By Julie Chen
Staff Writer
Last Monday, a panel of leading health-care providers joined President Barack Obama to announce their promise to sharply reduce the growth of national spending. This pledge followed a White House meeting with representatives of hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and drug makers. Vague statements were made about how a reduction would be achieved, such as “common sense improvements in care delivery,” “encouraging coordinated care” and “administrative simplification.” Despite the fact that this promise lacks many specifics and cannot be easily enforced, President Obama gives the pledge high prominence and much substance by calling the meeting a “watershed event.” If kept, the pledge would slow the overall growth of health spending. White House officials plan to save $2,500 a year for a family of four in the fifth year, and a total of $2 trillion for the nation in 10 years. Savings are predicted to come from slowing projected cost in-creases by a small percentage each year.
Although the United States spends more on health care than any other country, half of all personal bankruptcies stem from health care expenses. At the White House event, President Obama told trade group representatives, “We can’t continue down the same dangerous road we’ve been traveling for so many years…reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait.” Rising health-care costs have cut into workers’ earnings and companies’ profits. Combined with more than 45 million uninsured Americans, these costs have finally pressured health-care providers to respond. Representatives from the health insurance industry said they were willing to terminate the practice of charging higher premiums to sick people if Congress adopted a comprehensive plan obliging all Americans to carry insurance.
Industry leaders addressed a letter to President Obama, stating that they would work with the administration to decrease the annual growth rate of health care spending by 1.5 percentage points. Executives of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Service Employees International Union, and America’s Health Insurance Plans signed the letter to advocate preventive care and streamline administrative costs. These executives believe that large amounts of money could be saved by hard-line efforts to prevent obesity, manage chronic illnesses, cut back on unnecessary tests, and increase the use of information technology.
President Obama is urging Congress to pass a reform bill by the end of the year, and by showing a willingness to trim costs, analysts believe that the industry is securing a place for itself at the bargaining table. Among President Obama’s many supporters are some of the groups that previously helped block Pres. Bill Clinton’s efforts at health-care reform in 1993–1994. With newfound sup-port, President Obama has high hopes that the pledge will build momentum for his more extensive ambition of making health care accessible to all Americans.
