We hope you make time to see the documentary, Escape Fire, which premiered tonight in cities across the US. Thank you to those of who joined us for the Chicago screening and lively discussion afterwards.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, the film tackles the American healthcare system, a subject that carries with it decades of debate and misinformation.
Recent media attention has focused on partisan politics, rather than what is broken in the system and how best to move forward. There is wide agreement that something has to be done, but until now there hasn’t been a unbiased lens to view the problem. Escape Fire finally provides that lens. The film “seeks to explore possibilities to create a sustainable system for the future and to dispel misinformation in order to create a clear and comprehensive look at healthcare in America."
Below are the seven things or “big ideas” about the American health care system captured by this film. Many of these things you may have already heard about or experienced yourself; however, seeing them packaged in 90 minutes of intense storytelling through the eyes of patients, providers, the military and business leaders makes the messages hit home loud and clear.
After you see the movie, tell us what you think. What did you learn about health and healthcare? What new questions came up for you as you watched? What changes in attitude or behavior are being sparked and inspired by the film? What can you do now or in the future to make a difference in your own health and healthcare as well as the health and healthcare of those around you? Drop us a line at info@illinoishealthmatters.org and let us know!
Barbara Otto, CEO
Health & Disability Advocates
Seven Things
1. PAYING MORE, GETTING LESS
The average per capita cost of healthcare in the developed world is $3,000. In the U.S., it’s around $8,000. As a country, we spend about $2.7 trillion on healthcare annually, and about one-third of healthcare costs, roughly $700 billion, do not improve health outcomes. In fact, for the first time in the history of our country, life expectancy is going down for many disadvantaged Americans. The high price of healthcare affects all of us, even if we’re already covered by health insurance. As costs spiral out of control, individuals are the ones who make up the difference, be it through higher premiums or taxes. The first step in changing the system is understanding that the current model is unsustainable.
2. TREATING THE WHOLE PERSON
Most doctors only have time for quick fixes, for putting Band-Aids on the problem. We need the healthcare system to provide incentives for leading healthier lifestyles, changing our diets, and being open to holistic methods of healing that can address the body and the mind — in other words, the whole person.
3. PREVENTING DISEASE
Roughly 75% of healthcare spending goes to treating preventable diseases. That’s a lot of unnecessary money and a lot of unnecessary illnesses. For too long, the American healthcare system has emphasized tests, screening, and awareness of disease. While these practices might lead to earlier detection, they’re no match for true disease prevention. We don’t have to wait for disease to set in to live healthier lives. If we can make fresh food as cheap as processed food, and if we can live more active lives, we can curb disease before it ever has a chance to strike. But we need support: from our workplaces, from our communities, and from our healthcare system.
4. OVERMEDICATION
We spend $300 billion on pharmaceutical drugs. That’s almost as much as the rest of the world’s medicine spending combined. Prescription drugs play a vital role in helping patients who need them; however, too many drugs are being marketed to patients who don’t need them, leading to situations where the drug has the potential to do more harm than good. The military recognizes the problem, and they’re trying to wean soldiers off their drugs by putting more emphasis on alternative approaches: physical therapy, exercise, yoga, and meditation. They are preaching patient-centered care that better meets the needs of injured veterans.
5. OVERTREATMENT
For patients, “more” doesn’t necessarily mean “better.” When it comes to our health, recent studies show that “more” can actually mean “worse.” The reason? Any time we go into a hospital, we take on risk. Medical errors do happen. Harmful drug interactions do occur, especially when so many doctors and nurses are giving you care. A recent study showed that as many as 187,000 people a year die from medical error or hospital-related illness. If that were an official cause of death, it would be the third largest killer in the U.S.
6. AN ENTRENCHED SYSTEM
Pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, hospitals, and insurance companies are profiting from our declining health. Some of the $2.7 trillion dollars we spend on healthcare every year goes to supporting lobbyists and politicians in Washington who maintain business as usual. To get back on track, we need to remember that healthcare is about more than just making money. It’s about making Americans healthier.
7. REIMBURSEMENT
“When you reward physicians for doing procedures instead of talking to patients, that’s what they’re going to do - procedures.”
- Dr. Leslie Cho, Cardiologist, Cleveland Clinic
In general, the system rewards higher-tech, higher-cost procedures over low-cost, high-touch treatments. Primary care physicians aren’t paid to have long conversations about nutritional counseling or exercise regimens. Most alternative therapies aren’t covered. We need to shift payment to reward everyone in the system for providing the right kind of care rather than more of the wrong kind of care. If we can start reimbursing doctors and hospitals to keep patients healthy or, better yet, keep Americans from ever becoming patients, then we’ll see a rapid change in the way we give care.
[These "Seven Things" were adapted from the Escape Fire Screening & Discussion Guide. You can use this guide to hold your own screening - at your workplace, in your community, in your schools or at home.]
Debunking Obamacare Myths
Dr. Barbara Bellar, a senate candidate from Burr Ridge, Illinois, has become a recent YouTube sensation with her humorous critique of the health reform law. In her "Obamacare Summed Up in One Sentence" speech, Bellar raised some serious complaints about the Affordable Care Act. Since Dr. Bellar is running for office in our home state, we decided that some myth-busting was in order. Christopher Wills' article in SFGate does a great job of fact checking Bellars' video, so we'll summarize his article here:
What exactly did this senate candidate say about the Affordable Care Act?
We're going to be gifted with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't
Fact: For those who already have health insurance, there will be no change, and will not be forced to buy any additional coverage. For those who can afford and refuse to purchase coverage will be forced to buy health insurance or pay a tax.Those who can't afford insurance will not be required to pay a fine.
The ACA doesn't add a single new doctor
Fact: Let there be doctors! The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the addition of 15,000 new providers by 2015. The ACA also incentivizes a career in primary care by offering primary care doctors higher medicare payments. Still, Dr. Bellar is right that expanding coverage will put some new demands on the health care system.
The law provides for 16,000 new IRS agents
Fact: No. This claim has been proven to be wildly inaccurate. According to FactCheck.org: "The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation."
Congress exempted themselves from the ACA
Fact: Congress members are REQUIRED to buy their insurance through the exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, thus, not exempting themselves at all.
We will be taxed for four years before any ACA benefits take effect
Fact: Some taxes have been put in place since 2010 (when the ACA became law); according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the taxes taking effect before 2014 affect specific groups such as drug makers, medical device manufacturers, couples earning over $250,000/year and indoor tanners.
Fact: The pre-2014 benefits have been pouring in and are already positively impacting millions of people, right here in Illinois. They include: young adults who are able to stay on their parents' insurance plan until age 26; small businesses who now can use tax credits to provide health care to employees; seniors who are receiving refund checks to fill the gap in their Medicare drug coverage; uninsured people with pre-existing conditions who are now covered by the Illinois Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan; and people with private insurance whose preventive services are covered with no deductible or co-pay.
These initial changes are just a small example of what's to come in 2014.
If you want to see how the expansions will impact the uninsured in Illinois in 2014, take a look at our Visualizing Health Reform map with census data. You can even zoom into Dr. Bellar's community, Burr Ridge (a town that spans DuPage and Cook Counties), and see who in her district will be newly eligible for Medicaid and affordable private insurance in the Health Insurance Exchange.
And that's a fact.
Dana Rabkin & Stephani Becker
Illinois Health Matters
For more myth-busting about the ACA, you can go to www.illinoishealthmatters.org. You can also submit a question and one of our ACA experts will answer it for you!