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On the National Journal’s expert health care blog, Marilyn Werber Serafini opened discussion on the recent report issued by Medicare actuary Richard Foster, which stated that health care spending over the next decade could increase by up to 1 percent, due to new insurance coverage for 34 million people. In response to Serafini’s question regarding the meaning of this report for the fate of health reform,
In order to address two potential issues with the Cost Containment Failsafe Proposal, three alternative pathways may be proposed. These three options are to modify the cost containment mechanism, dial back the Congressional consideration requirements of the private sector cost containment recommendations, or rewrite the private sector cost containment to make policy recommendations, but with requirements that enhance their power and usage.
To ensure that fair, effective cost containment is achieved across the entire health care system, legislation should be amended to: (1) set national goals for reducing health care expenditure growth; (2) accelerate system-wide cost containment initiatives that expand pilots and improve health care delivery across public and private sectors; and (3) conduct an independent analysis of health system expenditures and trends to measure progress and (4) implement targeted enforcement should targets not be met.
California could receive as much as $750 million for the administration of a temporary high-risk insurance pool program, which could allow approximately 30,000 California residents to benefit from this federal program per year.
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