I am a Nuclear Medicine Technologist at a hospital in the Twin Cities. I work daily with outpatients, performing tests to diagnose various types of disease. One of the biggest problems I see with heathcare is cost. The most common test we perform in our department costs upwards of $5000. If a patient doesn't have insurance, they will either end up not having an exam that would be beneficial to them, or they will complete the exam but not pay their bill. In this latter case, the hospital ends up eating the cost of the test. At most hospitals around the area, this is a growing problem. The current economy is partly to blame, since as people lose jobs, they lose insurnace coverage. Even those who have insurance are increasingly not paying their portion of the copay, and the hospital loses money. This loss ends up getting spread around, since exams end up costing more for everyone in order to make up the difference.
One step toward improving this downward spiral is to reform the insurance that patients have. A universal health coverage would be a good start. If patients had better access to insurance, it would in turn provide them better access to healthcare since the costs involved would be less of a barrier for them. It would also help insure that the hospitals were reimbursed for the tests they provide the patients. By being paid consistantly, providers would be able to lower the costs for everyone. Patients would be able to get the tests they need instead of putting them off because of an inability to pay. By getting these tests, doctors will be better able to diagnose disease in the early stages instead of waiting until a problem becomes chronic or needs costly emergency treatment.
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This just proves that the recession affects the lives of people in ways we wouldn't necessarily think of right away. I agree that without insurance coverage too many people and places are losing funds necessary. I hope that our government takes further steps necessary!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point to bring up. Patients choosing to not have a benefiticial procedure often end up back in the hospital with a progression of their initial disease. However, if they do have the needed procedure done, don't pay their bill, and the hospital ends up paying; then, the hospitals become more leary of allowing patients without insurance to have procedures at all. This adds to the countless opsticals patients already face in the heath care feild. I do find it quite ironic that although having access to primary care seems to be a widely known life-saver in later life, our society as a whole does not want to enforce its importance as we should.
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