Fix What Is Broken, Build on What Works

In his speech to the American Medical Association yesterday, President Obama stated that we should "fix what is broken and build on what works." The Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center (HPC) agrees with that call. We also agree that the status quo is not acceptable and we support his ideas on prevention/wellness, health information technology and comparative effectiveness. Specifically, we call on the President and other stakeholders to consider the following as health reform moves forward:

Fix what is broken. While there are current proposals under discussion in the House and Senate, these proposals are not bold enough to address the serious deficiencies in the existing delivery system. Consistent with what the president said, the HPC believes that the Medicare reimbursement system must reward providers who deliver high quality care at a reasonable cost, and new payment models that bundle payments should be developed for high-cost procedures and chronic illnesses.

We strongly agree with the President that all Americans should have affordable health insurance. The HPC objects to government-run, price-controlled plans like Medicare, but supports a model like the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan with private insurance options that serve members of Congress and other government employees very well today. We also advocate reform of the health insurance system, including no penalties for health status, a minimum benefit package, sliding-scale subsidies for those who cannot afford their premiums, risk adjustment and a requirement to enroll in coverage.

Build on what works. As Obama and others have acknowledged in recent weeks, there are health care providers in the country that perform quite well today. In fact, there are at least 10 states in the U.S. that perform as well as any country in the world by such value measures as Mortality Amenable to Health Care. We must learn from these organizations and provide incentives for them to continue to succeed and for others to improve to their level of performance.

By Jeffrey Korsmo  |  June 16, 2009; 4:08 PM ET  | Category:  Health Care Reform
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Posted by: lensch | June 19, 2009 4:48 PM
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