Hospitals & Asylums
The Health of
the Economy HA-5-10-06
1.
The US economy has reached a new phase.
Economists are now wrestling to determine the health of the economy in
light of the recent slump in economic growth.
These have been challenging times for economic forecasters and
policymakers. Since the summer of 2005, the economy has absorbed a wide variety
of shocks--major hurricanes, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and substantial
increases in energy prices--and has adapted to a rise in short-term interest
rates to more normal levels. Yet real gross domestic product (GDP) increased a
respectable 3-1/2 percent from the second quarter of 2005 to the second quarter
of 2006, and the unemployment rate fell to 4-3/4 percent. At the same time,
however, headline consumer price inflation has been quite high, and an upward
movement in core inflation has raised concerns about the persistence in price
pressures, a very worrisome development from the point of view of a monetary
policy maker. The economy is expected
to grow at a moderate pace for a while, somewhat below the rate of increase of
its potential, and then growth will begin to strengthen. In addition, as the
cost pressures from the run-up in energy and materials prices begin to play
out, or perhaps even partly reverse, and as pressures on resources ease
slightly resulting in much lower headline inflation and a gradual diminution of
core consumer price inflation. Based on
the data we now have, the growth of real GDP in the third quarter appears to
have remained as subdued as it was in the second quarter and may well have
slowed further. As we enter the fourth quarter, little in the way of hard
economic data or anecdotal information suggests any sharp shift in the pace of
economic activity. If that is so, the
economy could be in the process of
registering several consecutive quarters of growth below its potential rate,
the first time it has done so since early 2003. After three years of growth above potential, some slowing was
inevitable and desirable.
3. Between the beginning of 2001 and the end of 2005, the
constant-quality price index for new homes rose 30 percent and the
purchase-only price index of existing homes published by the Office of Federal
Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) increased 50 percent. These increases
boosted the net worth of the household sector, which further fueled the growth
of consumer spending directly through the traditional "wealth effect"
and possibly through the increased availability of relatively inexpensive
credit secured by the capital gains on homes. By the end of last year, however,
the high price of houses and rising interest rates had begun to take a
meaningful toll on demand for homes. That said, the fourth quarter of last year
seems to provide a reasonable reference point: Since that time, housing starts
have fallen about 20 percent, and home sales are down 10 percent. Home-price
appreciation has also slowed dramatically since late last year, and some local
markets have experienced outright price declines. Homebuilders report that
cancellations have increased sharply, especially for second homes. Realtors
note that existing houses are staying on the market longer, and sellers must
increasingly make concessions to buyers.
In the past, outright declines in the nominal prices of houses have been
relatively rare and localized.
4. The trend over the 1990s
to the 2001 recession was a decrease in unemployment and an increase in
employment. In 1999 and 2000, annual growth in employment was 2.8 million
people, with approximately 155,000 more people employed each month. Over 15
million people were added to the jobs over the decade. At its low in December 2000, the unemployment
rate equaled 3.9 percent. In 2001, unemployment rates began to increase.
Unemployment rates continued to increase after the 2001 recession, as the
economy only slowly recovered. From
March 2001 to the summer 2003, the trend was generally one of increasing
unemployment rates and decreasing employment.
However, unemployment rates have been steadily decreasing since reaching
a high of 6.3 percent in June of 2003. On
October 5 the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for
unemployment benefits was reported to have dropped last week to the lowest
level in 10 weeks. The Labor Department reported Thursday that 302,000 persons
filed claims last week, the smallest number to show up at unemployment offices
since the week ending July 22. The level was down by 17,000 from the previous
week and marked the second consecutive week that claims applications have
fallen, providing evidence that the slowdown the economy has been going through
since the spring has not triggered a big increase in layoffs.
