BMJ  2008;336:797 (12 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39542.551574.DB

News

US ready for healthcare reform, conference told

Richard Smith

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The United States finally has a chance to reform health care, said Len Nichols, director of the health policy programme of the New America Foundation, a non-profit public policy institute based in Washington and California, at a conference on innovation in health care in San Diego last month.

The main driver, said Dr Nichols, is the cost of health insurance to middle class families. In 1987 the median spend on health insurance was 7% of family income, but now it’s 17%. Cost was also a driver of the failed reforms of Hillary Clinton, but last time the pain was caused by the recession and went away when the recession ended. "Now," said Dr Nichols, "it’s systemic."

Another crucial driver is the cost to business, accompanied by the growing intensity of international competition. Every year the costs to US businesses of insuring their employees are growing faster than their revenues.

Health . . . [Full text of this article]


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