This is Why We Need More Jeffrey Brenners

file-206642429A 58-year-old Maryland woman breaks her ankle, develops a blood clot and, unable to find a doctor to monitor her blood-thinning drug, winds up in an emergency room 30 times in six months. A 55-year-old Mississippi man with severe hypertension and kidney disease is repeatedly hospitalized for worsening heart and kidney failure; doctors don’t know that his utilities have been disconnected, leaving him without air conditioning or a refrigerator in the sweltering summer heat. A 42-year-old morbidly obese woman with severe cardiovascular problems and bipolar disorder spends more than 300 days in a Michigan hospital and nursing home because she can’t afford a special bed or arrange services that would enable her to live at home. (KHN)

See previous post here.

Comments (12)

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  1. Rutledge says:

    “…the costly cohort battling multiple chronic illnesses who consumed 21 percent of the nearly $1.3 trillion Americans spent on health care in 2010, at a cost of nearly $88,000 per person.”

    Does anyone think there will be enough young and healthy people to support this group?

  2. Jill says:

    “Five percent of patients accounted for 50 percent of all health-care expenditures. By contrast, the bottom 50 percent of patients accounted for just 2.8 percent of spending that year.”

    To me, this is evening more shocking..

  3. Crawford says:

    Wow, we really do need more Brenners..

    • Mark says:

      Just one more Brenner would have a huge impact.

      “On its first thirty-six super-utilizers, they averaged sixty-two hospital and E.R. visits per month before joining the program and thirty-seven visits after — a forty-per-cent reduction. Their hospital bills averaged $1.2 million per month before and just over half a million after — a fifty-six-per-cent reduction.”

  4. Chris says:

    “If you can save taxpayers money, you can make money — the more money you save, the more you earn.”

    This should be a universal truth in a democracy.

    • Michael says:

      It certainly is a great incentive. Increasing the quality of life and purchasing power are the ultimate goals right?

    • Wayne says:

      Young entrepreneurs are the future leaders of this country. There is a certain skill/drive/”X-factor” that has pushed them to create their own opportunities, in the mix of a generation who is completely content with sitting on a couch playing video games all day.

      It’s about time we take a look at this selective group and reward them for these efforts that are rapidly diminishing.

      • Chris says:

        America was built by entrepreneurs–

        What will America be with no entrepreneurs?

        • Mikey says:

          The ACA doesn’t help my small business(Lawn Care/Landscaping). I just recently won a bid for a local municipality, but my marginal profits are negative because I would have to higher 4 more workers, sending me over 50 employees.

          1099’s here we come.