Future of Healthcare

The future of health care in consideration of spending is one geared to reducing the total cost of health care. The technology innovations down the pike are geared towards better and cheaper diagnosis, allowing for more cost effective care (1; 2; 3). By identifying the appropriateness of care, more expensive care options can be ignored if they will not be effective (3). This is important due to the Government’s commitment to reductions in health care spending, which are predicted cause issues in the short term (4). There is concern on the disparity of care between health care for advantaged and marginalized populations (5). What affects the Medicare and Medicaid costs will have on marginalized populations?

It is obvious that the future for the U.S. system is geared to some sort of managed care and/or cost mitigation strategy. The growth of health care costs in consideration of Canada, fifteen in comparison to a ten percent for Canada, show a more centralized system can reduced costs (6). However, access to care is a significant issue for Canada’s system, which helps inform the national dialog (7).

Considering the past habit of the U.S. Congress to pass legislation without though to unintended consequences, it will be a concern on how they debate this current initiative for health care reform (8). The debate needs to weigh impact on marginalized populations, beyond just healthcare. There needs to be serious consideration on the total impact of such an overhaul.

References
1. Gravitz, L. (2009, March/April). TR10: $100 genome. Technology Review. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2. Grifantini, K. (2009, March/April). TR10: Paper diagnostics. Technology Review. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
3. Popovits, K. (2006). Strategies in the biopharmaceudical industry [Podcast]. Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner. Stanford University. Retrieved July 13, 2009 from http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1560
4. Brin, D. W. (2009, July 8) Update: U.S. hospitals’ overhaul deal may help industry longer term. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2009 from http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090708-715519.html
5. Blacksher, E. (2008). Healthcare disparities: The salience of social class [Abstract]. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 17(2). Retrieved July 13, 2009 from http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1781816
6. Phelps, C. (2003). Health economics (3rd ed.). Boston: Addison Wesley.
7. Feldstein, P. (2007) Health policy issues: An economic perspective (4th ed). Chicago: HAP / AUPHA.
8. Harris, D. M. (2003) Contemporary issues in healthcare law and ethics (2nd ed,). Chicago: AUPHA / HAP.