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Official: Health care reform must curb costs
date: December 3, 2009
SOURCE: Detroit Free Press
By PATRICIA ANSTETT
FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER
Americans can expect less from their health coverage, not more, if Congress doesn’t add meaningful cost controls to pending federal health reforms, one of the nation’s most powerful health care officials told the Detroit Economic Club today.
“If reform fails to address the unsustainable cost drivers in health care, we may be laying the groundwork for the nation’s next crisis — one that will impact every American,” said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, speaking at Detroit’s Westin Book Cadillac Hotel.
The organization, representing 1,300 of the nation’s health insurers, supports federal health insurance reform but has issued numerous statements to denounce shortcomings in the bills, as well as to call for measures in them that need strengthening.
Ignani’s prediction was quite different from a statement released today by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, that contended reforms will lower costs, including for businesses.
Citing a recently released analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, Sebelius said small businesses, for example, are “likely to see” a 1-to-4% reduction in monthly health premiums, by encouraging greater competition, holding down insurance plan administrative costs and other measures.
Ignagni forecasts instability in the Medicare program, increased federal deficits and inadequate government subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance if more work isn’t done with the legislation to bring down rising health costs.
“Unfortunately, the cost-containment discussion has been largely sidetracked’’ because no one else has called for system-wide changes to hold down health costs, she said.
Asked if the insurance industry had done enough to address executive salaries and other administrative costs, Ignani said that health plans last year made a 2.2% profit margin, ranking 35th in a Fortune magazine survey.
Responding to another question about consumer outrage over growing monthly health premiums and rising out-of-pocket expenses, Ignagni said many other factors are driving the trend, including growing overuse of costly emergency department care and cost-shifting by hospitals to the insured to pay the bill.
“There is still time to get it right," Ignagni said, who group has spent several weeks talking to reporters to say they want to improve not ditch the reform bills.
Ignagni wants Congress to:
• Increase penalties for those who don’t buy health insurance as part of mandates to require all to be covered.
• Broaden limited pilot projects to provide financial incentives to health care providers and plans that follow best-practices benchmarks to improve care.
• Reform the medical malpractice system.
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