Seasonal Adjusted Unemployment Rate Bureau of Labor Statistics
|
|||||||||||||
Year |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Annual |
1996 |
5.6 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
5.1 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
|
1997 |
5.3 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
5.1 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
4.8 |
4.9 |
4.7 |
4.6 |
4.7 |
|
1998 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.7 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
|
1999 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
|
2000 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
|
2001 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
4.5 |
4.6 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
5.7 |
|
2002 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.9 |
5.8 |
5.8 |
5.8 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.9 |
6.0 |
|
2003 |
5.8 |
5.9 |
5.9 |
6.0 |
6.1 |
6.3 |
6.2 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
5.9 |
5.7 |
|
2004 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.5 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
|
2005 |
5.2 |
5.4 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
5.1 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
|
2006 |
4.7 |
4.8 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.8 |
4.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
5. Over the next few decades,
the U.S. population will grow significantly older, a development that will
affect our society and our economy in many ways. In particular, the
coming demographic transition will create severe fiscal challenges, as the cost
of entitlement programs rises sharply. From a broader economic
perspective, the question is how the burden of an aging population is to be
shared between our generation and the generations that will follow us. A
failure on our part to prepare for demographic change will have substantial
adverse effects on the economic welfare of our children and grandchildren and
on the long-run productive potential of the U.S. economy. In coming decades, many forces will shape
our economy and our society, but in all likelihood no single factor will have
as pervasive an effect as the aging of our population. In 2008, as the
first members of the baby-boom generation reach the minimum age for receiving
Social Security benefits, there will be about five working-age people (between
the ages of twenty and sixty-four) in the United States for each person aged
sixty-five and older, and those sixty-five and older will make up about 12
percent of the U.S. population. Those statistics are set to change
rapidly, at least relative to the speed with which one thinks of demographic
changes as usually taking place. For example, according to the intermediate
projections of the Social Security Trustees, by 2030--by which time most of the
baby boomers will have retired--the ratio of those of working age to those
sixty-five and older will have fallen from five to about three. By that
time, older Americans will constitute about 19 percent of the U.S. population,
a greater share than of the population of Florida today. Longer, healthier lives will provide many
benefits for individuals, families, and society as a whole.
6. As the population
ages, the nation will have to choose among higher taxes, less non-entitlement
spending, a reduction in outlays for entitlement programs, a sharply higher
budget deficit, or some combination thereof. To get a sense of the
magnitudes involved, suppose that we tried to finance projected entitlement
spending entirely by revenue increases. In that case, the taxes collected
by the federal government would have to rise from about 18 percent of GDP today
to about 24 percent of GDP in 2030, an increase of one-third in the tax burden
over the next twenty-five years, with more increases to
follow. Alternatively, financing the projected increase in entitlement
spending entirely by reducing outlays in other areas would require that
spending for programs other than Medicare and Social Security be cut by about
half, relative to GDP, from its current value of 12 percent of GDP today to
about 6 percent of GDP by 2030. In today’s terms, this action would be
equivalent to a budget cut of approximately $700 billion in non-entitlement
spending. The most straightforward way
to raise national saving--although not a politically easy one--is to reduce the
government’s current and projected budget deficits. The intergenerational
perspective provides a few insights that might be helpful to policymakers as
they undertake the needed reforms. First, restructuring the finances of
our entitlement programs to minimize their reliance on deficit spending will
enhance national saving and reduce the burden on future generations.
Second, changes in the structure of entitlement programs should preserve or
enhance the incentives to work and to save; for example, we should take care
that benefits rules do not penalize those who may wish to work part-time after
retirement. Finally, the imperative to undertake reform earlier
rather than later is great.
