Posts Tagged ‘Health care’

February 5, 2010

President Obama: Focus on Jobs in the Health Workforce

President Obama –and the Congress for that matter–need to focus on JOBS in the HEALTH WORKFORCE.  The Bureau of  Labor Statistics reports that the health sector ranks high among the areas that will provide the greatest number of new jobs over the next decade.  Four million jobs will be created in the health care sector will be a leader in producing new jobs,  including high-skill, high-paying jobs like doctors and nurses.  Among the top ten occupations needed will be:  Registered nurses, home  health aides, personal and home care aides,  and nursing aides, orderlies and attendants. 

With the aging baby boomer population, the need for a greater number of trained people in the health professions goes well beyond nurses and home care workers.  Shortages across the professions will be exacerbated by the retirement of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other professionals.  In 2004, 23 percent of licensed pharmacists, for example, indicated they were leaving the profession within the year and 80 percent of pharmacy directors said they would leave within the decade. Substantial retirements of faculty in all schools of the health professions add to the problem.

With the overwhelming need for a health workforce for the nation, President Obama should be focusing his Jobs Initiative on education and innovative training programs for the health workforce.  President Obama should be looking for ways to provide incentives to academic health centers and their health professions schools for new ideas and innovative ways to develop a quality health workforce in a short time frame. 

One way is to receive funding and other incentives to create new career ladders for those people who are already employed within the health system and want to raise their skill levels and receive education in one of the more-skilled professions (and this can include the myriad allied health, imaging, medical records and IT jobs that are critical to the system).

There should also be funding to health professions schools to create innovative, perhaps fast tracked, retraining programs for the thousands of people who are losing their jobs in America’s dying manufacturing industries. 

The Obama Administration needs to look beyond small business and the green industries with regard to JOBS.  The health workforce should be the priority when it comes to jobs.

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December 17, 2009

Bernie Sanders and George Will Got It Right on Health Reform

Two people recognize the health reform bill is not reform and are signaling that we need to start anew. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders,  the Independent from Vermont, is telling the world that the proposed legislation is not good.  Yesterday, he said that he could not accept the health reform bill in its current form because it does not control costs or rein in health insurance companies.  More important,  Senator Sanders showed the courage of his convictions and brought a real answer to the Senate and the American people.  He proposed a single-payer amendment to the current bill.  In calling up his amendment, Sanders said, “For the first time in American history, the Senate will debate a proposal to create a single-payer, Medicare-for-all health care system.” Unfortunately, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) objected to Mr. Sanders’s request to dispense with the reading of the 767-page amendment (as called for earlier by  Coburn).  After nearly three hours of listening to a team of Senate clerks read the proposal,  Mr. Sanders gave up and withdrew his amendment (Why,  Bernie? There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.)

(Of course, Coburn knew that would be the outcome because the dealy would prevent a vote on a funding bill for the Department of Defense. The current funding provision expires at midnight tomorrow).

George Will reflects today in The Washington Post on the latest CNN poll showing that 61 percent of the public oppose what the Democratic Senate is trying to do to health care.  “It is clear what the public wants Congress to do: Talke a mulligan and start over.”

Bernie and George are both saying that what we have is not good enough.  President Obama should say the same and ask for the creation of a “super special” congressional committee to start anew in January.  Health reform before the holidays may not make the season jolly.

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Posted in Health Reform, Policy, health insurance, president Obama | No Comments »

August 20, 2009

Health care and jobs

The pressures to cut health care costs are enormous, but these cuts can also be a double-edged sword.  Certainly, no one would argue against cutting fraud and overuse.  But at a time when job creation is so important, the health sector is and will be a key player.  These jobs are not just for a broad variety of health care providers, but also for a large range of administrative and management positions.  A recent article points this out by focusing on individuals who cross over from other economic sectors to work in health care.  As health care exceeds one-sixth of the economy and one out of every ten jobs, it becomes increasingly difficult to disentangle needed job growth from excessive health care spending in terms of driving the economy.  This is especially true if there is some kind of health reform that increases access to a substantial number of persons who are currently either uninsured or underinsured.  As we have pointed out in our report, Out of  Order, Out of Time: The State of the Nation’s Health Workforce, we need to gain a more in-depth understanding of the kinds and numbers of health providers that are needed to take care of patients now and in the future.   Perhaps by engaging in this discussion we can address the complex issues around “right-sizing” health care.

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July 16, 2009

SOS on Regulatory Reform in Health Reform

I read that countless numbers of people are worried about being regulated by government in any reformed health system.   But no one, especially policymakers, seems to be addressing the regulatory infrastructure and the costs of regulation, which might open up a pandora’s box and really shed light on the extent to which the public is benefiting from the regulations developed to protect the American people (which is an issue for a longer discussion).  No one is asking whether the agencies mandated to regulate, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,  have the resources to address implementation and enforcement of current and new regulations.  Policymakers should be addressing those resources now.  Policymakers would also do well to look at the costs of compliance for the government and for health care providers.   A 2005 study by the Association of Academic Health Centers  found that the costs of compliance  increased up to 300% in the previous decade and often more than 70% a year at academic health centers throughout the nation. We are hearing of even greater increases at the present time.  No one is denying the need for accountability and protecting quality, safety, and privacy in the health care arena.  But it may be time for the government to ask about the costs and benefits of regulation along with addressing the need for rational and ”smart” regulations.  There is also an urgent need for harmonization within the regulatory environment.  Interagency task forces have done little to ensure there is no contradiction and confusion between regulations coming out of the many government agencies.  If we really want to ensure safety and quality for the public as well as savings in health care delivery, reform of the regulatory world must be addressed now. 

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