Insuring Resources Commentary:
http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/?cid=xem-emc-ca
On the home page, on a map of the US you can see the wide disparities that exist here in Wisconsin on Medicare reimbursement per enrollee.
For example-
Milwaukee- $8,057
Wausau- $7,894
Marshfield- $6,975
Appleton- $6,935
Green Bay- $6,931
Madison- $6,813
La Crosse- $6, 008
Specifically I want to direct you to the following key topics discussed at great length within the website:
Effective Care: http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/keyissues/issue.aspx?con=2939
Accountable Care: http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/keyissues/issue.aspx?con=2943
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http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/?cid=xem-emc-ca
Here's an overview:
Understanding of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Health Care System
For more than 20 years, the Dartmouth Atlas Project has documented glaring variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States. The project uses Medicare data to provide information and analysis about national, regional, and local markets, as well as hospitals and their affiliated physicians. This research has helped policymakers, the media, health care analysts and others improve their understanding of our health care system and forms the foundation for many of the ongoing efforts to improve health and health systems across America.
Showing posts with label accountable care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accountable care. Show all posts
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Judd Gregg Could be Key to Health Care Reform Compromise....
Insuring Resources Commentary:
This could be quite constructive especially since Gregg is open to creating Accountable Care Organization's which have been proven to provide efficient, quality care. Sen. Gregg (R- New Hampshire) is a moderate and focuses his reform ideas on preventive care, disease management, and wellness program incentives for employers. The Democrats need to compromise by including Gregg's proposals and scaling back just a bit. There appears to be some room in the middle here particularly if Gregg can bring along some of his GOP colleagues like Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).
---------------------------
From Politico, 2/11/2010
Is Judd Gregg a tease or a real potential partner for President Barack Obama in trying to salvage some health care reform in this Congress?
That’s one question the White House has to answer for itself before the much-ballyhooed televised sit-down with Republicans on Feb. 25 on how to break the current stalemate. But it’s clear already that Gregg’s restless energy is drawing him back into the fray, and the New Hampshire conservative brings both a proven ability to swing Republican votes and a background in health care and deficit issues.
In a letter to Obama released late Tuesday, Gregg welcomed the meeting as a chance for “constructive dialogue” and is promoting his own lower-cost approach focused on preventive care and guaranteed catastrophic coverage for all families.
His letter warns the president that the House- and Senate-passed health care bills can’t be the sole basis for the discussions. But in a series of interviews with POLITICO, Gregg has been open to specific deficit-reduction and cost-containment steps that could be taken to win Republicans’ support for health reform.
“I’m not on their reach-out list, so nothing may come of this,” Gregg said in an interview Wednesday. “But I’m ready to sit down and try to be helpful.”
Obama may feel burned already by Gregg, who famously accepted then gave back the president’s nomination to be commerce secretary last year. And the changes Gregg will want are sure to aggravate the White House’s already frayed relationship with the left.
Yet the same qualities that first made Gregg attractive as a Cabinet nominee remain. He brings a record of bipartisan deal making and good personal ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). And getting Gregg on board makes it far easier for Maine’s two moderate Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, to work with the White House.
If anything, the political ground has shifted in his direction since he gave up the Commerce option. And Obama’s own budget projections this month make it harder for Congress to separate health care from the debate over the government’s mounting deficits and debt — Gregg’s natural turf.
What’s more of a mixed blessing is his lame-duck status since he will step down from the Senate at the end of this year.
Gregg is anxious to make a difference in his last months. At the same time, conservatives recently used his retirement date as a way to isolate Gregg and undercut his bipartisan plan — embraced by Obama — to create a statutory fiscal commission empowered to force votes on deficit reduction after the November elections.
Going into the Feb. 25 meeting, the White House is still pursuing a more comprehensive and costly package than Gregg can accept. The half-day session may prove a last gambit by the president to help him bring Democrats together for a final push.
