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Health Care: House Passes Physician Pay Fix
• "The House overwhelmingly approved a physician repayment bill" Thursday "to permanently fix the way doctors who cover Medicare patients are reimbursed," The Hill reports. "Only one Republican member voted with Democrats for the bill that was approved 243-183. Dr. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) endured intense lobbying efforts by his GOP colleagues to oppose the nearly quarter of a trillion dollar bill that Democrats do not offset."
• "The Senate will take its first crucial vote on healthcare overhaul legislation Saturday night, with three key Democrats appearing to lean toward a vote to start debate," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "The vote to end a Republican filibuster on the motion to proceed, should it reach the 60-vote threshold, will double as the vote on the motion to proceed, allowing senators to head home for Thanksgiving recess."
• "The Senate Democratic plan to pay for part of health care reform by slapping a tax on elective cosmetic surgery drew jeers Thursday from doctors who specialize in such procedures as breast implants and nose jobs," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "They maintained the proposed 5 percent levy tucked into the health care bill would be difficult to collect and would punish far more people than rich housewives."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will announce his blueprint for health reform at noon today. Below is the executive summary. Can this plan work, and is he close enough to President-elect Obama's proposal that they can work together? Are there hot spots for stakeholders and Republicans?
-- Marilyn Werber Serafini, NationalJournal.com
From Sen. Baucus:
Like a sturdy stool, the Call to Action has three equally important legs: (1) a policy that ensures meaningful coverage and care to all Americans; (2) an insistence that any such expansion be coupled with an emphasis on higher quality, greater value, and -- over time -- less costly care; and (3) an absolute commitment to weed out waste, eliminate overpayments, and design a sustainable financing system that works for taxpayers as well as for the nation's recipients and providers of health care.
Ensuring Health Coverage for All Americans. The Baucus plan would ensure that every individual can access affordable coverage by creating a nationwide insurance pool called the Health Insurance Exchange. Those who already have health coverage could keep what they have. But for those who need affordable, guaranteed coverage, the Exchange would be a marketplace where Americans could easily compare and purchase the plans of their choice. Private insurers offering coverage through the Exchange would be precluded from discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. Premium subsidies would be available to qualifying families and small businesses. By making health care more affordable and universally available to all Americans, the Baucus plan would take a major step toward eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities.
While the Exchange is being created, the Baucus plan would make health care coverage immediately available to Americans aged 55 to 64 through a Medicare buy-in, and it would begin to phase-out the current two-year waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with disabilities. The plan would provide every American living below the poverty level with access to Medicaid. This policy is consistent with the original intent of Medicaid, and it is the quickest and most cost-effective way to cover every American living in poverty. The Baucus plan would also ensure that all states use the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover children at or below 250 percent of the Federal poverty level, putting help within reach for more needy children. Finally, recognizing that America cannot keep its promise to provide care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives with the current level of Indian Health Service (IHS) funding, the Baucus plan calls for additional funding for IHS.
Once affordable, high-quality, and meaningful health insurance options are available to all Americans through their employers or through the Exchange, individuals would have a responsibility to have health coverage. This step is necessary for insurance market reforms to function properly and to end the cost shifting that occurs within the system. It is expected that the vast majority of American employers would continue to provide coverage as a competitive benefit to attract employees. Except for small firms, employers that choose otherwise must contribute to a fund that would help cover those who remain uninsured.
The Baucus plan would immediately refocus our health care system toward prevention and wellness, rather than on illness and treatment. Those who are uninsured ― and therefore less likely to receive preventive care and treatment for major conditions ― would be given a "RightChoices" card that guarantees access to recommended preventive care, including services like a health risk assessment, physical exam, immunizations, and age and gender-appropriate cancer screenings recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Individuals without private coverage and not eligible or enrolled in a public health coverage program, but whose RightChoices screening detected and diagnosed one or more of the most common, costly chronic conditions, would qualify to receive treatment on a temporary basis until viable coverage options are available under the Health Insurance Exchange. Current Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries would receive recommended preventive services with little or no co-payment. Preventive services would be covered by all insurance options offered through the Health Insurance Exchange.
