[NYAPRS Enews] HHS: Health Budget Puts Reform 1st; Industry Pledges Cost Control

[Matt Canuteson]

USA Health Budget Puts Reform First, Says Department Of Health And Human Services

Medical News Today May 11th 2009 

Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, USA, highlighted fundamental reforms in President Obama´s 2010 HHS budget. Sebelius cited the rapidly rising cost of health care in the USA and the huge pressures that health care costs are placing in the country´s economic prospects. "This budget sends a clear message that we can't afford to wait any longer if we want to get health care costs under control and improve our fiscal outlook. Investing in health reform today will help bring down costs tomorrow and ensure all Americans have access to the quality care they need and deserve," Sebelius said. 

A reserve fund of $635 billion has been set up over ten years to finance health reform that reduces costs, improves quality, and assures health care coverage for all American citizens. Sebelius says that new revenue savings from Medicare and Medicaid will fund the reserve. 


As well as improving efficiency and reducing costs in Medicare and Medicaid through health care reform, Sebelius added that higher funding for a Medicare Integrity Program will help tackle fraud and abuse and bear down on those who try to cheat the system. 


Sebelius said "We estimate that for every $1 we spend to stop fraud in the system, we save $1.55. The President's budget lays out funding for anti-fraud efforts over five years that we estimate could save $2.7 billion by improving overall oversight and stopping fraud and abuse within the Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs." 

Sebelius added that quality and access to health care are also crucial factors of President Obama´s reform plan. His 2010 budget raises access and improves the quality of care for rural Americans. It also includes a historic pledge to make health care available for Native Americans. The budget also calls for in excess of one billion dollars to fund an increase in the number of health care professionals, including nurses, doctors and health care workers. The funding should help eradicate health disparities, the HHS Secretary said. 

As the USA and the rest of the world are confronted with an outbreak of a new H1N1 virus, and leaders from every level of government, the private sector and both sides of the aisle have come together to respond, Sebelius also stressed important provisions in the President's budget that will protect public health. The budget includes $584 million to help in combat pandemic flu. There is also increased funding for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). 

Sebelius added "Whether it's responding to the H1N1 flu virus or the recent recall of peanuts, our department is responsible for keeping Americans healthy and safe, and we take that responsibility seriously. President Obama's budget will help ensure we remain prepared to protect the American people. The investments we made in pandemic planning and preparation allowed us to respond quickly and efficiently to the H1N1 virus in this country and helped get Americans the information and resources they needed early on during the outbreak. New investments in this budget and in the funds that the President has requested in the supplemental will allow us to continue to respond to this new virus, replenish our stockpile of antivirals and start work on a potential vaccine for the fall flu season." 

The 2010 proposed budget includes a total of $879 billion for the DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services), approximately $63 billion more than in 2009.

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149462.php

 

 

Industry Pledges to Control Health Care Costs Voluntarily 

By Robert Pear <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/robert_pear/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  New York Times May 11, 2009

 

WASHINGTON - Doctors, hospitals <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/hospitals/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , drug makers and insurance companies will join President Obama <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  on Monday in announcing their commitment to a sharp reduction in the growth of national health spending, White House officials said Sunday.

The officials said the plan could save $2,500 a year for a family of four in the fifth year and a total of $2 trillion for the nation over 10 years. That could make it less expensive for Congress to enact comprehensive health insurance <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  coverage, a daunting challenge facing the Obama administration.

At this point, administration officials said, they do not have a way to enforce the commitment, other than by publicizing the performance of health care providers to hold them accountable. 

By offering to hold down costs voluntarily, providers said, they hope to stave off new government price constraints that might be imposed by Congress or a National Health Board of the kind favored by many Democrats.

In remarks prepared for delivery to health care providers on Monday, Mr. Obama says: "These groups are voluntarily coming together to make an unprecedented commitment. Over the next 10 years, from 2010 to 2019, they are pledging to cut the growth rate of national health care spending by 1.5 percentage points each year - an amount that's equal to over $2 trillion."

"Reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait," Mr. Obama says.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Obama, six leaders of the health care industry say: "We will do our part to achieve your administration's goal of decreasing by 1.5 percentage points the annual health care spending growth rate, saving $2 trillion or more. This represents more than a 20 percent reduction in the projected rate of growth."

The letter was signed by executives of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, a lobby for medical device manufacturers; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_medical_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org> ; America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group for insurers; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; and the Service Employees International Union <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/service_employees_international_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org> .

Signers of the letter said that large amounts could be saved by aggressive efforts to prevent obesity <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/obesity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , coordinate care, manage chronic illnesses and curtail unnecessary tests and procedures; by standardizing insurance claim forms; and by increasing the use of information technology, like electronic medical records.

Administration officials said private insurers and government programs could also save money by paying for entire episodes of care, rather than for each service separately.

An administration official, speaking in a conference call on Sunday, said, "The savings are crucially dependent on getting health care reform <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  done this year." The administration insisted that the official not be identified.

Some of the savings could be achieved by voluntary action in the private sector. But most of the savings in Medicare <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  and Medicaid <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicaid/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  could not be achieved without changes in federal law and regulations.

In the abstract, slowing the growth of health spending is a goal on which consumers and health care providers agree. But experience shows that specific proposals touch off fierce battles among interest groups fighting to expand their share of health care money.

In a relatively rosy forecast, the White House said Sunday that the savings from a more efficient health care system would far exceed the costs of achieving universal health coverage, with federal subsidies for people who could not afford insurance on their own.

The Department of Health and Human Services <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/health_and_human_services_department/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  estimates that health spending will grow an average of 6.2 percent a year in the coming decade, to $4.4 trillion in 2018 from $2.4 trillion last year. 

Health care now accounts for about 17 percent of the overall economy and, with no change in existing law, the share will grow to 21 percent in 2019, administration officials said. The commitments made by health care providers would hold down the share to 18 percent of the economy, and that difference is equivalent to savings of nearly $700 billion in 2019 alone, the officials said.

The goal set forth in the letter resembles a proposal made in December by America's Health Insurance Plans, the lobby for insurers like Aetna <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/aetna_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , Humana <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/humana_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , UnitedHealth and WellPoint. Administration officials said the idea was broached to them by Dennis Rivera <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/dennis_rivera/index.html?inline=nyt-per> , coordinator of the health care campaign of the Service Employees International Union.

In a report being sent to Congress on Monday, two research and advocacy groups, the Center for American Progress and the Democratic Leadership Council, say that productivity growth in health care has lagged behind that of other industries.

The government could save nearly $600 billion over the next decade if the health care industry increased its productivity growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points a year, said the report, by David M. Cutler, a Harvard economist.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/health/policy/11drug.html?ref=global-home

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