Paul Ginsburg, of the Center for Studying Health System Change, has just authored a new report, "High and Rising Health Care Costs: Demystifying U.S. Health Care Spending." The report is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Synthesis Project.This paper reviews existing literature in search of a more clear understanding of U.S. health care costs, the drivers, and the trends.It is an
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Posts filed under Obesity
Obesity and Smoking--One Step Forward and Two Steps Back
Young Americans risk being the first generation whose health status will be worse off then the last.I have repeated that prediction many times but today it looks like tomorrow is here.A study by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington and published in the journal PLoS Medicine now tells us that the overall of life expectancy of many Americans has actually been in
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Lifetime Health Care Costs For the Obese and Smokers Lower Because They're Dead Sooner
This was the impressive conclusion of a study published by the Public Library of Science Medicine. The study was sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport.Obese people had the highest health care costs between the ages of 20 and 56. Obese folks and smokers were found to have a higher rate of heart disease than others.However, the authors found that the obese and those who smoke
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"Strategies To Overcome and Prevent Obesity"--Important Policy Proposals
Taking the point in the effort to deal with obesity in America is the, "Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliannce." It is a broad-based coalition doing good works on this front.They recently sent me the following update on their activities and links to their work:As you know, America’s struggle with its weight is affecting much more than just the shape of the union…it’s actually
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Reforming Our Health Care Financing System Won't Mean Anything if Americans Don't Start Taking Better Care of Themselves
Ken Thorpe, along with associates David Howard and Katya Galactionova, of Emory University has expanded on his earlier work on chronic disease in the U.S. and its impact on our health care costs in a web article for the journal Health Affairs. He compares chronic disease in the U.S. and Europe and looks at the difference as a means to help explain our higher health care costs.As all of the
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The Obesity Epidemic--It's Time to Deal With it the Same Way We Did Smoking
While we debate just how we will change our health care financing system so that more people can be insured at an affordable cost, we are too often overlooking one of the biggest drivers of health care costs--America's obesity epidemic.The latest report on obesity in America by the Trust for America's Health found that the problem is growing at an ever larger rate despite recent "wellness"
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"Those Crazy Californians. This Time Its Childhood Obesity."
That's the title of Brian Klepper's recent post over at the Blog, "The Doctor Weighs In."He mentions my recent post on this and takes it further. It's a good read.Here's the first part and a link to the rest:California always seems to be ahead on things that matter. A CNN story this week highlights that state's terrific anti-obesity TV campaign. The ads have cute kids sweetly asking "Dad, could
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United Health Launches a New Health Plan That Rewards Healthy Workers--Immediately Criticized for "Turning Health Care Into a Police State."
Under a new program announced by United Health, health plan participants who take tests and other evaluations to prove they are meeting goals for blood pressure, cholesterol, height/weight ratio, and smoking status would be eligible to receive $500 reductions in their health plan deductible ($1,000 family) for every goal met.The plan starts out with a $2,000 single/$5,000 family deductible.In a
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