DETAILS
Below is the Essentials of Greg's plan:
The centerpiece is his plan to begin reform by first guaranteeing access to a low-premium policy that protects against catastrophic costs but also expressly allows preventive benefits and disease management under the deductible. He would modify the existing Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act to allow employers greater freedom to reward workers who participate in wellness programs, such as giving up smoking or losing weight. And given his New Hampshire roots, he subscribes to a host of the so-called Dartmouth reforms to promote accountable care organizations and incentivize “shared decision making” between physicians and elderly patients about treatment options.
His approach is sure to face criticism for being too late and too small bore. But Gregg’s already shown a willingness to work with Democrats on a compromise related to the HIPAA changes he wants. Having a true catastrophic, major medical option for people being mandated to buy insurance fits his mode of “middle working out.”
“We can all agree that no American should lose their life savings or their home because of illness or injury and that the rising cost of health care severely burdens individuals, families and businesses,” Gregg wrote in his letter to Obama this week. “Report after report also confirms that health care costs are a systemic risk to the long-term fiscal health of our nation.”
Rea
This could be quite constructive especially since Gregg is open to creating Accountable Care Organization's which have been proven to provide efficient, quality care. Sen. Gregg (R- New Hampshire) is a moderate and focuses his reform ideas on preventive care, disease management, and wellness program incentives for employers. The Democrats need to compromise by including Gregg's proposals and scaling back just a bit. There appears to be some room in the middle here particularly if Gregg can bring along some of his GOP colleagues like Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).
---------------------------
From Politico, 2/11/2010
Is Judd Gregg a tease or a real potential partner for President Barack Obama in trying to salvage some health care reform in this Congress?
That’s one question the White House has to answer for itself before the much-ballyhooed televised sit-down with Republicans on Feb. 25 on how to break the current stalemate. But it’s clear already that Gregg’s restless energy is drawing him back into the fray, and the New Hampshire conservative brings both a proven ability to swing Republican votes and a background in health care and deficit issues.
In a letter to Obama released late Tuesday, Gregg welcomed the meeting as a chance for “constructive dialogue” and is promoting his own lower-cost approach focused on preventive care and guaranteed catastrophic coverage for all families.
His letter warns the president that the House- and Senate-passed health care bills can’t be the sole basis for the discussions. But in a series of interviews with POLITICO, Gregg has been open to specific deficit-reduction and cost-containment steps that could be taken to win Republicans’ support for health reform.
“I’m not on their reach-out list, so nothing may come of this,” Gregg said in an interview Wednesday. “But I’m ready to sit down and try to be helpful.”
Obama may feel burned already by Gregg, who famously accepted then gave back the president’s nomination to be commerce secretary last year. And the changes Gregg will want are sure to aggravate the White House’s already frayed relationship with the left.
Yet the same qualities that first made Gregg attractive as a Cabinet nominee remain. He brings a record of bipartisan deal making and good personal ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). And getting Gregg on board makes it far easier for Maine’s two moderate Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, to work with the White House.
If anything, the political ground has shifted in his direction since he gave up the Commerce option. And Obama’s own budget projections this month make it harder for Congress to separate health care from the debate over the government’s mounting deficits and debt — Gregg’s natural turf.
What’s more of a mixed blessing is his lame-duck status since he will step down from the Senate at the end of this year.
Gregg is anxious to make a difference in his last months. At the same time, conservatives recently used his retirement date as a way to isolate Gregg and undercut his bipartisan plan — embraced by Obama — to create a statutory fiscal commission empowered to force votes on deficit reduction after the November elections.
Going into the Feb. 25 meeting, the White House is still pursuing a more comprehensive and costly package than Gregg can accept. The half-day session may prove a last gambit by the president to help him bring Democrats together for a final push.
