Pursue cost-savings ideas within new health reform mandate
Q: The average worker pays 26% of the cost of family health insurance, while Massachusetts state employees pay about 15%. Is it fair to ask taxpayers to subsidize state workers?
PATRICK: I think we need to be managing down the cost of healthcare for
everybody. We have an opportunity--and indeed a mandate--with that new health reform bill. Some of the ideas that I want to pursue are:
How we make uniform the forms for reimbursement. Every payer has a different protocol.
How we use our
technology to maintain patient records. Within a hospital, they manage and move the records around electronically but they don't have the capability yet to talk to providers outside that bubble.
How to be smarter about purchasing strategies for
prescription drugs.
These are some of the strategies, and I'm open to others. We need to be concentrating on how we get the costs down for everybody and afford the healthcare that we want to provide both the public and private employees.
Supports employer uninsured healthcare assessment, plus more
Patrick was an early supporter of a bill proposed by Affordable Healthcare Today (ACT) that served as the basis for the recently approved universal healthcare law. The ACT bill would have spent more public money, taxed businesses more, and extended
subsidized coverage further up the income ladder then the bill eventually approved by the Legislature. He supports the controversial $295 per worker, per year charge on larger employers who don't offer health benefits, but says there is no need to raise
additional revenue "until we see how this works and what costs we can take out."
"I see health care as a common good -- like clean air, safe streets, and effective education -- and so
I believe that government has a role to play in assuring that the conditions exist for the health care system we all want," Patrick says.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: Health Care
Jun 3, 2006
Supports Health Access and Affordability Act
As governor I will work with the legislature to enact the Health Access and Affordability Act, a credible, achievable means to bring immediate progress. Through a combination of changes in the eligibility requirements of MassHealth (Medicaid)
and reasonable assessments from employers who do not provide health insurance, the plan substantially expands access to affordable health care to Massachusetts residents.
No one should have to choose between health care and bankruptcy. To relieve the anxiety for individuals and the burden on small businesses, the State will guarantee catastrophic coverage for everyone who is not already covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
By spreading these typically high costs over the largest possible pool of participants, and consolidating the many separate reserves now maintained for this care, per-person premiums will be reduced significantly for both employers and employees.
Negotiate bulk drug purchases under governor's authority
Using existing but ignored authority, I will reduce the cost of prescription drugs through negotiated bulk purchases and the development of new channels of supply. It is the duty of the Commonwealth to act in the financial interests of the people.
When diagnosed early, many illnesses can be managed at far lower cost than if left until they breed more serious health problems. To keep our citizens healthy, I will invest in a robust public health delivery system. I will place a special emphasis on
adequate childhood immunizations, effective drug & alcohol abuse education, HIV/AIDS prevention & care, and early cancer detection programs. Common sense prevention programs like these reduce system-wide costs, which saves money for insurance ratepayers.
I envision Massachusetts as a model for public health stewardship, a state that gets healthy and stays healthy-emphasizing disease prevention and wellness programs that help reduce the total cost of illness, injury and disability.
We will have effective programs to assure childhood immunizations, and to address drug and alcohol addiction, mental health needs, gun safety and other violence prevention, and HIV/AIDS screening, treatment and prevention.
