HEALTH CARE
Idea of health-care reform appeals to many,
though still a low priority
Melissa
Mitchell, News Editor
(217) 333-5491; melissa@illinois.edu
7/1/02
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —
Nearly a decade after the Clinton
administration's unsuccessful efforts to reform the nation's health-care system,
that system is still ailing – and failing many Americans.
According to data analyzed by Tom O'Rourke, professor of community health at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Nicholas Iammarino, professor
of kinesiology at Rice University, an estimated 43 million Americans remain
uninsured.
"An additional 13 percent of the under-65 population are underinsured –
about 20 million people," the pair wrote in "The Future of Health
Care Reform in the United States: Lessons From Abroad," an article published
in the June issue of the British journal Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics
and Outcomes Research.
The idea of health care reform hasn't lost its appeal among the American public,
according to O’Rourke. But, as a public policy issue, it is unlikely to
become a high priority item anytime soon.
"Health-care reform still makes sense to most people, but the political
climate is just not conducive to change at this time," O'Rourke said. And
the players with the most at stake – not counting consumers – are
unlikely to rally behind a new model, which O'Rourke says must be embraced before
real change can occur.
"In order to get anything going," O’Rourke said, "you still
will need the four big actors behind you: the purchasers, both public and private,
that supply the funds; the insurers, who receive the funds from the purchasers
and reimburse the providers; the providers (hospitals, physicians, nurses, nursing
homes, pharmacies, etc.) that render the services; and the suppliers, such as
the pharmaceutical and medical supply industries."
In the meantime, O'Rourke and Iammarino's analysis of data on other industrialized
nations' health-care policies and systems indicates that "U.S. health care
costs continue to be far higher and have risen more rapidly than other nations."
In fact, they noted, "Of 29 industrial countries including the Group of
Seven (G7) countries, the USA spends more on health care services than most
industrialized countries in dollars and percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
while having the least access to care of any of the other 29 countries."
Among other key issues – or lessons from abroad – cited by the researchers: