Health Care Coverage for All and Improved Quality are Attainable, Containing Costs Key to Modernizing the U.S. Health Care System, UnitedHealth Group’s Simon Stevens Tells Illinois Chamber of Commerce Health Care Conference
Company offers practical approach to effective cost containment and proposals for payment reform, strengthening primary care, engaging consumers and promoting preventive care
CHICAGO (April 29, 2009) –Health care coverage for all Americans is attainable and could be substantially funded by offsetting savings in the growth of U.S. health care spending, UnitedHealth Group Executive Vice President Simon Stevens said today. Stevens is chairman of the company’s UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization, which draws on thought leadership within the company and externally to devise innovative solutions for the healthcare challenges facing the U.S.
In a speech today to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Employer Health Care Conference in Chicago, Mr. Stevens said the current economic crisis makes comprehensive reform more, not less, urgent. Concerns about the Federal budget deficit should not stand in the way of health care modernization, as this would release offsetting federal savings that Congress could deploy on expanding coverage.
“For the $2.6 trillion the nation will spend on health care this year, we should be able to do a lot better. To expand coverage, we have to tackle costs and quality. The good news is we do actually know how to do this. And at UnitedHealth Group, we will be sharing practical ideas with policy makers – on payment reform, on strengthening primary care, on reducing health disparities, on engaging consumers and on preventing illness,” he said.“In fact, our real world data suggest the possibilities for savings are in some categories even larger, and opportunities to get at them even more extensive, than are currently being discussed in Washington DC.
“Arguably the most profound savings opportunity will come from being able to tackle the differences in quality and efficiency of care that exist right across the health care delivery system – differences that are for the most part not explained by differences in patients’ needs or preferences.
Mr Stevens went on to set out detailed proposals for unleashing savings in Medicare, strengthening primary care, and improving end of life care. “We need to strengthen primary care, with new payment models and infrastructure support. Longer term, we need to make primary care a more attractive specialty for new doctors.” he said.
Continuing, he set out six key building blocks as a basis for reform. They propose strengthening employer coverage that already supports 160 million people, while reforming individual insurance markets, and targeting expanded public funding for low income individuals and families. UnitedHealth Group also believes that coverage expansions and cost containment are two sides of the same coin and must be pursued in tandem, together with modernizing Medicare and making better use technology.
To view the full text of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce meeting speech go to:
www.unitedhealthgroup.com/publicpolicy/2009/042909StevensRemarksIllinois.pdf
To view the UnitedHealth Group principles for health care modernization go to:
www.unitedhealthgroup.com/publicpolicy/041609HealthReformPrinciples.pdf
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making health care work better. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through six operating businesses: UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, AmeriChoice, OptumHealth, Ingenix, and Prescription Solutions. Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves more than 70 million individuals nationwide.
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