This Week in Healthcare - 02/21/07
Hello and Welcome to This Week in Healthcare..Today we’ll look at the people, policies, and politicians impacting the healthcare debate, and we’ll help try to understand it all.
Our stories this week Lawmakers in California debate the Governor’s proposed healthcare plan, newly announced Presidential candidate Barack Obama calls for Universal Healthcare, Chair of the Senate’s Finance Committee sets a new pace for the healthcare debate, one expert says electronic health records won’t be a short-term solution, and healthcare costs may influence where businesses relocate.
Califorinia lawmakers held the first public hearings on Governor Schwarzenegger’s healthcare proposal this week. The State Senate’s Health Committee discussed the proposal at a four- hour meeting. Governor Schwartzenegger is proposing a plan to make it the second state to have universal healthcare. Members of the committee supported the bold approach of the governor’s plan, but questioned whether residents could comply with a law that would force them to buy health insurance policies that could be unaffordable. According to the Chair of the committee, Senator Sheila Kuehl, there’s nothing in the governor’s proposal that would ensure the affordability of the plans. Adminisration officials have said the minimum required health plan would cost California residents $100.00 per month.
Last week, Massachusetts lawmakers sent state insurers back to their board rooms after cost for their required minimum health plans came in at twice the promised amount. The state had said the plans would cost $200, but are currently hovering around $400. Debra Burger, president of the California Nurses Association, rejected the governors idea, saying it was an attempt to solve an insurance cost problem, with more insurance. Her group supports a single-payer system.
Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president on the steps of the states capitol building this week. During his speech, the senator said he would like to see Universal healthcare enacted during his first term as president.
According to his campaign website, promoting affordable high-quality healthcare is a priority for the Senator, along with fighting AIDS, empowering health care consumers, and protecting children from lead poisoning. Senator Obama is a member of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy who has promised to make healthcare reform a priority of the committee.
At a health policy conference this week, Senator Max Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate’s Finance Committee, said he’ll be increasing the pace that healthcare reform is considered in the committee. According to the senator, the season of incremental change in healthcare is coming to an end. Baucus has called for an active debate and discussion on solutions for the healthcare crisis including those presented by presidential hopefuls Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. One area he says he sees agreement between himself and senators Obama and Edwards, is in on the creation of large insurance pools.
The committees first priority this session will be to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program. According to committee member Senator Jay Rockefeller, the panel will have fund that program before it can begin to consider other health legislation.
Former U.S. Health Information Technology Coordinator David Brailer said electronic health records could cut medical costs up to 50 percent, but that savings will take up to 10 years after full implementation of health IT. His estimate is based on studies of other U.S. industries such as retail, food preparation, and insurance that have fully integrated IT into their businesses.
Brailer said health IT could only work if providers gave control of clinical information to patients, the information on provider performance was available for public viewing, and health IT policy is set by the U.S. government, something that has not yet happened. Last week ,the General Accounting office criticized the Health and Human Services Agency for not working quickly enough to create federal health IT policies. President Bush would like to see Electronic Health records fully utilized by 2014.
At the opening of the National Patient Safety Foundations Conference this week, Harvard Professor Lucian Leape suggested Electronic health records could increase patient care and track adverse drug reactions responsible for some 450,000 adverse reactions each year. In this weeks Expansion Magazine, Editor Bill King highlighted healthcare costs as an important consideration for CEO’s considering moving their firms business to a new area. King thinks most corporate site locators fail to include healthcare costs while considering issues like wages, real estate costs, taxes, and utility costs.
King would like to see that changed. According to McKinsey @ Co, a leading business consulting firm, the average Fortune 500 company will spend more on healthcare next year, then it makes in profits. That’s it for This Week in Healthcare. Tune in next week for more highlights, when we’ll look at the issues, politics, and people shaping the healthcare debate.
If you have healthcare news you’d like to contribute, please send us an email at thisweek [at] scribemedia [dot] org and we’ll be sure to include it.
I’m John Mikytuck, Thanks for watching, and stay healthy.
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