Letter to Suzanne Kosmas March 19, 2010 – Healthcare Reform Just as our country is in an economic crisis we will soon be in a healthcare HUMAN CAPITAL crisis that has never seen before. Healthcare reform will happen – it just cannot occur in the bill proposed as it will create a perfect storm just as Fannie and Freddie did to the economy. Just as no one could have predicted the economic collapse – the healthcare collapse, if this bill is passed, could also drag down the economy even worse, as healthcare grows from 17% of our GDP to well over 22%. I urge you to differentiate yourself and have given you some facts from the Institute of Medicine. I also would like to invite you to speak at the ACHE American College of Healthcare Executives Central Florida meeting in September at Medical City in Orlando. Here are the facts from the IOM report 2008.
1. Between now and 2030 the number of adults aged 65 or over will double. This dramatic shift will place unseen and accelerating demands on the US healthcare system. The sheer number of older patients will overwhelm the number of physicians and other healthcare professionals unless something is done. 2. Beginning in 2011 – the 1st wave of the baby boom generation will begin to turn 65 – the 78 million baby boomers will tip the population scale growing from 12 to 20% by 2030. The Orlando Sentinel actually ran an article this past Sunday speaking to the lack of geriatric physicians that is already a major concern.
3. Older Americans will consume much more healthcare and this is not built into the $900B estimate. The current 12% of older Americans currently accounts for 26% of all physician visits – by growing to 20% – older Americans will account for more than 50% of healthcare utilization just as these reforms start to take affect.
Healthcare reform is certainly needed – just not in the form of the current bill.
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