Nevada has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the nation—nearly 23 percent, according to Census Bureau data from 2011. About a quarter of the state's uninsured are children. Uninsured people have limited options when it comes to getting health care in Nevada. Many local doctors volunteer some of their time and resources to treating uninsured patients, and there are a number of local nonprofit clinics that offer services for free or on a sliding scale.
Illinois officials are reviewing five bids to build the state's health insurance exchange—a required component of the federal health care overhaul that Gov. Pat Quinn intends to implement regardless of who wins the presidency on Tuesday. By 2014, each state must have a working exchange where people and small businesses can comparison shop online for commercial health plans based on quality and cost. Illinois would take over full management of its exchange in 2015. In the first year, Illinois plans to partner with the federal government, said Colleen Burns of the Illinois Department of Insurance. If the state's plan is approved, the federal government would run the website and a call center. The state would decide which insurance plans qualify to be sold on the exchange and provide in-person consumer assistance.
Dr. Dahlia K. Remler is a health economist and professor with a PhD from Harvard. He is supposed to be an expert on health insurance and its complexities. Her difficulties show how hard it is—even for someone who has studied health-care and insurance issues—to navigate the healthcare marketplace, particularly when you have a serious medical condition. While choice may be great, negotiating through it is daunting and it seems unlikely to remedy what ails our healthcare system.
IBM's famous supercomputer, Watson, will interact with medical students and experienced clinicians at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University to gain an understanding of medical concepts and reasoning. There is also a possibility that Watson will help teach the medical students in the future. Although Watson would not replace the clinician's judgment, it could help him or her evaluate the soundness of medical decisions.
Ezra Klein wrote a recent Washington Post column saying that the future of ObamaCare is at stake in next week's elections. If President Obama wins and Democrats hold the Senate, the Affordable Care Act will survive. If Mitt Romney wins and Republicans take the Senate, the law is dead. Whichever scenario the voters choose next week will bring significant change. We will either move to a federally-dominated healthcare system, or we will step away from that precipice and pursue different reforms.
The Republican governors of Nebraska and Iowa are pinning their hopes on a Romney victory and have postponed exchange-related decisions until after the election. Gov. Dave Heineman said last year he doesn't want a federally run exchange in Nebraska, calling the prospect a federal takeover of the state's healthcare system. More recently, he questioned the value of a state-run exchange, saying: "The only thing we get to decide is who to tax and how much." Heineman has declined to indicate before the election what his decision may be. His administration, however, is preparing for the state to operate an exchange.