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Obama and AHIP Race to the Finish Line

According to the WashingtonPost.com, on December 6, President elect Barack Obama is inviting Americans to spend part of the holiday season talking about health care – in informal ad hoc meetings around the country called Health Care Community Discussions – to be held between December 15 and 31. And, then report the results back to him. HHS Secretary Elect Thomas A. Daschle will prepare a detailed report, complete with video, to present to the next president.

But, according to the Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2008, the AHIP – a trade group for health insurers – is already offering its own universal coverage proposal that calls for Congress to slow the growth of health care costs by 30 percent in five years, envisioning a total savings of more than $500 billion.

Health Spending [16% GDP]

In 2006, health spending in the U.S. reached $2.1 trillion, consuming 16 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, according to economists at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS].

The AHIP Proposal

In the insurer’s proposal, money could be used to fund coverage of the uninsured and to cut costs for those with insurance. Officials from America’s Health Insurance Plans [AHIP] called on Congress to establish a public-private advisory group to recommend action in three areas:

• reducing wasteful spending,
• changing how doctors and hospitals are paid,
• and reducing administrative costs.

The AHIP reiterated its position that insurers would be required to offer individual policies to people with pre-existing illnesses; as long as all Americans were required to have health insurance.

Assessment

Obama, by applying the high-tech tools and grass-roots activism that helped him win the White House, hopes to circumvent many of the special interests groups that squelched previous health-care reform efforts. And, in yet another indication of the growing interest in health legislation, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy just announced that he will give up his seat on the Judiciary Committee to focus on health care.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. How do physicians, medical executives, advisors, employers, payers and patients differ on this issue?  Is there really a race, at all? Tell Obama here:

http://change.gov/page/s/healthcare

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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