Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) has indicated to AMSA that their members would be eager to talk to medical students at Health Policy and a Pint! To contact your local PNHP chapter, find your state on their website. This is a great opportunity to get a single-payer perspective at one of your chapter's HP&P meetings.
Coming next month... What can your chapter do to impact health policy? We'll provide easy, actionable items related to the topic so your members can get involved!
Friday, June 19, 2009
June Topic: McAllen, TX & the Health Care Cost Conundrum
In a recent New Yorker article, Atul Gawande describes McAllen, a small town in Texas, where health spending has spiraled out of control in the past two decades. Gawande characterizes McAllen as a place where the “medical community came to treat patients the way subprime mortgage lenders treated home buyers: as profit centers.” Average per capita spending is more than $15,000 in McAllen, compared to $7500 in nearby El Paso. Much of this discrepancy is attributed to the “culture of medicine” in each of these two cities.
Questions to ponder:
- What role does the “culture of medicine” play in skyrocketing health care costs and should this culture be regulated?
- What responsibility do physicians have to contain health care spending and prevent overutilization of health care services?
- How might accountable care organizations (ACOs) mitigate financial incentives for overutilization and incentivize high quality care without infringing on provider autonomy?
Resources:
Atul Gawande, The Cost Conundrum, New Yorker, June 1, 2009:
http://www.newyorker.com/
Fisher et al., Foster Accountable Health Care, Health Affairs, 28, no. 2 (2009): w219
http://content.healthaffairs.
Fisher et al., Creating Accountable Care Organizations, Health Affairs, 26, no. 1 (2007): w44-w57
http://content.healthaffairs.
Friday, March 13, 2009
March: The National Convention Edition of Health Policy and a Pint
This month, we're discussing the role of medical students in the upcoming health care reform. As part of the convention's theme, "Win Back our Profession", we want to know what YOU think about medical professionals as political advocates.
Questions to Consider:
I say AMSA
You say power
This month, we're discussing the role of medical students in the upcoming health care reform. As part of the convention's theme, "Win Back our Profession", we want to know what YOU think about medical professionals as political advocates.
Questions to Consider:
- Is this a part of the new medical professionalism?
- Is it appropriate for physicians to "take sides" in politics? How might this affect our patients who disagree with us politically?
- When, if ever, does political involvement constitute an abuse of our influence as physicians?
- What is the power of medical students to enact political change?
- How can we best unite medical students behind a common goal?
- What skills do we have? What are our resources?
- How can we best use our power and skills to support meaningful reform?
I say AMSA
You say power
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
OCTOBER Topic: Special Election-Themed HP&P
OBAMA vs MCCAIN: Who will deliver quality, affordable healthcare for all?
With all the back-and-forth about health care in this year's presidential election, sometimes it can be hard to know what to think about the candidate's plans. Having a discussion with fellow medical students can be a great way to find out more about the plans and debate their relative merits.
The AMSA scorecard on the candidate's plans is a great place to start your discussion. Find it on the AMSA website at http://www.amsa.org/election/scorecard.cfm
Questions to consider as you think about each candidate's plan:
1) How does a private health insurance system work? What are the fundamental failings of such a system, and how might they be corrected with market incentives or industry regulation? What other models for health insurance exist, and would it be feasible to use these in America?
2) Is health care a right? Do Americans have to choose between equality, efficacy, and efficiency in our health care system, or is there a way to get all three? Do the plans of either candidates offer substantial progress towards achieving this goal?
3) Under McCain's Plan: What are the advantages to buying health insurance on an open market, across state lines? What are the disadvantages? How might this affect the system as a whole?
4) Under Obama's Plan: Will healthy individuals purchase health insurance without mandates, or will they "free-ride" the system until they get sick, knowing they will not be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition? What are the advantages and disadvantages to requiring mandates?
5) What do the two plans have in common? Where are the areas of greatest disparity?
