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Panel Detail:

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

The Future of Health Care: What Kind of Reform Makes Sense?

Moderator:

Margaret Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

Panelists on the "Future of Health Care" panel included, from left, Jennie Chin Hansen of AARP, Jonathan White of Pfizer, Peter Orszag of the Congressional Budget Office, and John Lumpkin of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Jennie Chin Hansen of AARP described the organization's current "We failed" campaign, which demands a focus on health and economic security while promoting a wide range of partnerships across political parties and multiple organizations. As Jonathan White of Pfizer observed, "The current situation is unsustainable. It is about time to prove the value of products in the real world and better understand how drugs fit into the patient's lifestyle."

Peter Orszag of the Congressional Budget Office made a clear statement: "Health care is not the problem of future generations." It is a current problem that affects all of us today. In his opinion, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what we all really get from Medicare.

An overview of the cost of health care across the United States was presented, outlining wide disparities between states. The fact that we do very little to understand what actually works in medical care is alarming, especially when costs keep skyrocketing without improving the system. The notion of "more care" equating to "better care" must change. John Lumpkin of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation emphasized the importance of public reporting and the need to build infrastructure to support improvements in quality service. According to Lumpkin, "if you don't do quality work — you simply don't stay in business."

Orszag suggested that the current financial incentives system hinders innovative physicians. He also urged medical professionals to accept econometric statistical methods to learn which interventions are most effective. Chin Hansen pointed out that inefficiency and administrative burdens are disheartening to professionals who care about treating individuals. Lumpkin brought up the vast body of information that is available for providers and asked how to make sense of it all; he suggested that the flow of information must be improved and better decision-making tools must be designed for health-care professionals. Applying sophisticated IT tools can help to improve efficiency. White suggested that health data is already being shared by consumers, but in his opinion, IT by itself will not be enough. It is only one part of the solution.

Uninsured people have a reduced quality of life and die earlier. Under our current system of "doing nothing" about this population, uninsured patients still impact the bills of the insured. Lumpkin stressed that "doing nothing" can't continue. He announced that health-care reform is on the agenda of his bipartisan policy center, which hopes to prepare a draft proposal by 2009, with all participating parties figuring out what compromises they can live with. The outlook of "winners and losers" is not applicable anymore; everyone will need to make some concessions in order to improve the situation.

The panel concluded by agreeing that the role of patients is evolving. Chin Hansen supported the empowerment of patients, enabling individuals to make better decisions about their own treatment. White suggested learning what other countries are doing and learning from past mistakes. Orszag emphasized the urgency of realizing how much we really pay for health care and demanding more transparency. "We are running out of alternatives," stated Lumpkin, issuing a strong call to action. He urged business leaders and policy-makers to "strike while the iron is hot."

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