Health Care in Congress

With almost two and a half months until President-Elect Obama takes the Oath of Office, the U.S. Congress is already ramping up a number of plans to address the health care crisis.

Robert Pear of The New York Timesreports:

Without waiting for President-elect Barack Obama, Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will unveil a detailed blueprint on Wednesday to guarantee health insurance for all Americans by facilitating sales of private insurance, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and requiring most employers to provide or pay for health benefits.

President-Elect Obama's aides have stated that he welcomes congressional efforts and has encouraged that body to take the lead on this high priority issue. Sen. Baucus, who we have been following here for some time, calls for universal coverage as the final goal. He is not the only one drafting proposals of this nature, however; several others from his own party have ideas in the works as well.

Other Democrats with deep experience in health care are also drafting proposals to expand coverage and slow the growth of health costs. These lawmakers include Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representatives John D. Dingell of Michigan and Pete Stark of California.

While each proposal is going to be unique, Mr. Pear says that they will all be "broadly compatible," with the President-Elect's stated positions on the subject. The Baucus plan would go one step further with its universal coverage goal; President Elect Obama's approach would only mandate coverage for children.

It looks like we will be seeing a plethora of options presented soon, a huge step forward as we move towards Health Care Reform Now!

SOURCE: "Senator Takes Initiative on Health Care" 11/11/08
photo courtesy of Kimberlyfaye, used under its Creative Commons license

Max Baucus Steps Up for Health Care Reform

Max Baucus, the Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, is coming out in a big way for health care reform. He has assembled a council of over 30 medical professionals with the intent of developing five ways in which to improve the health care system, not just in his home state of Montana but across the nation as a whole.

Via Diane Cochran at The Billings Gazette:

"I think in life we only have two choices on most things - try, or do nothing, and clearly we've got to try to crack this nut," Baucus said at St. Vincent Healthcare during one of 10 health care listening sessions across the state. "Doing nothing is not an option."

Reforming the country's health care "hodge-podge" - it's too fragmented to be called a system, Baucus said - will probably be the biggest problem he tackles in his congressional career, the senator said.

One aspect of the problems faced by Americans is especially prevalent in Montana. That would be the plight of small businesses and those employed by them. According to an interview with St. Vincent Health Care CEO Jim Paquette on Montana'sNewStation.com, out of 160,000 uninsured Montanans, roughly 53% of them work for small businesses that do not employ enough people to to create the large pool needed to drive employer provided health care costs down. This among other factors is giving Baucus' efforts a high profile.

SOURCE: "Baucus hears concerns over health care system" 10/21/08
photo courtesy of KimberlyFaye, used under its Creative Commons license

Senate Finance Committee: Health Care Incentives and IT

Last Tuesday, a Senate Finance Committee hearing saw health care experts calling for adoption of health IT, an overall increase in transparency and pay-for-performance programs to improve care and reduce costs.

These are two issues that we have returned to over and over during the course of this blog. The current incentive system in place is, as George C. Halvorson put it in Health Care Reform Now!, perverse. A move towards performance-based metrics and payments is something that could go a long way towards re-aligning the cumbersome and costly approach used today. Health care IT is well known as a means of not only trimming down administrative costs but also as a way to increase efficiency and eliminate a majority of duplicate testing and paperwork-driven errors.

Via Healthcare IT News:

"We believe that aligning financial incentives is the right approach to pushing quality to a higher level," [Greg] Schoen [MD, regional medical director of Fairview Northland Medical Center in Princeton, Minn.] said. "By creating a positive incentive to improve quality, pay-for-performance is an engine for improvement and can be a framework for fundamental transformation."

He is far from the only one bringing these views to the Senate. Samuel R. Nussbaum, MD, executive vice president of clinical health policy and chief medical officer at WellPoint, Inc., was also present and vocal as was Peter V. Lee, executive director of the National Health Policy at the Pacific Business Group on Health.

Also via Healthcare IT News:

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said he would hold two more healthcare reform hearings this year.

With healthcare spending outpacing the overall economy and inflation, "we simply cannot afford to continue paying for inappropriate or inadequate medical care," he said.

The time is right for change. We have labored too long under the non-system that currently holds sway. All of the differing elements needed are aligning to make this the perfect time to implement true reform of American health care. Now.

SOURCE: "Experts push transparency, P4P, and healthcare IT for healthcare reform" 09/10/08
photo courtesy of Marion Doss used under its Creative Commons license