Modern Healthcare December 30, 2017
Talk about a New Year’s hangover. Healthcare—17.9% of the nation’s gross domestic product and still growing—will dominate the news in 2018 as it has for much of the past decade. It’s not shaping up as a good news story. Here’s why:
1. The opioid epidemic will remain unaddressed. Drug overdose deaths soared to 63,632 in 2016, with two-thirds of those deaths opioid-related. Despite President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency, no money has been earmarked to fight the epidemic. Looming budget deficits from the new tax law mean little or nothing will be done about it in 2018.
2. Life expectancy will fall for the third straight year. The average life-span fell to 78.6 years in 2016, down from 78.9...
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