For several recent decades, health policy developments continue to reflect three major concerns: extent of health insurance coverage of the population, efforts to restrain rising costs of health care services, and attempts to improve health care quality. Based on new data that became available in July 2024 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national uninsured rate rose from 7.7% to 8.2% earlier this year. The increase from that record low rate of 7.7% at the time is the result of states removing enrollees from their Medicaid programs who initially became eligible to obtain coverage during the COVID pandemic. A result is that an estimated 25 million individuals are uninsured today. The cost element of health care services often is affected by advances in technology. New drugs enter the marketplace at regular intervals. A concern is that some products are quite expensive, making insurance companies reluctant to provide coverage. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is making it possible to produce selective modifications of the DNA of living organisms, while related advances in gene technology represent additional ways of creating effective, but highly unaffordable interventions. Meanwhile, health care quality can be influenced by societal changes involving government initiatives that have an impact on individual behavior and health outcomes as shown immediately below.
Changes In Self-Reported Cannabis Use In The United States From 1979 To 2022
Long-term trends in cannabis use in the U.S. parallel corresponding changes in cannabis policy, with declines during periods of greater restriction and growth during periods of policy liberalization. As described (Caulkins, J.P.) in the September 2024 issue of the periodical Addiction, rates of use reported to the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health and its predecessors are described, as are trends in days of use reported. Four milepost years are contrasted: 1979 (first available data and end of relatively liberal policies of the 1970s), 1992 (end of 12 years of conservative Reagan-Bush era policies), 2008 (last year before the Justice Department signaled explicit federal non-interference with state-level legalizations) and 2022 (most recent data available).
Whereas the 1992 survey recorded 10 times as many daily or near daily alcohol use as cannabis usage (8.9 vs. 0.9 M), the 2022 survey, for the first time, recorded more daily and near daily users of cannabis than alcohol (17.7 vs. 14.7 M). Far more individuals drink, but high-frequency drinking is less common. In 2022, the median drinker reported drinking on 4–5 days in the past month, versus 15–16 days in the past month for cannabis. In 2022, past-month cannabis consumers were almost four times as likely to report daily or near daily use (42.3% vs. 10.9%) and 7.4 times more likely to report daily use (28.2% vs. 3.8%). Apart from this particular study, worth pondering are possible ramifications of increased cannabis usage. An upside is that legalizing the substance for medicinal and recreational use means that possession of small amounts no longer places users at risk of being incarcerated. A potential downside is that just as consumers of alcohol products may be prone to being involved in motor vehicle accidents, the same may be true for drivers under the influence of cannabis.
Caregiving: Providers And Recipients
A new result from the University of Michigan National Poll released on August 6, 2024 reveals who is providing care and who are the recipients. An estimated 30% of all individuals in their 50s and early 60s provide care to at least one person with a health issue or disability, compared with 23% of caregivers over age 65. One in 10 caregivers in their 50s and early 60s are juggling taking care of three or more persons. Apart from age, there is a gender divide: 32% of women age 50 and over act as caregivers to someone with a health issue or a disability, compared with 22% of men in this age group. Overall, 23% of caregivers are caring for an adult or child with an intellectual or developmental disability, and 66% are caring for someone age 65 or older. The most common health issue or disability that caregivers help their friends or family with was a physical disability or mobility problem, at 59%. The next most common was memory or thinking issues, at 42%, followed by vision or hearing impairments at 28%, and mental health concerns at 22%. When it comes to covering the cost of caregiving for individuals over age 65, 45% of those who are 50 and older feel the government should take the lead, 27% believe it should be the person receiving care, 18% think it should be family or friends, and 10% said it should be other sources.