Healthiest State Blog

Battling Health Care Fraud

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just released an eye-opening new policy brief on health care fraud. The report makes some key recommendations to provide better transparency in both public and private insurance coverage, and to improve reporting of fraud.

"A critical problem under current policy is the absence of ongoing and reliable fraud estimates similar to those available in the case of public health insurers," said lead author Sara Rosenbaum, Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and Chair of the Department at George Washington University. "As a result, it is difficult to fashion consistent policies to address fraud, a critical component of health reform."  To read the full report, click here:  http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/50654.pdf

A recent 60 Minutes news story also addressed the issue of fraud in the health system.  According to the report--billions of dollars are being stolen from Medicare in Florida, generating more criminal revenue than the drug trade. 

Health Reform Momentum Continues

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

Progress continues in the health reform arena, and President Obama’s strategies appear to be paying off.  The House is set to debate legislation this week, and the Senate is expected to follow soon.

Both senior White House staff and Democratic leaders are confident that President Obama will sign legislation this year.  While some have criticized the President's somewhat hands-off approach, others see it as an effective way to get things done: giving legislators the power to legislate.  Obama’s staff has taken the lead to make it happen.  “While there was a cry for more presidential direction,” said Rahm Emmanuel, “that direction was being provided by the president’s staff.” 

Republicans are preparing their own version of a health reform bill, which would expand coverage to millions more Americans, but opponents insist it would not match the scope of the legislation proposed by Democrats.  According to House Republican Leader John Boehner, their bill would not raise taxes, and would not require business and individuals to purchase coverage.  But it would also cost more than the current House bill:  $1.055 trillion over 10 years.  

If you are interested in health policy and national health reform, register for our Healthiest State Campaign Conference, Improving Health Through National Reform, on November 13th.

Health Reform Is In The House!

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

The House Health Reform Bill was unveiled yesterday, and it is generating a lot of attention. Among the key points in the bill: expanding coverage of the uninsured, reducing budget deficits over the next decade, and a version of the public option.

Supporters believe new taxes and savings from Medicare would help offset the cost (estimated to be $894 billion over the next ten years) and reduce the deficit by $104 billion.  The bill would also allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26.  And, would cover millions more uninsured by allowing more people to be eligible for Medicaid.

Many insurance and drug companies are less than enthusiastic about the plan. Insurance companies would have to accept anyone who applies for coverage—no more pre-existing conditions.  Drug companies would have to pay rebates on medicines for low-income seniors on Medicare or Medicaid.  “We continue to oppose the approach the House is taking,” said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The House bill, he said, “contains a number of problematic provisions for seniors, patients and the continued development of new therapies.”

But President Barack Obama and other leaders are cheering the legislation. This is your chance to weigh-in on health reform. If you are interested in health policy and national health reform, register for our Healthiest State Campaign conference, Improving Health Through National Reform, on November 13.

Health Homes and Prevention are Keys to Health Reform

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

The naysayers claim prevention looks and sounds better than it really is. They believe that investing in prevention costs too much, and won’t result in the kind of health reform we need.

Here at the Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign, we disagree. Health reform, without prevention, won’t reform health.  Investing in preventing obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other chronic health conditions will result in cost savings and improved health for Americans. 

Creating Health Homes is another way we can work to reform the health system—putting people in charge of their own health, making sure they are connected to a primary care provider, and creating better access to medical records are all part of this process.  In Iowa, one medical clinic has reorganized to be a medical home for patients.  

Prevention is a key part of their efforts.  "Our system has gotten very good at paying for things to be done to patients, as opposed to keeping patients from having to have things done to them," said Dr. Ted Epperly, chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

And right here in Seattle, we have great examples of medical homes at Group Health and the new clinic at Swedish Ballard.  For more information on health homes, visit www.HealthiestState.org.  Together, we can reform health!

Will the Public Option Make a Comeback?

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

It looked like its day had come and gone. We thought it might be history.  But lately the public option seems to be making a comeback.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he will include a version of a government-run health plan in legislation that will go to the senate floor in the next few weeks. This plan does come with an opt-out:  states can elect not to participate. 

“The best way to move forward is to include a public option with the opt-out provision for states,” said Mr. Reid, Democrat of Nevada. “I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system.”

