Study: Albuquerque, cities in general pay big part of health care costs
Albuquerque and metro areas around the country seem to be paying a disproportionate amount of money for health care services within their cities, including that of the uninsured.
Families USA, a non-profit health care consumer advocacy group, just released a national survey of mayors which highlights the impact of the growing health care crisis on city budgets and services. According to the survey:
This spring, Families USA surveyed a sample of mayors from around the country
on the topics of health care and the uninsured. The survey results show that,
although each city’s involvement in health care issues is different, cities organize,
fund, and deliver a wide range of health care services for their citizens through public
hospitals, clinics, and a variety of other health safety net programs. Furthermore,
we found that cities are profoundly affected by the rising number of uninsured
Americans and the rising cost of providing coverage for their own employees. These
problems have an impact on all city residents, regardless of their health insurance
status, and they affect cities’ ability to fulfill other municipal functions as well.
Mayor Martin Chavez, who participated in the survey, stated that children, seniors and people with disabilities rank as the top populations in Albuquerque who face the most serious gaps in the available safety net.
The survey notes that the use of emergency rooms by the uninsured coupled with the lack of primary care for uninsured are resulting in a strain of hospital capacity as well as available emergency room resources:
Another effect, which cities noted, was crowding in hospitals and emergency departments.
People who lack health insurance are less likely to have a regular source of
primary care, so health issues that could otherwise be avoided or controlled often
escalate into problems that require emergency attention. Hospitals are legally required
to stabilize patients with medical emergencies regardless of the patient’s ability to
pay for services. In other cases, people who lack a medical home go to the emergency
room for non-emergency issues. And when safety net clinics are stretched beyond
capacity, emergency rooms are the providers of last resort for people without other
options.
In a teleconference from his office Monday, Mayor Martin Chavez stated, "Cities can't do it on their own... If Washington wants to assist cities in responding to the health care crisis, it can begin by helping us get more Americans insured." Chavez is also quoted on the Families USA website, "An overhaul of our nation’s health care delivery must be one of the top priorities of a new administration in Washington in 2009."
This survey comes on the heels of a study that was recently released lauding University of New Mexico Hospital for its conservative care, for which it ranked third in the nation. Both studies illustrate the importance of primary and preventative care in light of strained resources.
Comments:
Posted 06/26/2008 07:37 with
Good article and an interesting study.
I wonder, though, just how much mayors (or family and community services directors) know about the health care access issues in their own communities.
It has been shown, for example, the families WITH insurance (public insurance, like Medicaid) often use the emergency room more frequently than families with private insurance or no insurance for some types of services (like acute asthma attacks).
Getting people covered is one thing, KEEPING them covered is another ( e.g., UNMCare – for low-income adults – dis-enrolls people at about the same rate it enrolls them – see http://www.nmpha.org/Social_Determinants.html).
Making the health care system navigable is yet another.
A single payer system would solve all three of these problems, and a couple of hundred other problems as well.