Health Care Reform – Forging Ahead

By: Grete Dudek, CIS Compliance Associate
gretedudek@cis-partners.com

With Congress in session, it seems like every day there are new reports in the news of discussions and agreements taking place over what changes to make to the country’s health care system. The reports range from insurers and employers being able to reward people for healthy behavior, the idea of taxing people with costly health insurance to fund insurance for those who are currently without, and healthcare providers agreeing to cut healthcare costs.

Although President Obama is urging Congress to enact health care reforms before the end of 2009, it might not be until the next session of Congress that any changes start to occur. The one thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the current system isn’t doing enough for enough people. But what is the best course forward? With Medicare “expected to run out of money in 2017, two years sooner than projected last year1,” and healthcare costs projected to rise at 6.2 percent a year2, President Obama is calling on industry leaders to commit to slowing the increase. Industry leaders wrote President Obama a letter last month, expressing their commitment to slowing the increase of healthcare costs.

“The letter was signed by executives of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, a lobby for medical device manufacturers; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group for insurers; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; and the Service Employees International Union2.” They committed to reducing over-use and under-use of health care, reducing hospitalization, and better management of chronic diseases.

The letter also acknowledges that there are “factors driving health care costs that are beyond the control of the delivery system alone,” and specifically mentions focusing on obesity prevention as one way to fight rising costs. This could be done by employers, since “Congress is planning to give employers sweeping new authority to reward employees for healthy behavior, including better diet, more exercise, weight loss and smoking cessation4.” President Obama’s plan for a healthy America, which is committed to lowering health care costs and providing health care for all, and the current financial situation make this the perfect time for change, but it will take some time before anyone knows for certain what those changes will be.

Sources:
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/us/politics/13health.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/health/policy/11drug.html
3. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20090511_HealthGroups_Letter.pdf
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/health/policy/10health.html