Increasing Stress on the US Health Care System: Structural Crisis or Temporary? - Special Committee on Aging

Posted by CHPRE Staff Testimony Monday, March 10th, 2003

Highlight:

The U.S. health care system is undergoing a period of growing stress. Rising health care costs and health insurance premiums, combined with the recent slowdown in economic activity, have forced many employers and workers to make tough choices about who will bear the brunt of cost increases and who will risk going without health insurance. The uninsured population did not shrink appreciably with the strong economy in the 1990s and has risen recently. Most coverage gains that did occur were due to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)¹, but now with states in unprecedented fiscal distress, they are looking to reduce spending on public insurance programs, and some may actually reduce the number of people covered. Partly in response to long-term budgetary and demographic trends, the Bush Administration has proposed far-reaching Medicaid and Medicare reforms and benefit changes that could significantly alter not only the programs themselves but the nature of financing them as well.

So it is understandable that many are asking if our health care system is in crisis. The word “crisis” may be too strong, but the answer to the question may also depend on where you sit and what your goals are for the system as a whole. The system looks like it is in a crisis when, for fear of out-of-pocket cost, an uninsured woman does not seek care until symptoms have persisted and worsened, and then discovers it is too late for even our incredible delivery system and dedicated professionals to save her.

“Increasing Stress on the US Health Care System: Structural Crisis or Temporary?” Special Committee on Aging, US Senate, March 10, 2003.

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