Health care panel talks Social Security, rising medical costs
Written by Meghan Hoodhood, Sep 19, 2011, 0 Comments
The second annual Executive Forum, hosted by USF St. Petersburg’s College of Business, brought students and members of the community together on Tues., Sept. 13. Held in the Campus Activities Center, the discussion included two guest speakers presenting on the future of health care in the United States.
Joshua Gordon, policy director of The Concord Coalition, talked about aging, health care costs and the long-term fiscal challenge the U.S. is facing. The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to educating the public about federal budget issues and the consequences for the future.
Even though the $1.3 trillion deficit in 2011 is still growing, it’s sitting at a sustainable level, unlike the current fiscal policy, Gordon said.
According to The Concord Coalition, the government’s biggest expenditures are health care, Social Security and national defense, where no cuts have been made for this fiscal year.
“We spend one sixth of every dollar today on health care,” Gordon said.
Gordon talked about the complex problem of America’s aging population and the effects they have on the economy. “Americans are getting older, living longer, and having fewer children, which is why health care costs have been increasing higher then economic growth,” he said.
Fewer workers are available to support each Social Security recipient. A possible solution is to have workers who are still in the workforce pay for benefits for the elderly.
“We need Washington to act now, but it’s unlikely unless the people demand it,” Gordon said.
Though retirement plans and Medicaid seem far removed for most students at the forum, Gordon emphasized the importance of making good long-term decisions.
Eager to bring the discussion and relevance back to the younger generation, junior business major Jason Godbey asked where Social Security is today, and if our generation can expect to see it in the future.
Gordon assured Godbey that changes in Social Security won’t need to be implemented for the next 25 years, and only small changes are anticipated.
“Social Security seems foreign to college students, but this isn’t the case. Young people will see full Social Security benefits until 2037, and even after changes are made they can still expect to see about 80 percent of what they’re promised,” Gordon said.
Bart Valdez, chief commercial officer for Ceridian U.S., discussed the impact of Health Care Exchanges to American Business. Ceridian is a leading global business services company that helps organizations control costs and minimize financial risk.
“Rising costs are due to less healthy people making poor choices, higher medical utilizations and waste, medical innovations at higher costs, and growing Medicare and Medicaid ranks pushing system costs to commercial insurers,” Valdez said.
The challenge Valdez and Ceridian assume will include how to translate complex regulations into a positive customer experience.
“We have to be aware as individuals, students, and business owners of the tremendous number of new opportunities that are opening up for business,” Valdez said.
Rick Smith, associate professor of economics, who also moderated the event, expressed concern with where the country is in implementing an electronic health care system. Valdez replied that 5 to 7 percent of health care records today are now electronic.
“There are huge opportunities in that,” Valdez said.
Godbey says he is somewhat hopeful after listening to the speakers.
“I see a lot of new opportunities for new jobs and businesses in information bundling and the transformation of electronic information,” he said.
Photo by Daniel Mutter
