Blisstree » health care costs

Costs of Sickle Cell Disease

Cherie Burbach — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:52:17 +0000

Sickle cell disease, like many chronic health conditions, comes with a large financial cost. New research shows that “the annual cost of medical care in the US for people who suffer from sickle cell disease exceeds $1.1 billion.”

The disease cause an abnormality in hemoglobin, where “red blood cells can block small blood vessels.” The result is tissue damage, stroke, and other complications. Each patient pays an average of almost $2,000 per year to manage the disease.

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Costs of Sickle Cell Disease

Over 1/2 of Bankruptcies Due to Health Care

Marijke Durning, RN — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:30:21 +0000

Almost 2/3 of personal bankruptcies in the United States are the result of illness and overwhelming medical bills, despite having health insurance, say researchers. This is a 50% increase from 2001, just 8 years ago. And, it’s important to note 2 things. One is that bankruptcy is harder to declare now than it was before 2001 and that this research was done before the current economic situation, so the situation could, in fact, be worse.

Researchers from Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University worked together to produce the first known study of this type to cover the entire country. They found that the vast majority (over 77%) of the people who went bankrupt were among those who did have health insurance when they first became ill.

According to a press release describing the study:

Most of the medically bankrupt were solidly middle class before financial disaster hit. Two-thirds were homeowners and three-fifths had gone to college. In many cases, high medical bills coincided with a loss of income as illness forced breadwinners to lose time from work. Often illness led to job loss, and with it the loss of health insurance.

Even apparently well-insured families often faced high out-of-pocket medical costs for co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services. Medically bankrupt families with private insurance reported medical bills that averaged $17,749 vs. $26,971 for the uninsured. High costs – averaging $22,568 – were incurred by those who initially had private coverage but lost it in the course of their illness.

The highest cost illnesses were neurological (such as multiple sclerosis) or chronic, like diabetes.

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Over 1/2 of Bankruptcies Due to Health Care

Preventive Health Care in Organizations

Cherie Burbach — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:06:34 +0000

With rising health care costs, many companies try to compensate by cutting programs or raising premiums. But one company, Dow Chemical, is concentrating on the preventive side of health care. I think this is a much better alternative. Encouraging employees to get healthy and providing resources will ultimately save money when it comes to health care costs.

Dow Chemical even has on-site clinics and medical personnel on staff. Granted, they are a larger firm and have the resources to do this, but they also claim they have lowered their ” costs for providing health insurance to workers in the U.S.”

And if they can do it, other companies can as well. It doesn’t have to be a huge effort (after all, not every organization can afford a health clinic) but it could very well include exercise sessions offered right at work or having a nurse or medical professional come in to talk with employees. I think the important part here is focusing on prevention rather than punishing employees who do end up getting sick. Just that small change in thinking can make a huge difference.

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Post from: Blisstree

Preventive Health Care in Organizations