PROCESS
Overview
You
are on your way to conducting some intense research. Remember, the
only way to make an informed decision is to have a complete understanding
of the overall system. First, use the provided links, along with
other Internet search tools, to find answers to the general questions
below. Once you have a general understanding of the country's healthcare
structure, your “subcommittee” will examine one area
that has a direct impact upon a specific population. From the menu
on the left, choose a focus area about which you want to learn more.
Your research now will become more finely-tuned.
When you have
finished your research, use your choice of media (Power Point, web
page, video ,etc.) to create a short presentation. Use the results
of your research to convince the executors that this particular
component of our healthcare system should receive the money.
Examine
the Overall Healthcare System
As you are working through the questions below, think about what
trends you are seeing
in the healthcare system today.What strengths and weaknesses appear
across the board?
Using the Websites listed below, work with your teammates to answer
the following
questions:
- What percentage
of the Gross National Product is spent on healthcare in the U.S.?
- Identify
the key drivers of healthcare costs and which costs are most responsible
for
the high U.S. healthcare expenditures.
- What are
the ways that healthcare insurance is financed, in both the public
and private sectors?
- What are
the benefits, eligibility criteria, and financing structure of
Medicare, Medicaid,
and S-chip programs? Who is responsible for administering these
programs?
- How do market
forces influence health-care delivery?
- For most
Americans, how is their healthcare insurance financed, and what
are the inherent strengths and weaknesses of this system?
- How does
the U.S. fair in terms of health-quality indicators (e.g. infant
mortality), compared with other nations, and what percentage of
their GDP is spent on healthcare?
- How are hospitals,
laboratories, and radiological centers regulated?
- The backlash
against managed care has much to do with restrictive benefit packages
and an over emphasis on costs. Provide examples of how managed
care organizations have responded to this backlash.
- What is
ERISA, and which entities are subject to ERISA regulation?
- What trends
do you see in the structure and organization of the U.S. healthcare
system?
- If it continues
this way, which areas might be most affected?
Useful
Web Sites
Congressional Budget Office Testimony on Health Care Spending:
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4989&sequence=0
Rand’s
Overview of the Structure of the U.S. Health Care system:
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1255/MR1255.ch3.pdf
Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality: Health Insurance Choices
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/insuranc.htm
New
York Times: Health Spending Rises to Record 15% of Economy
by Robert Pear
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/09/politics/09HEAL.html?ex=1083297600&en=
3486668f2e1a7218&ei=5070 (Note this link requires registration)
Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/nhe/default.asp?
Medicare: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicare/
Medicaid: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/
S-CHIP: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/schip/
Kaiser
Family Foundation: Health Care Costs and Spending
http://www.kff.org/insurance/7031/ti2004-1-1.cfm
The
World Health Organization: The World Health Report Chapter
1
http://www.who.int/whr/2003/chapter1/en/
Core
U.S. Health Indicators: http://www3.who.int/whosis/country/indicators.cfm?country=usa
Core
Health Indicator from other countries:
http://www.who.int/country/en/
The
New York Times: Study: U.S. Health Care Not Always Tops
by the Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-Health-Care-Quality.html
(Note this link requires registration)
The
National Committee for Quality Assurance:
http://www.ncqa.org/sohc2003/
ERISA
Overview:
http://www.healthassistancepartnership.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=privateerisaoverview
Department of Labor ERISA FAQs:
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/FAQs/faq_hipaa_ND.html
|
