Rising Out-of-pocket Health Care Costs for Olders Americans: How Far Can Consumers Stretch Their Resources? : a Briefing

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U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991 - 115 pages

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Page 67 - ... the use of public resources should go to disabled people at home or able to come home after short nursing home stays. People in nursing homes should be guaranteed an ample floor of protection, ensuring that no one — regardless of length of stay in the nursing home — will become impoverished. All but the poorest should contribute to the costs of their care. Building a Long-Term Care System Based on these principles, the Commission recommends developing an integrated public program that would...
Page 98 - Cost-sharing requirements on beneficiaries must not create economic barriers to receiving adequate health care. Deductibles and co-payments penalize the sick and therefore should not be relied upon as sources of financial support for the program. All physicians would be required to accept assignment and would not be allowed to pass along additional fees to beneficiaries. 5) Quality Assurance Standards would be established to govern patient care in all medical settings. Independent oversight of the...
Page 100 - America is showing increasing signs of support. This country should not allow another child to die because the parents do not have the money to buy insurance , another pregnant woman should not be turned away from an emergency room because that hospital doesn't accept Medicaid patients. Another senior citizen must not be forced to impoverish herself or himself because of a need for constant care. And most of all, Mr. Chairman, sick people should not have to wait until they're forced into an emergency...
Page 54 - ... gap is widening between the majority of Americans, who can take advantage of the best medical services in the world, and the rest, who find it hard to get even basic needed care. As the gap increases, the weight of financing care for those without adequate coverage is undermining the stability of our health institutions. Even for the majority, the explosive growth in health care costs is steadily eroding the private insurance system — the bulwark they count on as their defense against financial...
Page 55 - Lewm/iCF analysis of Current Population Survey data. March 1988. Almost 9 million children are uninsured — more than one- quarter of all those without public or private protection. workers were in firms with fewer than 25 employees. Even though most small firms provide insurance to their workers, large numbers do not — increasingly because they are disadvantaged in the insurance market. Small firms must pay more for insurance than large firms because they have fewer employees among whom to spread...
Page 98 - ... insurance as they move away from home for the first time. And most of all, Mr. Chairman, we want for our grandsons and granddaughters. We want them born healthy so that they can live the lives their parents and grandparents envision for them. Mr. Chairman, the inevitable force of change is coming. Just as the campaign for Medicare began after a long period of neglect for the health of our people, the time for America to enact a universal, comprehensive national health care program may be in sight....
Page 91 - It would not be understating the enormity of America's health care crisis to suggest that our "system," such as it is, is in disarray. The costs being borne by consumers, industry and government are breaking our backs. Since 1980, national spending for health care services has doubled — from $240 billion -to over $500 billion a year.
Page 44 - Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. SOURCE: Health Care Financing Administration, Office of the Actuary: Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey.
Page 98 - Financing Any system of financing a new national health care program must be broad-based and progressive, based upon our nation's traditional approach to financing social insurance programs. 4) Cost Sharing Cost-sharing requirements on beneficiaries must not create economic barriers to receiving adequate health care.
Page 67 - ... clarifying the tax code to give long-term care insurance the same preferential tax treatment health insurance now receives. Oversight would entail standards for insurance policies, consumer counseling to evaluate policies, and penalties on insurers for failure to comply. 4. The Commission believes that all severely disabled persons — regardless of age, underlying disease or disabling condition — be eligible for public benefits, at home or in a nursing home. To qualify for longterm care benefits...

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