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Thursday, September 2, 2010 |  |
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Resources on Health Reform Client Resource Center Highlights Grassroots Legislative Tools Legislative Tracking Newsletters HUPAC |
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Containing Health Care Costs
By far, the greatest access barrier to health insurance coverage in America today is cost. Constraining skyrocketing medical costs is the most critical—and vexing—aspect of health care reform. The cost of health care delivery is the key driver in rising health insurance premiums and it is putting the cost of health insurance coverage beyond the reach of many Americans. There is no one magic answer to health care cost containment, and there are many reasons health care costs are skyrocketing. Addressing this massive societal problem requires a multitude of comprehensive actions both by individual citizens and their government. NAHU feels we need to focus on responsible reforms that will guarantee access to coverage, lower costs, improve quality and create greater efficiency in our private delivery system.Cost Containment Issue Summary An overview of NAHU's overall ideas for containing soaring medical care costs.
NAHU's Did You Know Video? on Cost Containment and Price Transparency The first in a series of brief videos by NAHU's Education Foundation highlighting the lack of medical care price transparency in the U.S. and its impact on overall medical care costs and quality.
Wellness Incentives
Unhealthy behavior and lifestyle choices are two key factors in the increased cost of health care. As such, wellness and preventive care promotion and incentives in national reform legislation is imperative. We encourage policymakers to allow for the creation of wellness programs in both the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan and in government-subsidized health coverage such as Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP and the Veterans Health System. These programs should contain premium and cost-sharing incentives for program beneficiaries to spur participation.Furthermore, any insurance market reforms created should allow for wellness factors to be used as rating characteristics when determining private group and individual market premium rates. This includes, for employer groups, not only the existence of a wellness program, but also factors that help determine wellness like smoker status, BMI and participation in disease-management programs. NAHU also supports codification of the current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) bona fide wellness plan rules for employer-sponsored health insurance plans with the incentive cap raised to 50 percent. These rules should also be extended to the individual health insurance market. In addition, we encourage federal legislation to establish a safe harbor for those employers promoting wellness and health activities among their employees from non-intentional discrimination charges. It is critical to correct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Genetic Nondiscrimination Act rules that currently prohibit mandated health risk assessments and limit employer wellness programs and referrals to disease-management services.
BEWELL Amendment Support Letter NAHU supports the bipartisan Ensign-Carper amendment to America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, also known as the Building Efforts for Wellness and Encouraging Longer Lives (BEWELL) amendment.
Issue Summary on Wellness Incentives This paper outlines NAHU's key talking points on wellness issues.
Letter In Support of the Healthy Workforce Act of 2009 NAHU supports the bipartisan Healthy Workforce Act which would provide tax incentives to employers creating wellness programs.
How Safeway Is Cutting Health-Care Costs A recent opinion piece about the Safeway corporate wellness program published by the Wall Street Journal.
The Asheville Project The Asheville Project began in 1996 as an effort by the City of Asheville, North Carolina, a self-insured employer, to provide education and personal oversight for employees with chronic health problems such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension and high cholesterol. The Asheville model is payer-driven and patient-centered. It has inspired employers nationwide to empower their employees to control their chronic diseases, reduce their health risks, and ultimately lower their health care costs.
Medical Malpractice Reform
Medical malpractice insurance costs are increasing at a rate where many physicians are forced to leave their practices and move to other states, leaving millions of Americans with little or no access to adequate and affordable health care, particularly in rural areas. The threat of lawsuit abuse often forces doctors to perform invasive and expensive tests in order to protect themselves, the cost of which are passed directly on to the consumer in the form of higher health insurance premiums. NAHU believes a $250,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering, a $500,000 cap on punitive damages and deadline of one year for adults and three years for children to file suit after a medical injury could help us recognize such savings.CBO Analysis of Tort Reform Savings: The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that reasonable caps on noneconomic and punitive damage awards could save Americans $54 billion over 10 years.
Delivery System Reforms
NAHU believe that delivery system reforms are important not just in Medicare and other public programs but in the private sector as well. Pay-for-performance incentives, increased provider quality and cost transparency, and incentives for doctors and medical facilities to improve system inefficiencies and eliminate errors though best-practice guidelines and support for evidence-based medicine are cost-saving policy ideas that should be extended to the private-market delivery system as well as to providers who serve publicly funded programs.Issue Summary on the Transparency of Medical Costs and System Efficiency Improvements This paper outlines NAHU's key talking points on reducing costs through increased transparency and efficiency.
Position Statement on Transparency NAHU's policy statement supports greater consumer access to health care cost and quality information.
Comparative Effectiveness
NAHU believes that obtaining and making widely accessible objective information on best medical practices and protocols through comparative effectiveness research is imperative to improving the quality of health care and the affordability of insurance coverage. It can help better inform and educate both providers and patients to produce better health outcomes. However, NAHU feels that it is imperative that it be specified that the outcomes of such research are only to be used as an informational tool between doctors and patients. In no way should such research data be used by the government or other entities in making coverage determinations.Comparative Effectiveness White Paper This paper prepared by NAHU in 2009 discusses various issues involved with comparative effectiveness research.
Health Information Technology
NAHU feels that increased utilization of health IT will help reduce health care expenses and lead to higher-quality care for American consumers by reducing errors and improving patient satisfaction. However, we feel that it is imperative that interoperable technology is used so that all record systems and providers are able to communicate with one another and individual health records are always up to date and complete. Health IT NOW NAHU has partnered with the Health IT NOW coalition in order to promote federal legislation that establishes responsible and effective health IT policies.
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