Word from the White House: Business Roundtable Hewitt Report "Health Care Reform: Creating a Sustainable Market"

Word from the White House: Business Roundtable Hewitt Report "Health Care Reform: Creating a Sustainable Market"
Posted by Jesse Lee on November 12, 2009 at 11:20 AM EST
It's no secret that institutions of all stripes focus their communications on certain messages day to day. We thought it would all be a little more open and transparent if we went ahead and published what our focus will be for the day, along with any related articles, documents, or reports.

Supporting report: "Health Care Reform: Creating a Sustainable Health Care Marketplace," Business Roundtable, November 2009 (pdf)

Talking Points: Business Roundtable Hewitt Report "Health Care Reform: Creating a Sustainable Market"

The BRT report confirms that the status quo is unsustainable. The BRT report finds that without health reform, costs will continue to rise at the same trend they have for the last ten years. The report concludes that without reform, by 2019, employment-based spending on health care for large employers will be 166% higher than today on a per-employee basis.

The BRT report confirms that Congress is moving in the right direction on both fiscal responsibility and cost containment. The BRT-Hewitt report finds that many of the delivery system reform policies that are currently in health reform legislation will make important contributions to cost reduction, when implemented effectively. As the report explains, "[a] number of the proposed reforms offer real promise, not only to save federal dollars, but also to reduce the rate of increase in private sector spending if adopted and implemented appropriately."

•These policies include: value-based purchasing, a new CMS Innovation Center, "accountable care organizations" and reducing preventable hospital re-admissions. The BRT report also notes that with additional steps such as administrative simplification, electronic medical records, and increased information transparency for better decision-making, even more savings could be reached. Some of these additional policies were included in ARRA and many others are included in health reform legislation currently pending in Congress.
•With health reform, as much as $3,000 could be saved by 2019. The BRT-Hewitt study finds that with many of the legislative reforms currently in the health reform bills, costs could be reduced by as much as $3,000 per employee.