The second keynote this morning was from James Mongan, MD, CEO of Partners Healthcare.
Within a few months there will likely be a bill signed on healthcare reform but Mongan believes that it will not have realised everything that was set out to be achieved. He asserts that the work on reform will continue for a number of years afterwards.
Despite the fact that there are huge numbers of uninsured, most still receive the treatment they need. What doesn’t happen though is that treatment for chronic conditions is not delivered in a preventative manner.
One proposal in the reform legislation is to introduce an Individual Mandate but Mongan asserts that this appears to be a new tax with another name. There may be restrictions on who actually pays this mandate but it doesn’t address the core need for insurance reform.
But what about the issue of controlling healthcare costs? Barriers to cost include the way costs are reimbursed and the lack of integration of the provider systems. With most items that you buy, you benefit immediately, but with healthcare payments you benefit later
It is likely that any new legislation will blend taxes, employer payments and individual payments but the key issue is the fairness of financing – who pays and how much? In Mongan's opinion, it needs to be a balance between individual liberty and justice for all.
If US government is sincere and aim nothing but the best among the people they should make the health insurance to be affordable one. That’s the least that they can do for now. If you’re one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance, finding a place for insurance in your budget may seem like an insurmountable task. Options do exist, however, and the expenses of the options must be weighted against the cost of an unpredictable medical emergency - a $ 50,000 surgery is harder to cope with than a couple hundred bucks a month. One option for lowering your costs is to consider a high-deductible health plan, which will give you a smaller monthly payment in exchange for a lower level of coverage. It’s not ideal – you’ll have to pay out of pocket for any doctor’s appointments or tests until you reach your deductible – but it will prevent major medical expenses from causing you to go bankrupt.