US Budget Estimated in billions by
OMB 2000 – 2010 and Proposed by HA 2006-2010
Table 3 |
Int’l |
Def |
OASI |
Rev |
Exp |
Def |
Acct. Def. |
Debt |
GDP |
GNI |
2000 |
12 |
294.50 |
411.68 |
2,025 |
1,788 |
87 |
|
5,628 |
9,719 |
6,400 |
2001 |
14 |
305.50 |
434.06 |
1,991 |
1,860 |
-33 |
|
5,770 |
10,022 |
6,666 |
2002 |
15 |
349.56 |
440.54 |
1,853 |
2,011 |
-317 |
|
6,198 |
10,339 |
7,000 |
2003 |
35 |
388.87 |
447.81 |
1,782 |
2,157 |
-375 |
-922 |
6,780 |
10,828 |
6,666 |
2004 |
15 |
437.12 |
457.12 |
1,880 |
2,292 |
-412 |
-1,077 |
7,355 |
11,552 |
7,500 |
2005 |
17 |
444.07 |
479.89 |
2,052 |
2,479 |
-400 |
-1,183 |
8,058 |
12,227 |
7,921 |
2006 |
25 |
510.09 |
507.09 |
2,285 |
2,696 |
-411 |
-1,240 |
8,448 |
12,294 |
8,078 |
2007 |
30 |
471 |
537.85 |
2,416 |
2,798 |
-312 |
|
8,760 |
13,617 |
8,500 |
2008 |
35 |
436.44 |
568.09 |
2,507 |
2,757 |
-251 |
|
9,010 |
14,349 |
9,000 |
2009 |
40 |
460.55 |
599.95 |
2,650 |
2,882 |
-233 |
|
9,343 |
15,111 |
9,500 |
2010 |
50 |
485.11 |
635.31 |
2,821 |
3,028 |
-207 |
|
9,530 |
15,906 |
10,000 |
Pro. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006 |
33 |
400 |
400 |
2,193 |
2,400 |
-178 |
-978 |
8,218 |
12,294 |
8,078 |
2007 |
50 |
365 |
400 |
2,416 |
2,426 |
24 |
-826 |
8,300 |
13,617 |
8,500 |
2008 |
65 |
333 |
425 |
2,507 |
2,473 |
33 |
-867 |
8,267 |
14,349 |
9,000 |
2009 |
75 |
333 |
450 |
2,650 |
2,565 |
50 |
-800 |
8,183 |
15,111 |
9,500 |
2010 |
90 |
300 |
500 |
2,821 |
2,708 |
100 |
-750 |
8,070 |
15,906 |
10,000 |
7. The health care sector is important to
the nation's labor market however the increase in health insurance premiums is
like a cancerously disproportionate growth that requires redress. From
1995-2000, the economy generated 14.5 million jobs according to the CES survey
from the BLS. The broadest measure of
healthcare employment (healthcare and social assistance) generated 1.44 million
jobs, or approximately 9.9% of the total jobs generated over the period. From July of 2003 through July of 2006,
nearly 5.6 million jobs were created in the United States. There has been a 44% increase in licensed
real estate agents in the past 5 years to 2.5 million licensed agents. That's
almost 764,000 new agents in the past 5 years alone. In the three months ending July 2006, the healthcare sector
accounted for 32% of new private jobs, by far the biggest single
contributor. Since 2001, 1.7 million
new jobs have been added in the health-care sector, which includes related
industries such as pharmaceuticals and health insurance. There are rumors in Business Week that the
number of private-sector jobs outside of health care is no higher than it was
five years ago but this is false. The
health care industry is merely a vibrant sector of the economy. Health care is however not without problems
and health insurance is clearly a major source of corruption in the economy and
the legislature will have to work to regulate inflation in health insurance
premiums to be fair to workers who pay the price of a visit to the doctor every
month and are not covered if they stop paying their premiums. The options for reform are to regulate the
price of private health insurance providers or to shift to single payer
government insurance.
8. Health Insurance Premium growth moderated in
2006, but it still increases twice as fast as wages. Although
growth in health insurance premiums has moderated in each of the last three
years, it continues to outpace inflation and average wage growth. Since the
year 2000, health insurance premiums have grown by 87%, compared with
cumulative inflation of 18% and cumulative wage growth of 20%. During this
period, the percentage of employers offering health benefits has fallen from
69% to 61%, and the percentage of workers covered by their own employer also
has fallen. Premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage rose an average
7.7 percent in 2006, less than the 9.2 percent increase recorded in 2005 and
the recent peak of 13.9 percent in 2003, according to the 2006 Employer Health
Benefits Survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health
Research and Educational Trust. Premiums still increased twice as fast as
workers' wages and overall inflation last year. Since 2000, premiums have grown
87 percent while wages have gone up 20 percent and inflation has gone up 18
percent. The annual survey, which Kaiser and HRET have been conducting since
1999, also found modest enrollment in consumer-driven health plans. Employer sponsored health insurance provides
coverage for 155 million non elderly in America. Average
annual premiums for employer-sponsored coverage are $4,242 for single coverage
and $11,480 for family coverage
9. Over 75% of covered workers with single
coverage and over 90% of covered workers with family coverage make a
contribution toward the total premium for their coverage. Workers on average contribute $627 annually
toward the cost of single coverage and $2,973 annually toward the cost of
family coverage. Since 2000, annual
worker contributions have increased by $293 for single coverage and by $1,354
for family coverage. In addition to
their premium contributions, most covered workers make additional payments when
they use health care. For workers in
plans with a general plan deductible, the average annual deductibles for single
coverage are $352 for workers enrolled in HMOs, $473 for workers enrolled in
PPOs, $553 for workers enrolled in POS plans, and $1,715 for workers enrolled
in HDHP/SOs. The vast majority of
covered workers face copayments when they go to the doctor. Among these covered
workers, 60% are in plans with a copayment of $15 or $20, and an additional 15%
are in a plan with a copayment of $25.
