Flatlining: How Healthcare Could Kill The U.S. Economy
How Healthcare Could Crash the Economy - And How We Can Stop It
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How Healthcare Could Crash the Economy - And How We Can Stop It
As we all watch the fate of the largest segment of the U.S. economy and hope that it doesn’t follow the examples set by the housing industry crash of 2008, many people are asking “what’s next?”
The healthcare system is an industry that will personally touch all of us at some point in our lives. But as it consumes an ever-larger share of the U.S. economy, it also threatens our financial well-being. Especially as a new administration moves to "repeal or replace" or "fix" the Affordable Care Act, now is the time to gain a deeper understanding of the health industry.
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That's the subject of FLATLINING: HOW HEALTHCARE COULD KILL THE U.S. ECONOMY. "Healthcare is the largest single segment of our economy and it is quickly spiraling out of control," the author writes. "This book can give readers and understanding of the healthcare industry, why it's in trouble, and what needs to happen to fix it."
With 30 years of experience as a managed care executive, economist, and consultant, Ron Howrigon brings a uniquely broad perspective on the healthcare system and the view is an unsettling one. Healthcare has grown from 5 percent of the US economy in 1960, to over 15 percent in 2010. Noting the crippling economic impact of failure in the auto and housing markets - much smaller sectors of the economy - Ron Howrigon asks, "When will the health care bubble burst? How bad will it be and how exactly will it happen?"
This book presents a concise, comprehensible overview of the critical issues and challenges facing the economics of healthcare.
Readers will learn about:
The unsustainable rate of inflation in the cost of health care and the "market adjustment" that could send the U.S. economy into a tailspin.
The three economic factors that explain why health care costs keep rising, and the changes necessary to reverse that trend.
The Affordable Care Act, six years on - its unanticipated effects on the healthcare system, and why the exchanges are at risk of failing.
How "Repeal and Replace" could set the stage for a meltdown of the US healthcare system.
The prescription for the cure - seven areas where decisive action is needed to create a more sustainable model for healthcare.
How physicians and hospitals need to prepare for the "tectonic shift" in how they get paid.
"The U.S. healthcare system is a product of who we are and what we are as a country," Ron Howrigon writes. FLATLINING: HOW HEALTHCARE COULD KILL THE U.S. ECONOMY offers a clear-eyed look at how our healthcare system got to where it is today, and the critical decisions that will be needed to ensure its sustainability in the future.
About the author
Ron Howrigon is president and founder of Fulcrum Strategies. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Western Michigan University and a Master’s in Economics from North Carolina State University, focusing in the area of Health Economics. Ron has 18 years' experience in the managed care industry as a negotiator and network manager, and has held senior management level positions with three of the largest managed care companies. In 2004, he founded Fulcrum Strategies to provide contract negotiation services to physicians across the country. The company has grown into offering consulting services including marketing, strategic planning, merger and speaking services to physicians and other related companies.
Contents
- Chapter 1: The Economics of Healthcare
- Chapter 2: Follow the Money
- Chapter 3: A Brief History of Healthcare and Insurance in America
- Chapter 4: Healthcare Hyperinflation and the Uninsured
- Chapter 5: The Affordable Care Act
- Chapter 6: Healthcare Today
- Chapter 7: Rationing
- Chapter 8: Healthcare for the Next Five Years
- Chapter 9: The Prescription for the Cure
- Chapter 10: Value-Based Reimbursement
- Chapter 11: The New Mindset
- Chapter 12: Summary and Conclusions
Words of praise
Mr. Howrigon’s book offers up a concise healthcare landscape analysis with common-sense treatment recommendations. His extensive and practical career experience representing payers, health systems, and physician practices provides him with a unique and central perspective as an analyst, negotiator, and commentator.
Flatlining is a book that should be read by every person, expert or not, who is interested in healthcare. Ron Howrigon sees healthcare in all its crazy complexity through many vantage points and makes this both fact-based and a good read. I have had the pleasure of working with Ron over the years and he is the real deal.
Ron was the first insurance representative I negotiated against when I became CEO of Raleigh Neurology Associates. Shortly thereafter, we became friends. Then Ron changed sides and became a contract negotiator for providers. That change has been one of two defining moments in the great history of our company. Ron’s knowledge of payers and providers is unsurpassed and his insights are invaluable.
Flatlining is an insightful and thought-provoking look at the past, present, and future of healthcare in America.