Improving Health Care Quality and Value. Recognizing that any attempt to cover the uninsured and reduce health care spending must address the perverse incentives fostered by current payment systems, the Baucus plan includes delivery system reforms that would improve quality and, over time, lower costs. The plan strengthens the role of primary care and chronic care management. Primary care is the keystone of a high-performing health care system. Increasing the supply and availability of primary care practitioners by improving the value placed on their work is a necessary step toward meaningful reform.
The plan would refocus payment incentives toward quality and value. Today's payment systems reward providers for delivering more care rather than better care. A redefined health system would realign payment incentives toward improving the quality of care delivered to patients. Fixing the unstable and unsustainable Medicare physician payment formula is a necessary step in this process. The plan would promote accountability and coordination among providers by encouraging providers in different settings -- physician offices, inpatient hospitals, post-acute care settings, and others -- to collaborate and provide patient-centered care in a way that would improve quality and save money.
To facilitate the proposed delivery system reforms, the Baucus plan would improve the health care infrastructure by investing in new comparative effectiveness research and health information technology (IT). Health IT is needed for quality reporting and improvement and to give providers ready access to better evidence and other clinical decision-support tools. Reinvesting in the training of a twenty-first century health care workforce is necessary for many delivery system reform goals to be realized.
Achieving Greater Efficiency and Sustainable Financing. The U.S. spends $2.3 trillion per year on health care, and economists warn that rising health care costs represent a serious threat to our long-term fiscal security. According to the Congressional Budget Office, up to one-third of that spending -- more than $700 billion -- does not improve Americans' health outcomes. Excess spending must be eliminated and dollars put to better use, not only to correct the imbalances of the current health care system, but to offset the high costs of much-needed comprehensive reform.
Beyond measures to refocus the system on primary care, reward quality care, and invest in critical research and technology, the Baucus plan would endorse direct steps in five additional areas to curb excess health care spending. The plan would invest more to detect and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in public programs. The plan would address overpayments to private insurers in the Medicare Advantage program. The plan would increase transparency of cost and quality information and would require disclosure of payments and incentives to providers by drug or device makers that may lead to biased decision-making. The plan also considers careful reforms of medical malpractice laws that could lower administrative costs and health spending throughout the system, while ensuring that injured patients are compensated fairly for their losses.
Long-term care services and supports are both a significant share of national health expenditures and a driver of cost. Considering policies to shift the focus from institutional care to services provided in the home and community could improve the quality of care delivered and reduce costs. Finally, the plan would explore targeted reforms of the tax code to make incentives more efficient, distribute benefits more fairly, and promote smarter spending of health care dollars by consumers themselves.
Responded on November 20, 2008 11:56 AM
One physician is extremely critical of the Baucus plan.
H. Green, MD, FACP, FAAD, FACMS, is a member of Physicians for a National Health Plan. Here's what H. Green had to say:
The Call to Action/Health Care Reform 2009 proposal released 11/13/08 (http://www.finance.senate.gov/) by Senator Max Baucus is a disaster. The Baucus plan is an expansion and continuation of the status-quo mixture of a government subsidized ineffective private health maintenance insurance industry operating parallel to and within Medicare Insurance.
7 Specific Reasons Why the Baucus Health Reform 2009 Plan Fails.....
1) The Baucus plan fails to enroll all Americans in a single payer National Health Insurance such as the most efficient health insurance plan (Medicare) which is already contracted with most doctors, hospitals and clinics in the Country. Medicare has the lowest operating expenses and the best morbidity (sickness rates) and mortality (death rates) compared to all other insurance companies. The Baucus plan will therefore ...
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One physician is extremely critical of the Baucus plan.
H. Green, MD, FACP, FAAD, FACMS, is a member of Physicians for a National Health Plan. Here's what H. Green had to say:
The Call to Action/Health Care Reform 2009 proposal released 11/13/08
(http://www.finance.senate.gov/) by Senator Max Baucus is a disaster.
The Baucus plan is an expansion and continuation of the status-quo mixture of a government subsidized ineffective private health maintenance insurance industry operating parallel to and within Medicare Insurance.
7 Specific Reasons Why the Baucus Health Reform 2009 Plan Fails.....
1) The Baucus plan fails to enroll all Americans in a single payer National Health Insurance such as the most efficient health insurance plan (Medicare) which is already contracted with most doctors, hospitals and clinics in the Country. Medicare has the lowest operating expenses and the best morbidity (sickness rates) and mortality (death
rates) compared to all other insurance companies. The Baucus plan will therefore divert $700 Billion to $1 Trillion per year away from patients, hospitals, doctors, clinics, nurses, pharmaceuticals, therapist and researchers into the overhead pockets of health private insurance company administrators and executives.