Among workers who face cost sharing for prescription drugs, most face
copayments rather than coinsurance; the average copayments are $11 for generic
drugs, $24 for preferred drugs, and $38 for nonpreferred drugs. Twenty-seven percent of employers offering
health benefits offer one or more wellness programs to their employees, with
19% offering an injury prevention program, 10% offering a fitness program, 9%
offering a smoking cessation program, and 6% offering a weight loss program.
Large firms (200 or more workers) are more likely than small firms (3–199
workers) to offer one or more wellness programs (62% vs. 26%).
10. Since 2000, the percentage of firms offering health benefits has fallen from 69%. As we have seen in prior years, health benefit offer rates vary considerably by firm size, with only 48% of the smallest companies (3–9 workers) offering health benefits, compared to 73% of firms with 10 to 24 workers, 87% of firms with 25 to 49 workers, and over 90% of firms with 50 or more workers. Even when a firm offers health insurance, not all workers get covered. Some workers are not eligible to enroll as a result of waiting periods or minimum work-hour rules, and others choose not to enroll perhaps because they must pay a share of the premium or can get coverage through a spouse. Within offering firms, 78% of workers are eligible for coverage, and 82% of eligible workers take-up coverage from that employer. Looking at workers both in firms that offer benefits and firms that do not, 59% of workers have coverage through their own employer, down from 63% in 2000. Among firms offering health benefits, 50% offer or contribute to a dental benefit and 21% offer or contribute to a vision benefit that is separate from any dental or vision coverage provided by the firm’s health plan. In 2006, 35% of large firms (200 or more workers) offer retiree health coverage, virtually the same percentage as last year, but down from 66% in 1988. Among large firms offering retiree benefits, the vast majority (94%) offer benefits to early retirees, while 77% offer benefits to Medicare-age retirees.
11.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance presents this year's annual
report, which answers key questions about the health care industry. Is the
quality of care continuing to improve? How are changing enrollment patterns
affecting accountability? What is the impact – in lives and dollars – of
closing quality gaps in the system? Which health plans are the industry
standouts? More than 70
million Americans enrolled in private health plans saw the quality of their
health care improve in 2005, according to a new report by the National
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Among the most notable improvements: 77.7
percent of children enrolled in private health plans received all recommended
immunizations, up from 72.5 percent in 2004; 70.3 percent of children in Medicaid
managed care plans were immunized in accordance with clinical guidelines, up
from 63.1 percent in 2004. And 75.5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who were
smokers received advice to quit, a gain of nearly 11 percentage points over
2004. Amidst this success story,
however, were signs that the pace of improvement may be slowing: fewer quality
measures showed statistically significant improvements in 2005 than in
2004. In 2005, accredited commercial managed care plans scored
higher than their unaccredited counterparts on 38 of 40 reported measures.
Accredited Medicare plans scored higher on 22 of 23 measures, while accredited
Medicaid plans outperformed non-accredited plans on 34 of 38 measures. Public reporting also spurs higher
performance. This year, publicly reporting commercial plans outperformed
non-publicly reporting plans on 37 of 40 measures, and publicly reporting
Medicaid plans scored higher than their non-publicly reporting counterparts on
33 of 38 measures. The continuing high
cost of coverage has created new barriers to Americans with insurance receiving
needed care and increased the number of Americans without insurance. While the
recent double-digit pace of health care inflation appears to have slowed, the
cost of the average health insurance policy for a family of four topped $10,000
a year in 2005. Today, more than 100
million Americans who have health insurance still do not benefit from
the transparency of quality measurement and reporting. And, of course, 47
million Americans who are uninsured have access to little or no information
about the quality of the care they receive.
