Public, private sectors both have a role to play in health care reform

a role in health care reform, says council

Connecticut Health Insurance Policy Council proposes framework for reforms

The health care cost crisis and the urgent need for health care reform have led a group of leading Connecticut insurance and business executives to publish a report outlining broad reform goals and a framework for developing specific proposals.

The private, nonprofit Connecticut Health Care Policy Council’s report, “A Framework for Health Care Reform in Connecticut,” notes that “Mere health insurance reform is not enough.” It also says action is needed by both the public and the private sectors. “While the state needs to make some changes, so do employers, health plans, providers, and consumers.”

The council is urging both sectors to work together toward three goals:

Have Connecticut become the healthiest state in America by 2020 and No. 1 nationally for the lowest rates of smoking and obesity within five years.

Make Connecticut’s health care system a source of economic vitality and a competitive advantage. Institute reforms so that our costs trend below the average of other states and we become leaders in deploying data and technology to measure and improve health care cost-effectiveness and quality in a way that is meaningful to consumers.

Reduce the percentage of uninsured state citizens by half in three years, and move toward virtual 100% coverage over time.

Bob Patricelli, co-chair of the council and President & CEO of Evolution Benefits and Women’s Health USA, said, “These goals go beyond universal insurance coverage to encompass broad-based health care reform, and will require the active involvement of everyone, including consumers, providers, businesses and the state government. We want Connecticut’s health care and health insurance systems to be a competitive advantage for the state.”

Among other things, the council recommends comprehensive health care reform, not just universal health insurance. Reform should build on the current employer-sponsored insurance system.

“We clearly do not need, nor can we afford, to create a whole new health care financing and delivery system,” says Mickey Herbert, co-chair of the council and president of ConnectiCare.

“We already have good public and private insurance, but we need to increase access to them while also addressing cost and quality issues,” notes council member John Rathgeber, CBIA president and CEO. Meredith Reuben, CEO of Eastern Bag & Paper Group in Milford and chair of CBIA, agrees. “We should improve the cost effectiveness of our existing system and provide more affordable benefit options for small businesses and individuals,” she says.

The Connecticut Health Care Policy Council comprises leaders from the state’s major business associations and chambers of commerce, small and large employers, and health insurance and health care companies.