Is Changing the Face of Health Care Delivery Really Possible?

Are your friends and colleagues asking you what is happening with health care reform?  Mine are.  Now that reform has been passed, health care has fallen out of mainstream media as they turn their attention to more current issues. But, the reality is that much is being done behind the scenes.

As insurance professionals, we keep constant tabs on what is going on in Washington. Health care reform may not be in the headlines now but it will soon be back in the news. The 2010 initiatives passed in the new law are about to take effect this month and are sure to make headlines again.

At that point, the question on everyone’s mind will be – is changing the face of health care delivery really possible? Access to health care has been a problem for many years and recent reforms have provided great improvements.  But can we combine accessibility and affordability?

We support these reform efforts and are working closely with NAHU, the NAIC and other regulatory bodies to ensure a smooth transition of this legislation. Progress has been good and we are confident for the future; however, reforming the insurance industry is not enough.  We need to go back to the original goal and focus on the delivery of health care – not just health care insurance – to ensure affordability.

Rapid advances in technology are leading to newer procedures, devices and medications – all at a higher costs. In the meantime, there is no system in place to compare the results of newer technology vs. older technology. Even if older technology has the same results, newer and more expensive technologies are often used.

I’m sure if there was an easy solution, we would have heard about it. In theory, providers should provide quality care that is cost-effective. In reality, it has been quoted that somewhere between one-third to one-half of all care delivered may be unnecessary. Patients with similar symptoms receive a wide range of treatments depending on where they live and which doctors they see. There is no incentive system in place to push providers into the most cost-effective, quality means to cure patients. Any attempt to fix the inefficiencies and unnecessary care goes unrewarded.

As the end of the month approaches and the media once again turns its attention to reform, let’s hope that this renewed focus will eventually turn to addressing some of these cost and efficiency issues with health care delivery. That’s when we will finally start to see solutions that go to expanding health care access AND affordability to millions of Americans.