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CT Health Notes Issue Date: 4/17/2008Aging baby boomers intensify looming health care workforce shortage
A new report from the Institute of Medicine finds that the growing number of older patients with more complex health care needs will overwhelm an already stressed health care workforce. Baby boomers will begin turning 65 in 2011; the number of older Americans will nearly double between 2005 and 2030. Tomorrow's seniors will be very different from past generations - more educated, more diverse, with more dispersed families, and increased life spans. The current shortage of health care workers, especially those in long term care, will only become more acute over time. The US will need 36,000 geriatricians by 2030; there are currently 7,128 certified geriatricians. In 2005, the average pay for a geriatric physician was $163,000; the average internist with no specialty training averaged $175,000. The report recommends increased training and retention of providers, more geriatric training for all providers, new models of delivering care, and support and training for informal caregivers. Health care becoming "employer of last resort"
Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported on the increase in health care jobs, especially where manufacturing jobs are disappearing. Between 1998 and last year, Bangor ME lost 3,700 manufacturing jobs but gained 3,500 in health care. The largest employer in Pittsburg is not a steel company but the University of Pittsburg Medical Center. The article notes that it can be harder to move up the pay ladder in health care, requiring more education, than in manufacturing. Communities that rely heavily on health care are at the economic whims of government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. At the WSJ blog post on the article, you can view a fascinating interactive map - see the increases in health care employment in Connecticut, particularly in New Haven, and the decreases in manufacturing. Something is not always better than nothing in health insurance
A recent report in Health Affairs compares the assets of uninsured households with cost sharing requirements under high deductible health plans (HDHPs). HDHPs, consumer directed health plans, and health savings accounts (HSAs) have been proposed as an answer to the need for affordable coverage for America’s 46.5 million uninsured. While premiums for HDHPs are lower, and possibly more affordable, for low income families HDHPs require outlays of thousands of dollars for health care that most low income families do not have. In 2004, the median gross financial assets for insured households were $16,420 while for uninsured households under 300% of the federal poverty level the median was $300. For some categories of households, median net financial assets were negative. Among families with at least one uninsured member, only about 15% had net assets sufficient to cover single-person cost-sharing levels for an HSA. The authors conclude that "paying premiums for a policy that exposes the uninsured to unaffordable medical bills may be viewed as an uneconomical use of their limited assets". Survey finds 76% of Connecticut cardiologists cite a great need for health care reform
A survey of Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Cardiology members published in this month's Connecticut Medicine, found that while a large majority believe health care reform is needed, only 9% are familiar with the presidential candidates' proposals. The features they cited as most important were reducing paperwork and bureaucracy, medical liability reform, regulation of the health insurance industry for uniformity and transparency, allowing physicians to make medical decisions, and patient choice of physicians. The most popular model was regulating private insurers to provide uniform, universal coverage with a single clearinghouse for billing and payments; least popular was creating a "Health Savings Plan" for the uninsured. The survey's response rate was 22%. Health Care Study Group study guides online
The Health Care Study Group is a small, focused group of Connecticut legislators meeting regularly to discuss and learn more about critical health care topics facing Connecticut - looking past the noise, using credible information sources, to focus on how policymakers can improve Connecticut's health system. Legislators choose the areas they will study; the Connecticut Health Policy Project provides research support for the group. April Connecticut Health Policy Web Quiz: Prescription Drug Costs
Test your knowledge of prescription drug costs - take the April Connecticut Health Policy Quiz. Highlights from the CT Health Notes Blog
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