Option 2 is to go to the link and either listen or read the article. What is the recent trend in health care costs? What is the assumed reason this trend is taking place? What does the auther suggest? What do you think is the long range trend and why? What if anything can the government do about it?
You have two options on this one. Option 1 is to go the following link and listen. What does the job number suggest about the economy? What is available credit refer to? According to the author what does the indicate about the economy and why?
Option 2 is to go to the link and either listen or read the article. What is the recent trend in health care costs? What is the assumed reason this trend is taking place? What does the auther suggest? What do you think is the long range trend and why? What if anything can the government do about it?
9 Comments
Evan Eberhardt
5/9/2013 05:45:38 am
Health care costs used to be rising at a pace of six to nine percent, as this article reports, but now it has slowed to half this rate. The trend is that health care spending is slowing down, and the assumed cause of this is the recession. The logic behind this is that since people now have less money to spend, they are going to the doctor less. With the way new health insurance contracts are working, doctors are encouraged to spend less, and reconsider ordering additional tests. This is a “mixed bag,” as David Cutler describes it, because that means there is less preventative care even though there are less wasteful tests being done. In the long run, one trillion dollars can be cut from the national debt, but people will be at more risk for diseases, heart conditions, and cancer. The trend will continue until people start making money again; when people can afford it, they will pay for more visits to the doctor. The tricky part is providing quality care and still slowing the rate at which health care spending is increasing. The government hopes to accomplish this with the new health care bill, which is designed to make health care cheaper for everybody and allow people to receive as much care as they have in the past. My concern is this: will the care be cheaper because it is of less value?
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Katie Artigas
5/9/2013 08:56:00 am
The recent trend in health care costs have slowed down from 6-9% to nearly half that rate and it is deemed to be due to the recession of the economy. The reason that is it assumed that this trend is taking place is that there is less money in circulation since people have less spending money, therefore they are going to the doctor less, due to being unable to pay for medical bills. The author suggests that society will be paying less for medical help now and wait until they get more money in the future. The long range trend is that people would rather spend less to go see the doctor and risk getting sick or worse. The government is attempted to create a new health care bill that will make health care cheaper for everyone but in good quality.
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Mitchell Aiken
5/9/2013 09:13:11 am
According to Dan Gorenstein, health care spending has dropped recently due to people simply being unable to afford it. He claims that it could shave significant portion off the national debt within ten years. One of the reasons he presents is that there are less people spending money on preventative care. While saving money always seems great on the surface, there are other factors to consider: Less preventative care may save a couple bucks, but there will undoubtedly be more sickness because of it. It's never helpful to be overly cautious, but as the old proverb says "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is especially true in health. Look to any outbreak of disease, chicken pox, yellow fever, malaria, or even the black plague, a simple vaccine administered would save an inordinate amount of money trying to care for the sick and dealing with the loss of huge percentages of workers for however long it lasts. The new trend of spending less on healthcare might, like many other similar situations, appear thrifty on the surface, but it fails to take in the long-term and side effects of what could very well happen. What the government should be doing is trying to make preventative care more accessible for everyone. That would help keep those who can't afford to be sick healthy, and make sure the workforce stays able bodied enough to support the economy in getting out of our recent rut.
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Joseph Davis
5/10/2013 08:18:39 am
In Dan Gorenstein’s article, “What’s behind the slow rise of health care? Our pocketbooks,” he pinpoints the recent trend in health care spending, as stated in the title of the article, as slowly going up. The assumed reason for this increase by most is the recession. When people are out of the job they are less likely to see the doctor for important checkups on overall well-being. Check- ups and drop ins are an important part of preventative healthcare which has been shown to, over time, on a large scale, decrease health care spending costs drastically. Gorenstein also suggests that additional reasons for this slow increase can be traced back to the actual incentive to spend less on health care while still providing a top notch and effective doctor’s visit. This idea is important, but in a world where disease and sickness continue to grow more and more each day, preventative health care is vital to stay on top of an increase in immediate health care spending. New health care contracts are pushing these incentives along. Additionally, he suggests that people with lower deductibles on their health insurance have less out of pocket money to spend on extra trips to the doctor’s office. I think the long term trend of health care will be to rise and then level off, as sickness will continue to grow more and more complex as we grow more and more advanced, medically. I do think universal healthcare will be in the works which will ethically try to provide standard and complete preventative and immediate health care to all at proportionally appropriate levels of insurance.
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Jessica Bernal
5/10/2013 11:40:00 am
According to the article, “ What’s Behind the Slow Rise of Health Care Cost? Our pocketbooks” the health care cost trend is slowing down, dropping form six percent to four percent. The reason for this trend is a result of the recession, a shifting in our culture and the inability for people to pay a doctor visit. I think this trend will continue unless health care is offered at a low-cost. I think the government should try and make health care affordable and effective for everyone especially those that are in need of it.
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Tara Beltrami
5/10/2013 02:41:09 pm
Before the 2008 stock market crash, the percentage of health care cost was increased six to nine percent. But now the health care cost has showed down to a three to four percent increase. The recession might be the assumed cause of the slowing down rate of health care. Altman believes, that health policy folks all agree the recession is part of the answer. Most people have lost jobs and are less likely to see doctors. Also, it could possibly be the culture that causes the shift. The author suggests people to be more aware on whether they go see doctors. they may or may not have a disease in their body. It is risky to not spend money for people's care; however, it is worth of spending money for preventive care to find any problems before an emergency. Even though the cost is so high now for most people in our country, they should still see the doctor to prevent any unhealthy problems. Doctors are taking lass tests to prevent give high cost to their patients. Also, the government should regulate doctors on the amount of tests used to prevent the high cost of health care. Because taking extra tests are causing to double health care cost than taking a single test. Doctors should be able to see most problems on the first test taken and if it is not then, only take it one more time. That is it for each patient. And it helps the patients from going away to from doctors and start taking care of themselves.
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Andrea Gomes
5/11/2013 04:50:23 pm
Since the beginning, healthcare spending has only gone up; however, Dan Gorenstein's article "What's Behind the Slow Rise of Health Care Costs? Our Pocketbooks," highlights that spending has not increased as rapidly as it has in the last 50 years. Gorenstein explains that this may be due to the rising number of people who are unable to afford medical attention because of the recession. As unemployment increases, fewer and fewer people are able to pay for doctor appointments and this has prevented prices from skyrocketing. But that isn't the only reason why increasing costs are slowing. Doctors and administrators around the country are finding ways of providing quality service for less of the price. Although doctors are working to decrease costs, federal incentives persuade them to think twice before running extra tests and the risk factors of doing so may be to much to sacrifice. I believe that costs will continue to increase at this rate because we've dug our selves into a whole that will take time to get out of. As long as the recession exists, prices will continue to increase slowly. I believe that the government could help by regulating prices and providing medical insurance to a wider range of people. How they would do this is the problem.
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Clair Amador
5/13/2013 09:22:37 am
Health care spending is going up but at a slower rate. Some say the recession is a part of it while others say that health insurance agencies are cautious about wheather or not doctors really need to do some of the extra precautions they do. At any rate, it is a good thing that spending increases are slowing down but at what cost? Are people just skipping the doctor because it costs to much? And does that put them at a higher risk of getting a life threatining disease such as cancer?
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Mr. Krabs
5/22/2013 03:24:28 am
MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!
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