Reid faces re-election next year, and some speculate that this is motivating his current actions. However, polls indicate that the public option has a lot of public support.  And the Congressional Budget Office also determined that a public option could save the country a significant amount of money.  It is designed as an option for those who are uninsured, and it is estimated that only about 5% of Americans would sign up for it. 

Tell your congressional leaders that you support health reform.  The time to act is now!  If you are interested in health policy and national health reform, register for our conference, Improving Health Through National Reform, on November 13.

Paying For Health Reform: Eliminate Waste

Don Sloma, WHF’s Director of Policy, has written a new piece for his policy blog called Reuters Study:  $800 Billion Wasted.  The facts are clear:  there is enough money wasted in the current health system to finance health reform.  If we can eliminate duplicated tests, defensive medicine, and fraud, we could pay for reforming the health system.  Join the Healthiest State Campaign in our efforts to reinvest health care dollars. 

To view the full story, click here.

New Report: Health Care Quality Not Improving

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

The National Committee for Quality Assurance just released its 2009 report, State of Health Care Quality, and things don’t look too good.  For the third year in a row, US health care quality has not improved. Over 900 health plans, which cover 116 million Americans, were surveyed, and it was determined that the quality of commercial insurance, Medicare and Medicaid is not getting any better. Read the full report here.

"The results of health care plans aren't moving forward as they have in the past," said Margaret O'Kane, the president of NCQA, during an event Thursday to release the report. "Everybody deserves to have the best health care. Quality needs to be the foundation of health care reform."

Medical care quality is one of the measures the Healthiest State Campaign seeks to improve.  Washington State currently ranks 33rd in this area in the US.  For more information, go to http://www.whf.org/policy-priorities/report-card.

College Health Leadership Summit

 

They came from 14 different colleges and universities across Washington state. More than 100 students with a passion for health care and the drive to make a difference met at Seattle's Town Hall last week, for the first ever College Health Leadership Summit.

The students came together to share their thoughts on how to improve  health on college campuses. The Summit drew on a year of research by the Healthiest State Campaign and focused on five key campus issues:

    •    Prescription and Over-The-Counter Drug Misuse
    •    Sexual Health
    •    Mental Health and Depression
    •    Health Insurance, and
    •    Physical Activity and Nutrition.

Participants had the opportunity to interact with health experts and campus health administrators during informative discussion panels. Students also participated in small group breakout sessions, which provided a comfortable forum to assess the roots of each specific health problem and identify potential solutions. These focused discussions proved to be a highlight of the day: students commented that it allowed a rare chance to connect with peers from other schools and exchange valuable ideas on improving campus health.

Moving forward, WHF will work with Summit participants to implement campus-based reform with the goal of ensuring that the state's colleges and universities remain models of healthy community living.

The Summit was sponsored by the Washington Health Foundation, the Office of Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and The Regence Foundation.

Click here to view the short welcome video for the first ever College Health Leadership Summit.

Consumer Confidence in Health Care Is Rising

By: Heather Pitre, WHF Health Reform Project Coordinator

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just released its Consumer Confidence Index, which shows an increase in health care confidence to 96.6 points—up from 96.1 in August. Despite the small increase, the index showed that many Americans are still concerned about losing their health coverage.  However, 67.4% believe that access to care as a nation would improve with health reform, and 74.5% believe that their personal access to care could improve.

“Even though overall consumer confidence in the economy has grown in recent months, confidence in health care has remained flat,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Despite rising faith in the strength of our economy, people still feel financially pinched and increasingly concerned that they could lose their health care coverage and access to care. They view enacting health reform as a positive step towards ensuring that they have access to affordable and high quality health care.”

September highlights show:
•    An overwhelming majority of Americans view health reform as key to reviving the economy.
•    People believe that health reform will improve their finances.
•    People are worried about being able to afford future care.

Read the full report here.

Health Reform Video Challenge

Organizing For America (OFA) put out a call for video, and the The Healthiest State Campaign answered that call. We put together a :30 video ad for OFA's recent Health Reform Video Challenge. The top videos will be voted on by the public and a panel of experts, with the winning ad aired on national television. Winners will be announced in November.

Below is the video we submitted:

The Washington Health Foundation (WHF) supports national health reform efforts. Greg Vigdor, WHF President & CEO, recently sent a letter to Senator Max Baucus pledging his support while, at the same time, asking the Senator to include prevention, specifically clinical preventive services, into health reform legislation.