6) Imagine you are running for president. How would your own health care platform differ from that of Senators Obama or McCain? How might your opponent criticize your plan, and how would you frame your argument to defend your plan to the American people?
Don't forget to vote!
...and as always, here's to your health!
With all the back-and-forth about health care in this year's presidential election, sometimes it can be hard to know what to think about the candidate's plans. Having a discussion with fellow medical students can be a great way to find out more about the plans and debate their relative merits.
The AMSA scorecard on the candidate's plans is a great place to start your discussion. Find it on the AMSA website at http://www.amsa.org/election/scorecard.cfm
Questions to consider as you think about each candidate's plan:
1) How does a private health insurance system work? What are the fundamental failings of such a system, and how might they be corrected with market incentives or industry regulation? What other models for health insurance exist, and would it be feasible to use these in America?
2) Is health care a right? Do Americans have to choose between equality, efficacy, and efficiency in our health care system, or is there a way to get all three? Do the plans of either candidates offer substantial progress towards achieving this goal?
3) Under McCain's Plan: What are the advantages to buying health insurance on an open market, across state lines? What are the disadvantages? How might this affect the system as a whole?
4) Under Obama's Plan: Will healthy individuals purchase health insurance without mandates, or will they "free-ride" the system until they get sick, knowing they will not be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition? What are the advantages and disadvantages to requiring mandates?
5) What do the two plans have in common? Where are the areas of greatest disparity?
6) Imagine you are running for president. How would your own health care platform differ from that of Senators Obama or McCain? How might your opponent criticize your plan, and how would you frame your argument to defend your plan to the American people?
Don't forget to vote!
...and as always, here's to your health!
Monday, September 8, 2008
SEPTEMBER Topic: Health Savings Accounts
In elections all over the country, candidates are raving about Health Savings Accounts. But what are Health Savings Accounts, and are they really the silver bullet for American health care reform?
Questions to Ponder
1) In what ways is competition good for health care? In what ways is it bad?
2) Do Americans overuse health care? Is this overuse supply-driven (by doctors and hospitals) or demand driven (by patients)? Can this overuse be controlled by Health Savings Accounts?
3) In what ways do Health Savings Accounts affect the rest of the insurance market? What is the reason for the insurance function, and how can insurance markets fail?
4) What information do patients need in order to be rational, efficient consumers of health care services? What tools are available to help patients become better informed? What are the information problems and uncertainty intrinsic to health care?
Background and Resources
The Promise and Pitfalls of Health Savings Accounts
Wall Street Journal - To Your Health
NYT Op-Ed - The Health of a Nation
NYT Editorial - The Lopsided Bush Health Plan
RAND Health Insurance Study
AMSA Health Savings Accounts Primer
NEJM - Health Savings Accounts: The Ownership Society in Healthcare
Health Affairs - Medical Savings Accounts: Lessons from Singapore
In elections all over the country, candidates are raving about Health Savings Accounts. But what are Health Savings Accounts, and are they really the silver bullet for American health care reform?
Questions to Ponder
1) In what ways is competition good for health care? In what ways is it bad?
2) Do Americans overuse health care? Is this overuse supply-driven (by doctors and hospitals) or demand driven (by patients)? Can this overuse be controlled by Health Savings Accounts?
3) In what ways do Health Savings Accounts affect the rest of the insurance market? What is the reason for the insurance function, and how can insurance markets fail?
4) What information do patients need in order to be rational, efficient consumers of health care services? What tools are available to help patients become better informed? What are the information problems and uncertainty intrinsic to health care?
Background and Resources
The Promise and Pitfalls of Health Savings Accounts
Wall Street Journal - To Your Health
NYT Op-Ed - The Health of a Nation
NYT Editorial - The Lopsided Bush Health Plan
RAND Health Insurance Study
AMSA Health Savings Accounts Primer
NEJM - Health Savings Accounts: The Ownership Society in Healthcare
Health Affairs - Medical Savings Accounts: Lessons from Singapore
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