Healthcare reform must focus on reducing administrative costs, improving the availability and quality of health services, encouraging healthy lifestyles, supporting advancement of medical research, and ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable and high-quality health care. It should also include a safety net for those who can’t afford coverage.
A national insurance exchange must be created that gives consumers the ability to choose a plan that meets their needs and preferences. This should be linked initially to Medicare, so that it can quickly establish a national presence and compete with private insurers in the exchange marketplace.
Physicians must be given the freedom to focus on activities that deliver real patient benefits — such as counseling patients about modifying their diets and quitting smoking — rather than on expensive procedures with little or no benefit to patients. The current system unfairly rewards invasive medical interventions, while penalizing other activities that could improve health outcomes for patients at a lower cost to the system.
Legislative proposals such as the Prior Authorization Transparency Act would reduce costs by requiring pharmacy benefit managers to provide patients with disclosures of rebates, costs, prices, and fees and prohibiting contracting practices that artificially inflate drug prices. These changes, along with other cost savings initiatives, can help reduce the rate of prescription drug inflation.
The president’s plan will close the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D coverage that leaves many seniors paying thousands of dollars per year for prescription drugs. This will save seniors and their families money, while promoting responsible use of limited government resources.