Hello All: Interestingly, my Dad just sent me some information that may be of interest to this topic. The source of the following information is at the bottom of the post.
Ron ================================================================ MEDICARE NEWS: 1. Emergency Room Waiting Times: The average wait time for heart attack patients at American emergency rooms rose 150%, from 8 to 20 minutes, between 1997 and 2004, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs. Researchers attributed the increase to an overall rise in emergency room visits, emergency room closures and barriers to routine or outpatient care. 2. Complaints: New York state residents with Medicare filed only 343 complaints with the state’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization between 2005 and 2007, a statewide response rate of .01% for the state’s three million people with Medicare, according to a 18 DEC report by IPRO, which contracts with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to resolve quality-of-care complaints. While the .01% complaint rate is the second highest in the nation, the response rate is viewed as inadequate by state officials. By comparison, the New York State Department of Health had received 4,856 general complaints about hospitals and 21,481 about nursing homes during the same period. The IPRO complaint process differs from that of the Department of Health. Although people with Medicare can use either organization to report substandard care, complaints to IPRO must be submitted in writing and do not result in financial penalties. Instead, if IPRO determines a provider or institution provided a substandard quality of care, it will develop and monitor a quality improvement plan. 3. Health Insurance Impact on Deaths: Recent studies by a government advisory group underestimated the number of Americans who die because they lack health insurance, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute. According to their recently released study, Uninsured and Dying Because of It, estimates by the Institute of Medicine that 18,000 Americans died in 2001 due to a lack of health care coverage may be off by as much as 20%. The Urban Institute instead estimates that 21,000 people died in 2001 because they lacked health insurance, amounting to one death every 24 minutes. Between 2000 and 2006, the Urban Institute believes that 165,000 people died because they were uninsured. Researchers at both the Institute of Medicine and the Urban Institute say Americans face an average 25% increase in the likelihood of death when uninsured. Uninsured Americans are at greater risk of death because they do not receive diagnoses, chronic disease checkups or essential medications as quickly or as often as those with coverage, according to the Urban Institute. With life-threatening diagnoses like cancer, stroke or hypertension, the lack of frequent or timely treatment can lead to premature death. The Institute came up with higher mortality rates because it estimated that older Americans without insurance face higher mortality rates than their younger counterparts. 4. Physician Access: New research suggests the percentage of doctors accepting new Medicare patients has remained stable since 2004. Researchers for Congress’ Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recently presented data showing that 80%of office-based doctors surveyed accepted new Medicare patients in 2006. Data for 2006 also shows that 93% of doctors who depend on Medicare for 10% or more of their revenue accepted new Medicare patients, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2004. Patient surveys yielded similar findings. A survey of 2,036 people with Medicare and 2,025 commercially insured Americans between 50 and 64 found that people with Medicare often have an easier time finding providers for specialty care. Eighty-five percent of respondents with Medicare reported no trouble locating a specialist in 2007, compared to 79% of privately insured Americans. Data on the search for a primary care provider was less encouraging, but has remained relatively constant since 2005. Seventy percent of Medicare patients surveyed had no problem finding a new primary care physician, a drop from 75% in 2005. In contrast, 82% of privately insured patients had no problem finding a new primary care physician, an increase of 7% since 2005. In addition to locating providers, survey data shows stable rates in accessing and receiving care. Three-fourths of respondents with Medicare who have a primary or routine care provider had never experienced care delays. In contrast, only 67 percent of privately insured Americans gave a similar response. [Source: Medicare Watch www.medicarerights. org 22 Jan 08 ++] ===================================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: angela jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subj: [OTlist] universal healthcare > Thank you so much to everyone responding on this issue of Universal > Healthcare or healthcare > outside of the U.S. system. The information and links are great. I will be > passing the info on to > many therapists interested in this topic as well as continuing to look into > the links that you > have forwarded. > > Gratefully, Angie Jones MOTR/L -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
