Oral

With the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), one of the most common and vociferous objections is the asserted higher economic cost associated with the implementation and extension of medical coverage. This panel demonstrates many useful economic issues and techniques that counteract many of the arguments against the PPACA’s extension of coverage and benefits. The economic issues and techniques discussed in this panel include, for example, how general economic conditions and individual economic incentives determine health care decisions that are preventative in nature and substantially reduce overall costs. In addition, one presentation examines how temporary changes in physician fees and reimbursement rates exhibit a geographic variation in the United States. The panel also examines how reducing health disparities among an often ignored and overlooked subpopulation (men) results in substantial monetary savings in direct medical care costs and indirect costs such as quality of life and loss of productivity. This panel helps researchers keep a balance approach between the provisioning of medical care offerings and utilization and economic costs, benefits, or economically generated behavior modifications. Just as “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is a well known aphorism, this panel demonstrates many economic tools and techniques both domestically and in the international arena in practical real world settings to underscore the modern importance and significance of Benjamin Franklin’s old and well known saying.

Session Objectives: Describe the mechanisms through which economic conditions and incentives determine preventative health care decisions Assess the cost and benefits of intervention programs to improve the health of a community Discuss how policies addressing health disparities influence individual decisions to access and utilize health care

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)