to listen to the podcast):
1. I was part of a press conference call with you and former Secretary of HHS, Tommy Thompson last week. I learned that the economic burden of chronic disease is the rough equivalent of two Wall Street bailouts a year. Can you describe the scope of the crisis to our listeners?
About 75% of what we spend on healthcare is associated with chronically ill patients. That’s about 1.6 trillion dollars per year. Chronic disease accounts for the biggest source of spending in the healthcare economy, and it’s also the fastest growing – as more and more people are living with chronic illnesses. If we’re really serious about getting to the bottom of the healthcare affordability crisis, we’ll have to first address the chronic disease issue.
2. We’re starting to hear that healthcare is an economic security issue, do you agree, and if so, what is the link between healthcare and economic security?
There’s no question that healthcare is a major part of the economic security issue for several reasons. First of all, from an employer standpoint, they’re seeing health insurance premiums becoming a growing share of their cost of doing business. And it’s an area that they can’t control very well. For workers, […]
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