Healthcare Consolidation Stifles Innovation (VIDEO)

Martin Gaynor — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:00:24 +0000

Healthcare consolidation, particularly when it comes to hospitals, leads to less competition, higher premiums and a reduction in quality, argues Martin Gaynor, a professor of health economics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Even the largest cities in the United States are only served by say, two to three very large health systems,” Gaynor says. “What that means is there are no longer a large number of alternatives for people.” Watch Martin Gaynor describe the negative effects of consolidation below:

Watch: Health Care Reform: What It Means for the Economy (VIDEO)

Martin Gaynor

Gaynor, who also chairs the governing board of the Health Care Cost Institute, testified at a September 2011 congressional hearing that focused on the impact healthcare consolidation had on the cost of private health insurance, Medicare spending and beneficiary costs.

Lack of competition results in stagnation, Gaynor tells genConnect.

“New kinds of innovations that can reduce cost and enhance quality just don’t happen, and that hurts all of us,” he says.

WATCH: Creating an Efficient & Affordable Healthcare System

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Health Care Reform: What It Means for the Economy (VIDEO)

Martin Gaynor — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:00:33 +0000

With health care reform going into effect all over the country, more than 40 million people previously uninsured will finally be covered. That’s not only good news for those individuals, but for the economy as a whole, as well. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Americans got coverage in 2011 as young adults leaped onto their parent’s health insurance plans. More people also got health insurance under Medicare and Medicaid.

Watch Martin Gaynor, professor of health economics at Carnegie Mellon University and chair of the governing board of the Health Care Cost Institute, talk about the economics of health care:

“Obviously health care reform is very important for the United States and economic issues are critical,” Gaynor said. The fact that President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is going to expand coverage to previously uninsured is “obviously critical for the United States.”

People without insurance not only have problems getting treatment for serious health conditions – if they can even afford treatment and care – but the decision not to get treatment can have dire consequences. “It also has very serious financial impact on people’s lives, which affects their productivity, which, of course, affects the entire economy,” Gaynor says.

But it’s not easy for people to seek out understandable health care information. Individuals need to seek out help from employers, as well as health organizations within their community. Watch Gaynor discuss the social effects of health care, below:

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“Folks really have to seek out information about prices, about quality and it’s hard for people to do that on their own,” Gaynor said. “I think really it comes from people letting their employers know this is information they need to have.”

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Healthcare Consolidation Stifles Innovation (VIDEO)

Health Care Reform: What It Means for the Economy (VIDEO)