Bernie Reed Scholarship
Congratulations Jensen Smith!
The OAHU Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce Jensen Smith as the winner of the 2012 Bernie Reed Memorial Scholarship.
This year's essay topic was:
What are the three key drivers of healthcare cost? In what way does PPACA address these costs and what still need to be addressed to contain the spiraling cost of healthcare? What suggestions do you have to bring the cost of healthcare down in America?
This year's winning essay:
Healthcare in America
America is known as the land of the free, a place where freedom of speech and liberty have been among our guiding principles for more than 200 years. Many countries try to base their government, economies, and health care systems on America’s. But even the great country of America has trouble with such systems. Health care costs are taking off, the job market hasn’t been the same since the 2008, and our government can’t stop arguing long enough to fix any of the problems. President Obama is trying to solve one of these huge issues with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. Let’s look at why health care needs fixing in the first place. Three key drivers of health care cost are a large percentage of Americans being uninsured, reckless personal behavior, and the outrageous cost of prescription drugs.
To start on the topic of health care cost for some people would seem a little insane. When researching for this essay I found it to be quite interesting. For example, I learned that 46.3 million Americans do not have health insurance. Roughly 15% of our population contributes to the rising cost of health care because instead of visiting a doctor, these people regularly go to emergency rooms for medical care. Emergency rooms cannot turn down patients, and when uninsured patients use these services medical costs rise; in turn insurance companies cover those higher costs, and covered patients pay higher premiums. Another aspect that contributes to the rising cost of health care is American citizens’ personal behavior. According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal June of 2009, approximately 70% of all health care costs are directly related to personal behavior. These costs include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Most of the time these are preventable!
The final issue I will discuss which is driving increased health care cost is prescription drugs. Although prescription drugs aren’t the most expensive aspect of health care, they are the fastest growing. In a study done by the BCBSA in 2002 the average number of prescriptions rose from 7.3 per person to more than 10 prescriptions per person. These drugs are increasingly used to manage things like high cholesterol and diabetes, which as we know are usually preventable. As a result, health care cost rise because the insurance companies have to cover more prescriptions per person.
The PPACA addresses the 15% of uninsured Americans. Under the plan, individuals must purchase and maintain an insurance policy or pay a penalty. This is good because it requires people to take responsibility for their own health care, or pay the price. For low income families who cannot afford these insurance premiums the government will help them obtain healthcare at a reasonable cost. The plan also requires all insurance companies to cover all applicants and offer a general plan regardless of gender or race. Issues that still need to be addressed are preventative measures and the rising cost of prescription drugs.
Suggestions that I have that would help the cost of health care would be for the government to have mandatory classes or information sessions about preventative care. If all Americans knew that staying healthy, eating right, and exercising would help bring down their monthly bill they would have an incentive to be more proactive. I would also have a class or a presentation in school about preventable injuries. According to a study done by Blue Cross Blue Shield in Illinois, 17 billion dollars annually is spent to cover injuries, such as those that that occur from not buckling a seatbelt or neglecting to wear a bicycle helmet. These preventative measures could significantly reduce injuries and reduce health costs for everyone. Another suggestion I have is to make it mandatory to teach about the health care system in high school. If the youth of America knew about the reasons health care is so expensive, they might be inclined to take preventative measures as well. Finally, a suggestion to lower cost of health care is to buy generic prescriptions. When people buy name brand prescriptions it increases their health care bill! Most importantly, if Americans took better care of themselves they probably wouldn’t need these prescriptions to begin with. The power of living a healthy lifestyle cannot be underestimated. If Americans took responsibility for themselves, health care costs would inevitably go down.
To conclude, though America is often viewed as a country with all of the answers, we can clearly set out on a course of correction. The American public needs to be educated on the effects of living a healthy lifestyle. The PPACA does help with Americans who are uninsured, but much of the answer lies within the population: all of us. We need to take care of ourselves and not rely on prescription drugs or doctors to make us healthy. Take responsibility for yourself, stay healthy, and you will help your country prosper.