2) The Baucus plan fails to technologically upgrade, integrate and centralize medical billing and records systems in order to optimize examination of clinical outcomes, pharmaceutical efficacies and monitor fraud and abuse. In addition, by failing to centralize and technologically upgrade billing and records systems within a single National Health Insurance plan, America will be unable to instantly monitor disease outbreaks and instantly respond to natural and man made disasters or bio-nuclear terrorism..
3) The Baucus plan fails to control drug costs by failing to allow a single efficient national health insurance company such as Medicare to bid on pharmaceuticals. In addition, the Baucus plan by failing to put all Americans on a National Health Insurance Plan such as Medicare does little to shrink the 'risk pool' of insured, thereby failing to decrease insurance premium expenses for all Americans.
4) The Baucus plan fails to provide funding for scientific, clinical and epidemiological research and development by allowing private private insurance companies to divert funds from medical research and development to instead support their massive and profitable administrative and executive bureaucratic overheads.
5) The Baucus plan fails to provide physicians with the same legal protection from malpractice lawsuits which have been established for commercial health insurance corporations during the last 3 decades.
6) The Baucus plan fails to explain where to find the 1.5 million new health care workers which will be needed once 100 million new Americans obtain health care insurance. Health care workers can be found easily by shutting down the wasteful and inefficient private health insurance companies, putting all Americans on National Health Insurance such as Medicare. The 1.5 million former private insurance company bureaucrats can then be remployed to actually deliver health care in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, pharmacies and home health services such as Alzheimer family assistance.
7) The Baucus Plan fails to address this problem of disenfranchised physicians. Many physicians in this country have left the practice of medicine, or downsized their practices due to private insurance company abuses, malpractice threats and direct pharmaceutical marketing. A recent national poll of physicians based on the AMA database demonstrated that 60% of physicians support a single payer National Health Insurance such as Medicare. A continuation and technological upgrading of our most fair Medicare Health Insurance for all based on the concepts outlined above, would undoubtedly motivate those disenfranchised physicians to return to the profession and bright younger physicians to invigorate the field.
The Baucus plan is wasteful, inefficient, fragmented, creates a new redundant bureaucracy and will continue to provide no potential future health improvements for America. Only an efficient National Health Insurance carrier such as a technologically upgraded Medicare Insurance company will be able to provide low cost health insurance and pharmaceuticals for all Americans while maintaining the quality of private physician practices and Hospitals.
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Responded on November 18, 2008 12:00 AM
Sen. Max Baucus’proposal is exactly what the health reform debate needs right now to move it forward: a bold, legislative proposal that brings together key ideas in a coherent and compelling fashion. In other words, it makes the debate real.
Until this moment, the ideas discussed by the Democratic candidates during the presidential campaign had not been cast as a legislative proposal. The Baucus proposal is a critical step towards turning ideas like a national health insurance exchange, requirements for Americans to obtain health insurance, and provider payment reforms into legislation.
For that reason alone, the Baucus proposal is highly supportive of President-elect Obama’s goal of affordable coverage for all. It validates the Obama health care reform campaign plan and demonstrates right off the bat that the new president will have support in Congress from one of its key players. As Chairman of the Finance Committee, Sen. Baucus wields more control over health care policy than any other committee chairman on Capitol Hill.
Perhaps mor...
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Sen. Max Baucus’proposal is exactly what the health reform debate needs right now to move it forward: a bold, legislative proposal that brings together key ideas in a coherent and compelling fashion. In other words, it makes the debate real.
Until this moment, the ideas discussed by the Democratic candidates during the presidential campaign had not been cast as a legislative proposal. The Baucus proposal is a critical step towards turning ideas like a national health insurance exchange, requirements for Americans to obtain health insurance, and provider payment reforms into legislation.
For that reason alone, the Baucus proposal is highly supportive of President-elect Obama’s goal of affordable coverage for all. It validates the Obama health care reform campaign plan and demonstrates right off the bat that the new president will have support in Congress from one of its key players. As Chairman of the Finance Committee, Sen. Baucus wields more control over health care policy than any other committee chairman on Capitol Hill.
