Affordability is the problem plaguing American health care | What is health? interviewplay
above What is health? From KFF Health News, In this article distributed by WAMU, Washington correspondent and host Julie Rovner speaks with KFF President and CEO Drew Altman about the possibility of a national health care debate to contain costs.
Altman said health care costs have become the nation’s top economic concern as the midterm elections approach. Past reforms have significantly increased the number of people enrolled in health insurance, but have not successfully addressed affordability, he said.
Altman said there are two major problems with the U.S. health care system. One is that Americans are concerned about how they will pay for their health care, and the other is that the health care system consumes a significant portion of the nation’s spending.
Rovner and Altman will also discuss the downstream effects of the changes, including how the Trump administration’s cost cuts will affect states, employers and individuals, as well as lessons learned from past government reform efforts.
This is the first article in our new interview series, “How do you solve it?” Over the coming months, Rovner will interview experts and decision-makers from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, asking them how to fix the health care system.
A shortened version of this interview will be broadcast What is health? From KFF Health News.
You can read Altman’s “Beyond the Data” columns (including the column featured in this interview, “A Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs”) here.