12. These continuous improvements in clinical quality over time, the direct result of performance measurement and reporting, have saved the lives of 53,000 to 91,000 Americans—and prevented hundreds of thousands of serious complications. Perhaps the most dramatic success story is that of beta-blocker treatment: in 2005, more than 96 percent of patients who suffered a heart attack were prescribed beta-blockers to help prevent a second, and often fatal, heart attack, up from only 62 percent in 1996. This improvement alone has saved between 4,200 and 5,300 lives over the past 10 years. There are, however, disturbing exceptions to this pattern of improvement. The quality of care for Americans with mental health problems remains as poor today as it was several years ago. Patients on antidepressant medication are about as likely to receive appropriate care today as they were in 1999. Similarly, patients hospitalized for mental illness are only marginally more likely to receive appropriate follow-up care. Despite the general improvements in quality over the past several years, enormous differences persist between the performance of the health care system as a whole and the top 10 percent of health plans who report on quality. These “quality gaps” represent the continuing failure to consistently deliver care in accordance with well-established guidelines and exact a substantial toll in terms of both lives and economic costs. If the entire health care system performed at the level of the top accountable plans, between 37,600 and 81,000 deaths would be avoided per year and between $2.6 billion and $3.6 billion in unnecessary hospitalization expenses would be saved.
13. The Strategic Plan 2006-2011
lays the foundation for an even stronger, more effective Department of
Labor. The plan sets four goals. A
Prepared Workforce. A Competitive
Workforce. Safe and Secure
Workplaces. Strengthened Economic Protections. Congress established the Department of Labor (DOL) with a
mission to foster, promote, develop the welfare of the wage earners of the
United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their
opportunities for profitable employment.
The U.S. workforce continues to grow, but at a considerably slower rate
than in the past. Its composition is shifting towards a more balanced
distribution by age, sex, race and ethnicity.
During the 1970s, the workforce grew by 2.6 percent annually, declining
to a 1.1 percent growth rate two decades later. In the next several decades,
workforce growth is expected to slow to under 0.6 percent per year. Downturns in the economy always mean fewer
jobs are available and sometimes mean shifts in occupational demands once the
economy rebounds. On the other hand, during times of high economic growth,
fewer people may have time to devote to training, but the demand from business
for new workers increases. While downturns in the economy affect many
Americans, youth, especially those without a diploma or good job skills, are
particularly vulnerable during periods of economic contraction. In addition,
economic change translates directly into different, and sometimes new, demands
for data as industrial sectors succeed others, and as consumer goods replace
others.
14. The first goal, A Prepared
Workforce, is to develop
a prepared
workforce by providing effective training and support services to new and incumbent
workers and supplying high-quality information on the economy and labor
market. Two-thirds of the estimated
18.9 million new jobs created in the next ten years are expected to be filled
by workers with some post-secondary education — whether it is a four year
college degree, a two-year degree from a community college or specialized
training like an apprenticeship program.
in 2005, the unemployment rate was 7.6 percent for individuals without a
high school degree, 4.7 percent for high school graduates, and only 3.3 percent
for individuals with an associate’s degree. Higher levels of educational
attainment are also associated with higher earnings. In 2005, while high school
graduates earned a median of $583 per week, individuals with an associate’s
degree earned $699 per week, and those with a four year degree or graduate
level education earned $1,013 per week.
15. The second goal, A
Competitive Workforce, aims to meet the demands of the worldwide economy by
enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the workforce development and
regulatory systems that assist workers and employers in meeting the challenges
of worldwide competition. The world is
now witnessing one of the greatest economic transformations in history. The
twin
revolutions of technology and information have ushered in
the era known as globalization.
Although global competition is typically seen as a national challenge,
the front lines of the battlefield are regional — where companies, workers,
researchers, entrepreneurs, and governments come together to create a
competitive advantage in the global economy.