Perhaps more importantly, the Baucus proposal allows President-elect Obama to focus on the broader problem of developing a successful strategy that can overcome the many hurdles ahead. During the debate, the president must manage public expectations about the pace of change, the scores of constituency groups who will all need to be heard on their issues, and the development of policy that can be successfully implemented. He must also address the inevitable opposition with both an appreciation for the concerns that will arise along with a firm stance for a set of principles on which the public can judge the legislation.
As the legislative process moves forward, the president will need to keep the public connected to ideas behind the legislation even as he makes sure the legislation doesn’t stray from those ideas. Sen. Baucus has made it much easier for reform supporters to keep their eyes on the prize.
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Responded on November 14, 2008 5:40 PM
Am I the only blogger here who sees a problem with the Baucus proposal? After all, it is little more than a Clinton/Obama rehash that (by inference) almost half the country just voted against. It would:
• Expand Medicare and Medicaid at a time when the CBO and the Social Security Trustees tell us entitlement spending threatens to bankrupt us.
• Create and additional, unaffordable entitlement for the non-elderly middle class.
• Impose a pay-or-play tax on labor at the very time when unemployment is rising.
• Make individually purchased health insurance even less affordable than it already is.
• Create a 10-year cost for the federal government of somewhere between $1 trillion and $6 trillion depending on the details.
• Ultimately do nothing to address the one problem voters say they are most concerned with – rising costs.
Other than that I agree with all the other bloggers: It’s a start.
Responded on November 14, 2008 10:07 AM
On Wednesday, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) made clear that reforming our health care system is an economic imperative and that comprehensive health care reform should be a priority for Congress. I applaud his leadership, vision, and willingness to work with colleagues, stakeholders and the public to “get it done” in this Congress. He has laid down a key cornerstone in our pathway to a high quality health care system that works well for all Americans.
Senator Baucus emphasized two important messages on Wednesday: 1) The cost of “inaction is much more expensive” than reform, 2) We should approach health reform with a bipartisan attitude and endeavor to persuade “80 Senators” to support the final legislation. I believe the health care reform conversation would be well-served to continue to remember and echo these two points.
As for policy, the Baucus policy plan is extensive, so today I will simply highlight what I view as the most original contributions.
Counter-cyclical FMAP formula. As the economy weakens...
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On Wednesday, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) made clear that reforming our health care system is an economic imperative and that comprehensive health care reform should be a priority for Congress. I applaud his leadership, vision, and willingness to work with colleagues, stakeholders and the public to “get it done” in this Congress. He has laid down a key cornerstone in our pathway to a high quality health care system that works well for all Americans.
Senator Baucus emphasized two important messages on Wednesday: 1) The cost of “inaction is much more expensive” than reform, 2) We should approach health reform with a bipartisan attitude and endeavor to persuade “80 Senators” to support the final legislation. I believe the health care reform conversation would be well-served to continue to remember and echo these two points.
As for policy, the Baucus policy plan is extensive, so today I will simply highlight what I view as the most original contributions.
Counter-cyclical FMAP formula. As the economy weakens and people lose jobs and income, more Americans will become eligible for Medicaid or some kind of safety net insurance. This occurs just as states are compelled to reduce spending to match their recession-induced drop in revenues. (The vast majority of states have balanced budget requirements). Scholarship suggests that a 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate leads to roughly 1 million more Medicaid and SCHIP enrollees. Senator Baucus’ proposal to make the federal share of (FMAP) responsive to fluctuations in the economy is a great way to strengthen state and personal finances and access to care when they are in most peril. Our current economic situation is an appropriate time to implement this improved policy stance.
Immediate access to care for the uninsured. I was intrigued by Senator Baucus’ thoughts on providing the chronically ill uninsured with immediate access to care. As we think about how comprehensive reform may be sequenced or phased-in, this may be one way we could provide instant relief to the uninsured with the greatest health needs while we work to establish the infrastructure and rules of the new marketplace and other key delivery system reforms.
Focus on payment reform. While Senator Baucus’ decision to place an emphasis on payment reform is not surprising given the Finance Committee’s expertise and jurisdiction, nonetheless the comprehensiveness of his vision is impressive. We will not control health care costs until we fundamentally restructure the incentives—for both patients and providers—in our health system. Senator Baucus offers several valuable policy solutions that would help achieve this goal.
