But, like other initiatives, the right circumstances are required to bring about focus on a common mission, said Rohack, who attended the meeting.
“I believe this is the first step for getting meaningful reform,” he said.
The assembly, made up of doctors, hospitals, drug makers and insurance companies, voluntarily offered $2 trillion in cost reductions over 10 years.
“This is a reduction in growth of 1.5 percent, meaning health care spending would grow by 5 percent rather than the projected rate of 6.2 percent,” Rohack said.
Achieving the reduction will likely be accomplished by reducing administrative burdens that don’t add value, Rohack said. It also might mean the doctor and patient determining between themselves what therapies to initiate.
A key component in the savings will be an electronic system that enables doctors and hospitals to share records, he said.
“Additional savings will be patients making good choices and keeping themselves healthy,” Rohack said.
Any attempt at achieving a goal of providing affordable health care for all Americans, he said, is going to require both the public and private sectors working together to create an American solution.
Medicare is a sticking point in any health care reform.
Fixing the physician Medicare formula, Rohack said, is going to be necessary before any attempt can be made to improve accessibility to health care in the United States.
The formula was adopted by Congress in 1997 and a 21 percent reduction in physician Medicare fees is scheduled to begin in January.
“Since 2000 and 2001, the American Medical Association has been telling Congress to scrap that formula,” Rohack said.
Now, Medicare payment are based on services provided the year before.
Congress recognizes cutting payments is not the answer, he said, but their Band-Aid solution is temporary and the formula doesn’t get fixed.
The president’s budget and the House budget have about $330 billion to make the change, but there is a hang-up in the Senate.
“The ball is in their court … if they want physicians to provide better, coordinated care they need to get rid of the formula,” Rohack said.
Though it wasn’t discussed with the president, the AMA believes a reform that would help many of the 50 million uninsured gain health care would be tax subsidies to buy their own health insurance if their employer doesn’t provide it, Rohack said.
Making a dent in the millions who lack insurance will require the government to deal with its tax policy that now gives preference to the employer and offers no help to the individual, he said.
The private sector can’t do this alone, Rohack said. The federal government will have to step up and make adjustments.
