Today more than ever we are hearing about the disparities between “the wealthy” and America’s “middle class.” The concern about the increasing cost of living for middle income America is real as we see increases in gas prices, cost of basic food items such as bread, and even property taxes. All these economic indicators tell a story of the difficulties faced by most to simply put food on the table and pay basic bills. So is it any wonder that when a child or parent or family member becomes ill, that event alone can be catastrophic for a family?
The cost of healthcare continues to rise while states grapple with how to maintain basic programs for WIC, Medicaid, and even food stamps. All are designed fundamentally as interim solutions for most and long term care for the chronically ill. But state legislators do not understand the systemic issues involved in our nation’s health care delivery systems nor the impact of poverty on the whole. They struggle with short term budget solutions in the hopes of simply delaying as long as possible until “someone” else presents a solution that doesn’t involve raising taxes.
But is there really a solution that could work in the short term as well as for the future state?
I believe there is. However, the solution involves change… and unfortunately most involved from individuals receiving care to practitioners to hospital systems and legislators do not like or want significant change. Change is unpopular. Change means learning a different way of doing things or a new skill, and who wants that? Nonetheless, change is inevitable. Life is always changing. The truth is that most of us are change agents working to improve the status quo everywhere we go because we all want to be better, make things or processes easier. We look for the shortest route to get to where we need to go. Imagine the possibilities if rather than resisting, those in healthcare embraced change and started working together to make the system function better. Now that’s a future I’d love to see and would work to make a reality.
As healthcare expert serving in the public sector for nearly two decades, Angela Perri is committed to finding and developing better ways to improving system efficiency for our nation’s provider community as well as the government entities overseeing them. The professional business and program design services she provides continue to help improve healthcare programs for organizations and government entities nationwide.
Angela Perri is passionate about health care reform, believing that better public solutions are needed to help individuals coming from different or difficult circumstances. She prides herself on her ability to help state, county and local governments find ways to eliminate inefficiencies and develop better ways to serve vulnerable populations. There are many in this country that are unable to access quality healthcare, and Angela Perri believes that blanket, one-size-fits-all approaches by organizations and government entities have been a primary factor. The opposite phenomenon is also used where in an effort to reduce costs, programs have been fragmented to the point of disarray making them virtually useless.