National Coalition on Health Care Releases Major Report on Health Care Affordability
WASHINGTON, DC – At a July 10th Capitol Hill event, the National Coalition on Health Care, an alliance of leading health care provider, purchaser, payer and consumer organizations, released a new report, Strategies for Improving the Affordability of High-Quality Health Care and Coverage. The report explores the affordability crisis in American health care, identifies health cost drivers and outlines options to address them.
“We can no longer delay a serious national conversation about affordability – one that calls out the drivers of high costs and identifies viable strategies for action.” said NCHC President and CEO John Rother.
Building on seven regional leadership summits held in cities around the country, the new report includes analysis and options related to
- chronic disease and non-medical determinants of health,
- health care workforce,
- alternative payment models,
- managed care options in Medicare and Medicaid,
- provider competition,
- pharmaceutical prices,
- insurance market stabilization, and
- value-based insurance designs.
The presentation of the report was followed by a discussion with a panel of health care experts:
- Gerard Anderson, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Hospital Finance & Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Shawn Maree Bishop, MPP, Vice President, Advancing Medicare and Controlling Health Costs, The Commonwealth Fund
- Paul B. Ginsburg, PhD, Director, USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy; Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution; Professor of Health Policy and Director of Public Policy, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California
- Tara O’Neill Hayes, MPPM, Deputy Director of Health Care Policy, American Action Forum
- Jack Lewin, MD, (Moderator) Chairman of the Board, National Coalition on Health Care
“Our summits, the literature, and yesterday’s panelists each made clear that there are no silver bullets. But by distinguishing what led to today’s affordability crisis and tailoring solutions to address those drivers, we have a chance to make progress,” said Rother.
The report and regional summits were part of a year-long program of work, made possible through a generous grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
The report (in pdf form) is available HERE.
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Some members of NCHC do not, or cannot, take positions either on specific legislation, strategies or on any policies outside their respective mission areas. However, all that can, do endorse broad policy positions in support of comprehensive health system change.