Summary: When Healthcare Falls Short
For many years as Americans in our working society, we all hope to one day earn and save up enough money till we can reach our ultimate goal: retirement. Once we retire we assume the expression of “smooth sailing from here on out.” We assume that we can count on not only the money we have saved up, and a fraction of our previous regular governmental salaries, for those who are retired eligible military, as a stable monetary income. If we find ourselves in need of medical assistance, we look to Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, for those of us who haven’t quite reached our golden age, we may not all be entitled to reap tomorrow, some of the benefits of today.
The article entitled, “When Healthcare Falls Short” is a brief piece covering a now growing issue covering the topic of Healthcare, particularly with the elderly. As more and more baby boomers reach the age of 65 and become eligible for retirement, more stress is put onto our current Medicare healthcare plan. With a rise in patients who are eligible and in need of Medicare, there seems to be no rise in the amount of funding or coverage that Medicare is able to offer. As a result, not only do the patients needs risk not being met, but they risk not being seen at all. The author, Jane Gross, offers to shed some light on these issues after having interviewed with …show more content…
current health care providers, struggling with reimbursement from Medicare.
Gross interviews a Dr. Cheryl E. Woodson, a specialist in geriatric medicine who has reached a point where she can no longer afford to run her private practice due to the lack of reimbursement funds from Medicare dropping to only forty cents to the dollar. When faced with the question of taking in more Medicare patients Woodson has come to the conclusion, “you can serve seniors, or feed your children.” This resolution is one seen by many private practices due to the fact that with such feeble reimbursement from Medicare, she can barely afford to staff her office and pay rent.
This is a growing issue, and I feel it will continue to grow to be more of an issue as the average life expectancy of Americans continues to grow. With the lack of funding for Medicare to support our elderly, it continues to climax. The problem is there is no simple solution. It would be easy to say “pay more money” but issue lies in the fact that the financial burdens of the government may not support redirecting of funds for Medicare, and most citizens won’t be interested in contributing more in taxes to fund Medicare in order to help the livelihood of those other than themselves. In order to make a true impact, radical decisions must be made- whether it is to increase the age at which we potentially are eligible to retire and be granted Medicare or to increase the amount of taxes we pay towards Medicare.
This article will directly impact our classroom environment because as future health care professionals, we too will face this problem in our futures.
As potential candidates for the pharmacy profession and as future leaders in society, I feel that it is important to recognize this issue now. As current and future health care providers, we face the threat of encountering those who may potentially have some of these same issues. The only way to solve this problem is to recognize it and find a solution before it gets out of control. The question is, now that it has been identified, how exactly do we go about solving the
problem?
In order to rectify the problem of a growing economic stress on medication, the only true way to satisfy the populous is to find a way to stretch the taxes that have already been placed on us. Any threat to demand more money than has already been asked would certainly cause substantial protest. The only way to do this is to redistribute funds as much as possible. Identify the expenses which we incur as a nation and attempt to reduce them, just as we would attempt to place ourselves on a budget in order to save money in our own daily lives.
As it stands, the American economy is in dire needs of leadership and direction in order to stand a chance at coming out of the depression that threatens to consume us. We as future pharmacists may not be able to alleviate the problem, but there are steps taken to actively work with patients with these prescriptions and try and meet their medication needs. Virginia law allows us as pharmacists to distribute medications to patients with medications, even in cases when the patient has Medicare and cannot afford to pay for it themselves. While this may not be a practice that is not done in every state, it at least provides a building point to help patients coming from backgrounds with Medicare needs. It is vital that we remember as healthcare providers, that we don’t choose these professions because we are interested in seeking the most monetary gain possible. We choose these professions out of the desire to impact the lives of those we encounter each and every day.
Works Cited:
Gross, Jane. When Medicare Falls Short. The New Age: Coping and Caring New York
Times. October 16, 2008. Accessed October 16, 2008.
< http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/when-medicare-falls-short/>
The article entitled, “When Healthcare Falls Short” is a brief piece covering a now growing issue covering the topic of Healthcare, particularly with the elderly. As more and more baby boomers reach the age of 65 and become eligible for retirement, more stress is put onto our current Medicare healthcare plan. With a rise in patients who are eligible and in need of Medicare, there seems to be no rise in the amount of funding or coverage that Medicare is able to offer. As a result, not only do the patients needs risk not being met, but they risk not being seen at all. The author, Jane Gross, offers to shed some light on these issues after having interviewed with …show more content…
current health care providers, struggling with reimbursement from Medicare.
Gross interviews a Dr. Cheryl E. Woodson, a specialist in geriatric medicine who has reached a point where she can no longer afford to run her private practice due to the lack of reimbursement funds from Medicare dropping to only forty cents to the dollar. When faced with the question of taking in more Medicare patients Woodson has come to the conclusion, “you can serve seniors, or feed your children.” This resolution is one seen by many private practices due to the fact that with such feeble reimbursement from Medicare, she can barely afford to staff her office and pay rent.
This is a growing issue, and I feel it will continue to grow to be more of an issue as the average life expectancy of Americans continues to grow. With the lack of funding for Medicare to support our elderly, it continues to climax. The problem is there is no simple solution. It would be easy to say “pay more money” but issue lies in the fact that the financial burdens of the government may not support redirecting of funds for Medicare, and most citizens won’t be interested in contributing more in taxes to fund Medicare in order to help the livelihood of those other than themselves. In order to make a true impact, radical decisions must be made- whether it is to increase the age at which we potentially are eligible to retire and be granted Medicare or to increase the amount of taxes we pay towards Medicare.
This article will directly impact our classroom environment because as future health care professionals, we too will face this problem in our futures.
As potential candidates for the pharmacy profession and as future leaders in society, I feel that it is important to recognize this issue now. As current and future health care providers, we face the threat of encountering those who may potentially have some of these same issues. The only way to solve this problem is to recognize it and find a solution before it gets out of control. The question is, now that it has been identified, how exactly do we go about solving the
problem?
In order to rectify the problem of a growing economic stress on medication, the only true way to satisfy the populous is to find a way to stretch the taxes that have already been placed on us. Any threat to demand more money than has already been asked would certainly cause substantial protest. The only way to do this is to redistribute funds as much as possible. Identify the expenses which we incur as a nation and attempt to reduce them, just as we would attempt to place ourselves on a budget in order to save money in our own daily lives.
As it stands, the American economy is in dire needs of leadership and direction in order to stand a chance at coming out of the depression that threatens to consume us. We as future pharmacists may not be able to alleviate the problem, but there are steps taken to actively work with patients with these prescriptions and try and meet their medication needs. Virginia law allows us as pharmacists to distribute medications to patients with medications, even in cases when the patient has Medicare and cannot afford to pay for it themselves. While this may not be a practice that is not done in every state, it at least provides a building point to help patients coming from backgrounds with Medicare needs. It is vital that we remember as healthcare providers, that we don’t choose these professions because we are interested in seeking the most monetary gain possible. We choose these professions out of the desire to impact the lives of those we encounter each and every day.
Works Cited:
Gross, Jane. When Medicare Falls Short. The New Age: Coping and Caring New York
Times. October 16, 2008. Accessed October 16, 2008.
< http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/when-medicare-falls-short/>