Contain Health Care Costs

The United States spends an estimated $2 trillion annually on health care expenses, more than any other industrialized country; some argue that the USA spends two-and-one-half times the average of other economically developed countries in the world. And unfortunately our outcomes are NOT better and our life expectancy does not exceed.

Did you realize that we enjoy the company of Mexico and Turkey as the only industrialized countries without some form of universal health care coverage?

And that we are spending more than 16% of our gross domestic production on medical costs; some solutions:

Cost Containment Ideas:

• Require transparency in physician historical record: Include publication of law suits, insurance claims and associated settlement payments.

• Support and encourage better individual choices

• Focusing on quality and transition to accountable payment systems

• Paying for better care, not more care, supporting improvements with better evidence.

• Invest in better information and tools

• Aggregation I: Restructure non-group and small-group health insurance markets and coverage subsidies

• Aggregation II: Establish a public option which provides opportunity for real consumer driven competition and requires employer driven option to compete in a free market based environment.

• Aggregation III: Better pricing and market leverage, governments should evaluate whether to aggregate their purchasing power. This includes (to be allowed by law) formation of health care insurance pools, intergovernmental agreements for procurement of prescription drugs, partnerships with private sector organizations, or local government participation in state master agreements.

• Aggregation IV: Can be achieved simply by using fewer insurance carriers or vendors to deliver benefits.

• Vendor Management: (This includes such steps as (a) audits of claims to ensure that carriers or third-party administrators pay benefits according to plan rules, (b) verification of enrolled participants (“positive re-enrollment”), and (c) coordination of benefits.)

• Individual Health Management: ( Wellness programs, Disease management (for at-risk employees or employees undergoing initial treatment), Financial incentives for behavior /lifestyle modification, Patient education on health care matters, Greater cost awareness-make all provider costs “visible” to participants (e.g., providing incentives to employees who discover inaccurate billing)

Ideas?