Health System Faces Post-Sept. 11 Challenges, New York Times’ Steinhauer Writes

The Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon have brought "new twists" to an American health care system that already had "major problems," Jennifer Steinhauer writes in her "Money & Medicine" column in the New York Times. Problems include:

• Hospital costs. New York hospitals are "reeling" from financial losses attributed to the Sept. 11 attacks. Many hospitals purchased new equipment and supplies to treat patients from the World Trade Centers, and many elective procedures were canceled at the time of and immediately after the attacks. Although many New York hospitals expect to be reimbursed for the price of equipment and supplies, it is not clear if patient volume will return to normal, according to Martin Arrick, a director at Standard & Poor's. He added, "[N]o one expects that volume lost over the long term will be recovered if patients feel they do not want to travel into Manhattan for care. This is certainly unknown right now."
• The uninsured. The national increase of unemployed workers is leading to a growing number of people without health insurance, "just as the federal government was making progress in reducing their ranks," Steinhauer writes. A Commonwealth Fund study indicates that 37% of unemployed people have no health insurance, and more than 33% of workers who lose their jobs will lose health insurance. In addition, since "many of the uninsured undoubtedly will find the cost of buying individual health insurance prohibitive," the number of people enrolled in Medicaid could increase. According to the study, an increase of 2% in the unemployment rate could lead to 33.3 million new Medicaid enrollees at a cost of $5 billion per year.
• Bioterrorism costs. States affected by the anthrax incidents face increases in health care costs of 2% to 8%. In addition, the federal government will spend more money on the development of new antibiotics and vaccines "to deal with" bioterrorism. According to Steinhauer, the government and private companies "can be expected to go head to head" over who will pay the costs.
• Mental health costs. Costs for mental health services are "climbing" at rates that may reach double-digits for cities and companies nationwide. According to analysts and consultants, many employees have begun using these benefits.