DETAILS
Below is the Essentials of Greg's plan:
The centerpiece is his plan to begin reform by first guaranteeing access to a low-premium policy that protects against catastrophic costs but also expressly allows preventive benefits and disease management under the deductible. He would modify the existing Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act to allow employers greater freedom to reward workers who participate in wellness programs, such as giving up smoking or losing weight. And given his New Hampshire roots, he subscribes to a host of the so-called Dartmouth reforms to promote accountable care organizations and incentivize “shared decision making” between physicians and elderly patients about treatment options.
His approach is sure to face criticism for being too late and too small bore. But Gregg’s already shown a willingness to work with Democrats on a compromise related to the HIPAA changes he wants. Having a true catastrophic, major medical option for people being mandated to buy insurance fits his mode of “middle working out.”
“We can all agree that no American should lose their life savings or their home because of illness or injury and that the rising cost of health care severely burdens individuals, families and businesses,” Gregg wrote in his letter to Obama this week. “Report after report also confirms that health care costs are a systemic risk to the long-term fiscal health of our nation.”
Rea
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Baldwin's efforts on health care reform
Baldwin’s efforts to advance health care- some good, but I'm not sure she understands the public plan option.
The Good…
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin has recently made an impact on some provisions in the health reform bill that will come up for a vote by the full House of Representatives in September. Baldwin won a late-minute approval for one of her amendments: to start a pilot program within Medicaid known as "accountable care" that would pay more for health results rather than individual services.
but…
Unfortunately the amendment only allows a pilot and not all out payment reform based on accountable care. Frankly there’s enough research and evidence already on this to simply start enacting this reform broadly. I presume that this is all she could get passed by the committee.
… and the misunderstood
(http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2009/07/31/0907310169.php)
On another note, in the above linked Capital Times Op-ed piece Baldwin made the case for the public plan option currently being hotly debated. Sad to say her case fell way short in her comparison of Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program to the public plan option proposed in the health care reform bill working its way through the House.
Baldwin wrote, “since 2003, Wisconsin has been offering a public option for seniors in need of prescription drug coverage who do not select the private plans in Medicare Part D. While SeniorCare is both wildly popular and hugely effective, private prescription drug insurance plans continue to flourish in Wisconsin, with a large number of available plans and fair premium rates.” What Baldwin doesn’t say however is that SeniorCare is only for low-income seniors with incomes up to $35,000 annually for a couple. There is no premium. Instead they pay a $30 annual enrollment fee and have copays and an $850 deductible.
So in reality SeniorCare is for low-income seniors and the private Medicare Part D plans are for everyone else. They don't actually compete at all and opens up the question of her understanding of the public plan option.
The Good…
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin has recently made an impact on some provisions in the health reform bill that will come up for a vote by the full House of Representatives in September. Baldwin won a late-minute approval for one of her amendments: to start a pilot program within Medicaid known as "accountable care" that would pay more for health results rather than individual services.
but…
Unfortunately the amendment only allows a pilot and not all out payment reform based on accountable care. Frankly there’s enough research and evidence already on this to simply start enacting this reform broadly. I presume that this is all she could get passed by the committee.
… and the misunderstood
(http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2009/07/31/0907310169.php)
On another note, in the above linked Capital Times Op-ed piece Baldwin made the case for the public plan option currently being hotly debated. Sad to say her case fell way short in her comparison of Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program to the public plan option proposed in the health care reform bill working its way through the House.
Baldwin wrote, “since 2003, Wisconsin has been offering a public option for seniors in need of prescription drug coverage who do not select the private plans in Medicare Part D. While SeniorCare is both wildly popular and hugely effective, private prescription drug insurance plans continue to flourish in Wisconsin, with a large number of available plans and fair premium rates.” What Baldwin doesn’t say however is that SeniorCare is only for low-income seniors with incomes up to $35,000 annually for a couple. There is no premium. Instead they pay a $30 annual enrollment fee and have copays and an $850 deductible.
So in reality SeniorCare is for low-income seniors and the private Medicare Part D plans are for everyone else. They don't actually compete at all and opens up the question of her understanding of the public plan option.
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