In addition to these new ideas, Senator Baucus gently emphasizes three policy concepts which I have long believed will be necessary to achieve bipartisan support for comprehensive health reform.
New marketplace. Senator Baucus recognizes the weaknesses of the current individual and small group markets and proposes a new market or “exchange” where individuals and small businesses can purchase coverage regardless of their health history or where they live. There is much to debate about how best to structure this new marketplace, but it is encouraging that Senator Baucus—along with President-elect Obama and a growing number of members of Congress— has identified this policy choice as a key pillar of reform.
Individual requirement to purchase coverage. Senator Baucus prioritizes individual responsibility and makes clear that requiring individuals to purchase coverage (once coverage is accessible and affordable) will make health insurance markets work far more efficiently and fairly. His framing of this issue re-creates space for a dialogue about how best to introduce a requirement to purchase coverage into the American health care system. This is an important and necessary conversation that will likely engender much debate, since some liberals and some conservatives alike have opposed purchase mandates for very different reasons. Chairman Baucus should be applauded for his leadership in re-igniting this essential policy conversation.
Reforming the tax treatment of health insurance. Perhaps Senator Baucus’ greatest single policy contribution in his “call to action” is the decision to highlight the need to consider changing the current tax preference for employer premium contributions. He did not advocate or demand it. Yet, he did state simply and boldly that changing the tax code for health insurance may be necessary to improve incentives and provide a source of funding for coverage expansion and delivery system improvements. After a tough political campaign in which this issue and many surrounding it became confused in campaign tit for tat, Senator Baucus should be commended for his leadership on this issue.
Real health reform will never be easy. Opponents will always work tirelessly and concoct new arguments daily. Still, proponents of comprehensive health reform have had a good couple of weeks. First, Senator Barack Obama’s election shows that a majority of voters want and expect comprehensive health reform to be an important part of our nation’s agenda in the next few years. The incoming administration also views health reform as a priority and a key component of a broader strategic vision to stabilize the financial future of the American middle class. In addition, Congressional leadership is apparent unlike 1992. First, Finance Chairman Baucus has boldly stepped up to declare health reform an economic imperative, whereas former Chairman Moynihan was cool if not downright hostile to health reform as a key agenda item in 1993-4. This “call to action,” combined with Senator Kennedy’s prodigious and ongoing work and the bipartisan bicameral cosponsors of the Healthy Americans Act have all created far better pre-conditions for a national conversation than we had in 1992. Visionary business, labor, health stakeholder, and advocacy groups have also helped jump-start our essential health reform conversation. Senator Baucus has staked out a catalytic leadership role for himself at just the right time for our nation to act: now.
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Responded on November 13, 2008 12:28 PM
The AMA applauds Chairman Baucus for his important contribution today to the ongoing effort to reform the health care system. The forums Chairman Baucus conducted earlier this year with the Finance Committee showed that he and members of the committee are determined to make real progress on health system reform. The AMA looks forward to working with Chairman Baucus, other congressional leaders and the new administration to improve the health care system for the nation’s patients and the physicians who care for them.
In addition to advocating to cover the uninsured through our Voice for the Uninsured campaign, the AMA is hard at work to increase the quality and safety of patient care, reform Medicare and improve the value the nation gets from its health care spending.
Responded on November 13, 2008 8:13 AM
Senator Baucus's proposal, issued even before the 111th Congress begins work, sends the message that Congress is eager to take on health reform early next year. Rising health care costs and the financial impact on many American families and businesses are serious economic issues that are likely to worsen as more and more people lose their jobs and businesses struggle to stay afloat.
Senator Baucus's comprehensive "Call to Action" builds on the best of our existing public-private system by expanding Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) while strengthening employer-based coverage. The plan includes strategies for providing affordable coverage to all Americans while simultaneously improving quality of care and controlling costs--a multifaceted approach that The Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System believes has the capacity to move the U.S. toward a high performing health system.
Commonwealth Fund research has indicated that a ...
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Senator Baucus's proposal, issued even before the 111th Congress begins work, sends the message that Congress is eager to take on health reform early next year. Rising health care costs and the financial impact on many American families and businesses are serious economic issues that are likely to worsen as more and more people lose their jobs and businesses struggle to stay afloat.
