<nobr>Nov 12, 2008</nobr>

Baucus Unveils Health Reform Policy Options for Consideration by the 111th Congress

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) on Wednesday unveiled specific health-reform policy options for consideration by the 111th Congress and President-Elect Barack Obama. Baucus said his 89-page "Call-to-Action" paper is not intended to be a legislative proposal, but rather details his vision for both policy and the process in the upcoming health care reform debate. Throughout the past year, he has been holding a series of hearings on health care reform to lay the groundwork for action in the 111th Congress.

The Call-to-Action plans centers around three legs:
(1) a policy that ensures meaningful coverage and care to all Americans;
(2) an insistence that any such expansion be coupled with an emphasis on higher quality, greater value, and less costly care; and
(3) a commitment to eliminate waste and overpayments, and design a financing system that works for taxpayers as well as for the recipients and providers of health care.

The plan would permit individuals without access to health insurance to purchase coverage through a nationwide insurance pool called the Health Insurance Exchange. Private insurers offering coverage through the Exchange would be precluded from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. (The proposal is similar to that offered by President-Elect Obama but differs from ERIC's "New Benefit Platform" proposal which calls for greater private market competition for quality, cost, and innovation among newly created "Benefit Administrators" that would function like an "exchange." The "exchange" concept appears to be a common thread among many of the proposals. Another common thread that appears to be growing is curtailment of the tax exclusion for premiums.)

Baucus also includes delivery system reforms that would seek to improve quality and lower costs by strengthening the role of primary care and chronic care management. Discussing how the current payment systems reward providers for delivering more care rather than better care, Baucus' plan would realign payment incentives toward improving the quality of care delivered to patients. Baucus also said he would improve health care infrastructure by investing in new comparative effectiveness research and health information technology (IT).

The Chairman also would address payments to private insurers in the Medicare Advantage program, would increase transparency of cost and quality information, would require disclosure of payments and incentives to providers by drug or device makers, and would consider reforms of medical malpractice laws.

Baucus pointedly indicated that his white paper is not intended to preempt any other proposals and his staff has been sitting in on sessions organized by Senator Ted Kennedy over the past several months.

Questions or comments on this issue should be addressed to either Edwina Rogers, erogers@eric.org, or Rohan Beesla, rbeesla@eric.org.

Websites:

Baucus News Release and Whitepaper

Baucus Letter to President-Elect Obama

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