One of the newsiest and busiest year to write about healthcare is over, having set the stage for what could be the end of a long struggle to reform America’s health care system. After months of political discussions and negotiations the House and Senate finally approved sweeping healthcare legislation and as negotiations between the two houses tentatively begin in January, the start of the next decade promises to be even more consequential to the future of the country’s healthcare system. Like President Barack Obama has said, “If passed, this will be the most important piece of social policy since the Social Security Act in the 1930s, and the most important reform of our health care system since Medicare passed in the 1960s.” Both plans promise to provide health care insurance for most Americans but at a huge cost to government. The House plan, approved Nov. 7 would spend $1.05 trillion to extend coverage to about 36 million Americans. The Senate bill, passed on Dec. 24 would cost $871 billion and give coverage to 31 million people who don’t have it. However, the plans aim to curb waste and inefficiency in our current system, therefore helping to reduce the deficit by as much as $1.3 trillion in the coming decades. Both bills include tough measures to keep the insurance industry accountable, and make sure they are no longer able to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, or drop coverage when people get sick. The legislation also provides reforms to ensure that workers don’t lose coverage when they lose their jobs. Obama hailed the historic Senate passage of the health care bill, saying, “with passage of reform bills in both the House and the Senate, we are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health-insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people.” There’s no question good reform will touch almost every life in the country. It could relieve businesses from paying high insurance rates, save individuals from sudden, and certain financial ruin when confronted with a major illness, and ease the mind and heal the body of millions who before went without a check-up, or without prescription drugs, because they couldn’t afford it. But bad legislation or bad reform could further hurt an already frail system where doctors are not incentivized to go into primary care or family medicine, or serve in poor and rural communities that badly need them, for example. A system that already underpays hospitals and doctors that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients, and that forces insurance costs to climb in the private sector to make up for the difference could collapse if further squeezed. Let’s hope reform is good. Upcoming Glendale: Heart disease is the number one cause of death for men and women in the U.S but it may be prevented through education and proper diet and exercise. Maybe a giant heart will do the trick. The world’s first inflatable heart designed as an educational, walk-through exhibit that demonstrates the effects of heart disease and ways to prevent and treat it, will be on display at Glendale Adventist Medical Center on Thursday, Feb. 4. The Mega Heart is a 12-foot tall, 21-foot long, 15-foot wide replica of the human heart that provides visitors with a close-up view of healthy and diseased tissue, artificial valves and a stent, as well as the damage caused by a heart attack. Visitors enter the exhibit through the largest vein that feeds the heart, the superior vena cava, and exit through the largest artery that leaves the heart, the aorta. Glendale Unified School District, for one, will send students from several schools on a field trip to see the heart throughout the day. Burbank: The Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center that will open in February at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, will be outfitted with some of the most cutting edge medical technology to make the treatment experience for cancer patients a little less grueling. The facility will rely on a Radio-Frequency Identification system and real-time location systems to allow patients the freedom to roam the four-story cancer center. Patients will be able to pre-select and customize the lighting and temperature of their treatment rooms. They will also be able to select what music and video will play at the time of their treatment. All that information will be stored in pre-programmed patient badges that will automatically make the adjustments when patients arrive. The badges will alert the medical staff when patients are in the building and help staff locate them for appointments. Staff Reporter Andrea Alegria can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or at [email protected].