Senator Baucus's comprehensive "Call to Action" builds on the best of our existing public-private system by expanding Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) while strengthening employer-based coverage. The plan includes strategies for providing affordable coverage to all Americans while simultaneously improving quality of care and controlling costs--a multifaceted approach that The Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System believes has the capacity to move the U.S. toward a high performing health system.
Commonwealth Fund research has indicated that a "building blocks" framework reflected in the Baucus plan--which includes a national insurance exchange with a public plan modeled on Medicare, employer coverage or contribution to coverage for employees through the exchange, coverage of older adults and disabled under Medicare, coverage of poor adults and low-income children under Medicaid and SCHIP, and income-related premium assistance--could cover nearly all of the uninsured. And, by establishing a more cohesive and efficient system, it could do so while achieving total health system savings.
Whether the new President and Congress decide to act on Senator Baucus's vision at once or pursue change incrementally, it sets out a bold vision for achieving the fundamental goals of health reform by building on what works. It would go a long way to reforming our fragmented health care system and achieving better access, improved quality and safety, and enhanced value in health care for all Americans.
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Responded on November 12, 2008 4:59 PM
Congratulations to Senator Baucus for coming up with a “program” for reform, as Henry Aaron dubs it, that is thoughtful, comprehensive and coherent.
We know that the top health care priority for the public -- Republicans, Democrats and independents -- is making health care and health insurance more affordable. The senator responds to that priority by laying out a series of steps to “improve quality and value” over time.
I think it is a strength, not a weakness, that we have seen these components before. Building blocks like comparative effectiveness research, health IT, attention to price and quality transparency, and aligning payment incentives with our goals will all help us get more and better care for our health dollar. These are ideas that Republicans and Democrats have espoused in one form or another, and on which one can see both parties in Congress agreeing with the new President.
The coverage expansion steps in the Baucus plan aren’t revolutionary either, even though their net cost may...
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Congratulations to Senator Baucus for coming up with a “program” for reform, as Henry Aaron dubs it, that is thoughtful, comprehensive and coherent.
We know that the top health care priority for the public -- Republicans, Democrats and independents -- is making health care and health insurance more affordable. The senator responds to that priority by laying out a series of steps to “improve quality and value” over time.
I think it is a strength, not a weakness, that we have seen these components before. Building blocks like comparative effectiveness research, health IT, attention to price and quality transparency, and aligning payment incentives with our goals will all help us get more and better care for our health dollar. These are ideas that Republicans and Democrats have espoused in one form or another, and on which one can see both parties in Congress agreeing with the new President.
The coverage expansion steps in the Baucus plan aren’t revolutionary either, even though their net cost may make them harder to attain. How can any rational person support continuation of the two-year waiting period before individuals found to be permanently and totally disabled can start receiving benefits under Medicare? Yes, it costs money. Next year, the current health care system will cost more money than it does this year.
So hats off to Senator Baucus. Now let’s see if we can get others on the Hill and in the Obama Administration to take their coats off, roll up their sleeves and get to work on meaningful reform.
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Responded on November 12, 2008 4:53 PM
Senator Baucus’ Call to Action puts the right focus on the very urgent need to improve health care in America. His plan puts forward many good ideas that the nation should consider as we build a better health care system.
The economic challenges we currently face demonstrate that reform is needed now more than ever. Today, we have a non-system that leaves 46 million people without coverage, and relies on reimbursement policies with incentives that promote neither efficiencies nor better care. Without change, the health of our nation will only get worse.
To improve health, we need to focus on wellness and prevention and help nurses, doctors and other caregivers to provide the best care possible in the most affordable way. Health care is a shared responsibility and America’s hospitals believe everyone must play a role in expanding and paying for it. We’re pleased to see that the Call to Action embraces these core planks of health care reform.
Every day, America’s hospitals see the ill effects when patients and communities put off care. We stand ready to work with Senator Baucus, other congressional leaders and President-elect Obama to improve health and health care in America.