Advantage stems from the prosperity-creating power of innovation — the
ability to transform new ideas and the new knowledge into advanced, high
quality products or services. Many regions have made
considerable progress in integrating talent and skills development into their
larger economic strategies and in transforming their workforce, economic
development, and education systems into one comprehensive system that is both
flexible and responsive to the needs of
businesses and workers.
16. The third goal, Safe and
Secure Workplaces, focuses on ensuring that workplaces are safe, healthful,
and fair; providing workers with the wages due them; providing equal
opportunity; and protecting veterans’ employment and reemployment rights. The Department protects the rights of
workers covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 by
responding promptly to imminent danger situations; investigating fatalities,
catastrophes and worker complaints; enforcing whistle blower rights; and
inspecting Federal agencies to protect Federal workers. In the past thirty
years,. occupational injury and illness rates have declined 56 percent. Since 1970, the number of workers DOL is
responsible for protecting has expanded dramatically from 58 million workers at
3.5 million work sites to 111 million workers at 7.25 million
establishments. The Department remains
committed to promoting compliance with labor standards to better protect all
workers, especially those most economically disadvantaged and vulnerable. Through proper administration and
enforcement of laws, the Department ensures that low-wage workers receive the
wages due them. The number of workers receiving back wages, which is the difference
between what the employee was paid and the amount he or she should have been
paid, has increased by 11 percent since FY 2001. This increase includes $166
million in back wages for over 241,000 employees in FY 2005. In FY 2005, the Department recovered a
record $45,156,462 for 14,761 American workers who had been subjected to
unlawful employment discrimination.
17. The fourth goal, Strengthened
Economic Protections, commits the Department to protect and strengthen
economic security through effective and efficient provision of unemployment
insurance and workers’ compensation; ensuring union transparency; and securing
pension and health benefits. Achieving
a high level of economic protection for the work force is vital to a strong and
stable economy. Economic protections
administer payments of temporary benefits for the unemployed and that protect
employees from the economic effects of work related illness and injury. Union democracy helps to promote financial
accountability. The Department of Labor
is also responsible for the administration and civil enforcement of Title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This responsibility extends to approximately
730,000 private defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans and six
million private health and welfare plans holding over $4.5 trillion in assets
and covering approximately 150 million Americans.
18. The health of the US economy has clearly reached a new phase in its development where lower growth and lower inflation are to be expected. For the citizens, consumers and even investors the new status quo should not be problematic and it seems unlikely that this period of relatively lower growth will be labeled as a recession in appreciation for the lower rates of inflation as long as indicators remain static as predicted and there is hope for future improvements when the obstacles to economic harmony are overcome and growth can be renewed. To improve the economic situation regulators will need to wrestle with the federal budget deficit that can be easily balanced if the federal government would only keep OASI closer to cost and greatly decrease military spending so as to be proportionate to the global aggregate military expenditure. Further regulatory action needs to be taken to reign in the health insurance industry that is not justified in their high premiums and annual increases in premiums that are more than twice the annual wage increase. The most important action in regards to health insurance is opening relatively low cost Medicare and Medicaid to employers regardless of income. As the result of this competition private health insurers would have to reduce their costs and employees. The general health of the US economy demands that regulators come to grips with the account deficit by balancing the budget, taking a more protectionist approach in international trade and supportive role in regards to the rights of their citizens.
Sources
Bernanke,
Ben S. Chairman of the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve. At The
Washington Economic Club, Washington, D.C. The Coming Demographic
Transition: Will We Treat Future Generations Fairly? October
4, 2006
Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overview of the Economy: Perspective from the BEA Accounts. 2006
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Population Survey. 2006
Coy, Peter. Is the Economy Headed for a Fall? Business
Week. 3
October 2006
Chow, Elaine. Secretary of the Department of Labor.
Strategic Plan 2006-2011. 2006
Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and
Educational Trust. Annual Health
Insurance Survey 2006
Kohn, Donald L. Vice Chairman of the
Federal Reserve. At the Money Marketeers of New York University, New York,
New York October
4, 2006
Mendel, Michael. What is Really Propping
up the Economy? Business Week. 14
September 2006
National Committee for Quality
Assurance. Key Questions Regarding the
Health Industry. 2006
Sanders, Tony J. Balanced Account
Deficit. HA-26-9-06