Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said America needs to find a better way to help the estimated 47 million people without affordable healthcare.
Speaking at the Senate Finance Committee Health Reform Summit on Monday in Washington, D.C., he made suggestions on how to improve the system.
"Improving the performance of our healthcare system is without a doubt one of the most important challenges that our nation faces. In recent decades, improvements in medical knowledge and standards of care have allowed people to live healthier, longer and more productive lives. New medical technologies and treatments promise more and better to come," he said.
Bernanke said the healthcare sector represents a major segment of the nation's economy, and spending on services exceeds 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
"Over the past four decades, this sector has grown, on average, at a rate of about 2-1/2 percentage points faster than the GDP. Should this rate of growth continue, health spending would exceed 22 percent of GDP by 2020 and reach almost 30 percent of GDP by 2030," he said.
"The decisions we make about healthcare reform will affect many aspects of our economy, including the pace of economic growth, wages and living standards, and government budgets, to name a few."
The Congressional Budget Office projects that under current policies, health spending will account for almost one-half of all federal non-interest outlays by 2050.
The challenges Bernanke laid out for healthcare reform are based on access, quality and cost.
He questioned whether the nation should encourage insurance mandates. While there is support for mandates, he said, "mandates infringe on what should be an individual choice and may require a substantial government budgetary commitment to help those who cannot afford insurance on their own to meet the mandate."
Other questions raised by Bernanke include:
- Should Americans continue to rely on employer-provided health insurance as the key element to the system?
- Should America help people with costly pre-existing conditions, and should the government impose requirements on insurance companies to accept all applicants and mandate the conditions that must be covered?
- To what extent is America willing to use public funds to reduce the number of those who are uninsured?
Bernanke concluded by praising the advances already made in healthcare, but warned "that we must take care to maintain the vitality and spirit of innovation that has been its hallmark."