Responded on November 12, 2008 4:00 PM
We were encouraged today to see Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) say that prevention should be “the cornerstone of the health care system rather than an afterthought.” His plan specifically promotes grants that would implement evidence-based prevention programs in communities to improve Americans’ overall health. TFAH recently released a study that supports this idea with real evidence. Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities, found that a small strategic investment of $10 per person per year in proven community-based programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking and other tobacco use could save the country more than $16 billion annually within five years. That’s a return of $5.60 for every $1. TFAH welcomed many of Sen. Baucus’s specific proposals, including:
- Establishing a RightChoices program, a temporary program to provide the uninsured with access to a set of proven preventive services recommended by t...
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We were encouraged today to see Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) say that prevention should be “the cornerstone of the health care system rather than an afterthought.” His plan specifically promotes grants that would implement evidence-based prevention programs in communities to improve Americans’ overall health. TFAH recently released a study that supports this idea with real evidence. Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities, found that a small strategic investment of $10 per person per year in proven community-based programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking and other tobacco use could save the country more than $16 billion annually within five years. That’s a return of $5.60 for every $1.
TFAH welcomed many of Sen. Baucus’s specific proposals, including:
- Establishing a RightChoices program, a temporary program to provide the uninsured with access to a set of proven preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Based on a patient’s risk, a care plan would be developed. The RightChoices card would provide referral to community programs such as smoking cessation and nutrition programs that have demonstrated success in changing and supporting healthier choices.
- Providing grants to states or communities to implement innovative, evidence-based prevention and wellness programs at the local level to encourage stakeholders to work together and support healthy lifestyles. The programs would employ best practices identified by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.
- Supporting efforts by small businesses to create healthier work environments with tax credits or other subsidies for proven wellness programs.
- And encouraging a more coordinated national strategy to prevent chronic disease and reduce obesity, acknowledging the role played by access to insurance, nutritious food and safe places to exercise. It encourages Congress to authorize a study to identify the various federal programs that can help prevent the development of chronic disease.
Prevention must become a higher national priority. Helping Americans become healthier is the best way to drive down health care costs and ensure our workforce is competitive in the global economy.
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Responded on November 12, 2008 12:02 PM
Senator Baucus’s white paper is a major contribution to the debate on health reform. It provides an important analysis of the urgent need for significant improvements in our health care system, and thoughtful recommendations for reform. I look forward to working with Senator Baucus, our colleagues in Congress on both sides of the aisle, and the Obama Administration to see that we at last achieve the goal of quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Senator Baucus's white paper brings us closer to that goal.
Responded on November 12, 2008 10:31 AM
The Baucus program is a well-crafted menu of steps to begin the reform the health care system in the United States. The word 'program' descrubes the agenda better than 'plan' because the elements of this program can be enacted together or sequentially, as political will and economic means are available. Given the avalanche of serious challenges facing the new Congress and president, such a 'modular' approach has a much greater chance for success than does the 'one-big-bill' approach, which has failed repeatedly in the past and whose chances of success this time have to be put at well below 50-50.
The lead item--the health insurance exchange--has a long bi-partisan history and won bi-partisan support in Massachusetts (the Connector). It can solve one central problem of employment based coverage--by letting workers who change jobs stay in the same health plan. Successive employers of workers who enroll through the clearing house can contribute to the cost of a worker's plan. It can be used to improve the efficiency of individually purchased or group insurance and ca...
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The Baucus program is a well-crafted menu of steps to begin the reform the health care system in the United States. The word 'program' descrubes the agenda better than 'plan' because the elements of this program can be enacted together or sequentially, as political will and economic means are available. Given the avalanche of serious challenges facing the new Congress and president, such a 'modular' approach has a much greater chance for success than does the 'one-big-bill' approach, which has failed repeatedly in the past and whose chances of success this time have to be put at well below 50-50.
The lead item--the health insurance exchange--has a long bi-partisan history and won bi-partisan support in Massachusetts (the Connector). It can solve one central problem of employment based coverage--by letting workers who change jobs stay in the same health plan. Successive employers of workers who enroll through the clearing house can contribute to the cost of a worker's plan. It can be used to improve the efficiency of individually purchased or group insurance and can serve as the conduit for subsidies to make insurance affordable for all.
SCHIP expansion, health IT, comparative effectiveness, a Medicare buy-in, Medicare payment reform, and other measures in the Baucus program all should be part of the transformation of the U.S. health care system that, one hopes, will now commence. It provides a practical vision to guide legislative action.
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