September 2, 2012 in Health

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) Some of President Barack Obamas former advisers are proposing major changes aimed at controlling health care costs as political uncertainty hovers over his healthlaw.

Call it Health Care Overhaul, Version 2.0. Their biggest idea is a first-ever budget for the nations $2.8-trillion health care system, through negotiated limits on public and private spending in eachstate.

The approach broadly resembles a Massachusetts law signed this summer by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick that puts pressure on hospitals, insurers, and other major players to keep rising costs within manageable limits. It could become the Democratic counterpoint to private market strategies favored by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and running mate PaulRyan.

Health costs lie at the heart of budget problems confronting the next president. Health care accounts for 18 percent of the economy and about one-fourth of the federal budget, and many experts believe it cant grow unchecked without harming other priorities. Because the United States spends much more than other advanced countries, theres a consensus that savings from cutting waste and duplication wont harmquality.

We think of these as the next generation of ideas, said Neera Tanden, who was a senior member of the White House team that helped pass the health law. Tanden is now president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank close to theadministration.

Under the proposal, the major public and private players in each state would negotiate payment rates with service providers such as hospitals. The idea is to get away from paying for each individual test and procedure. Negotiated rates could be based on an entire course of treatment. Payments would have to fit within an overall budget that could grow no faster than the average rise inwages.

The spending limits would be enforced by an independent council, but crucial details need to be spelled out. In Massachusetts, for example, budget-busting providers will be required to file plans with the state laying out how theyll amend their spendthriftways.

Link:

Ex-Obama advisers seek health care cost control - Sun, 02 Sep 2012 PST