Among our guests will be Bets Clever, Executive Director of the Carlisle Health and Wellness Foundation. The CHWF works to empower members of the community with information that will help them make healthy lifestyle choices. By striving to curb obesity, head off major chronic diseases, improve access to health care for the un- and under-insured, and expand dental care, the Foundation expects to nurture healthier and more vibrant neighbors. My in-laws, both in their 60s and quite active, recently forwarded a healthy-living column with some pertinent advice for all of us.
The health care industry represents 18 percent of the U.S. economy so any attempt fundamentally to change the system is viewed by many who use it, work within it, regulate it and invest in it with great concern and some degree of skepticism. On Smart Talk, we won’t attempt to answer all the questions about what a restructuring might look like, but we will explore the main steps each of us can take and the personal responsibility each of us bears to make a positive difference in our health, and by doing so, perhaps help drive down the cost of medical care.
The urgent need to address these issues is borne out in a new report from Families USA that documents the rising cost of health insurance premiums over the last decade in Pennsylvania. Using data culled from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the report notes that “family health insurance premiums for Pennsylvania’s workers rose 5.4 times more quickly than median earnings.” Simply put, premiums are rising faster than we can afford to pay for them leaving more families in the Keystone State vulnerable to being priced-out of medical insurance. (For even more information on the critical issues surrounding health care in Pennsylvania, check out a 2007 report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.)
Carolyn Scanlan, president and CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, appeared as a guest at the Radio Smart Talk Health Care Summit at Whitaker Center Wednesday, September 9th. She noted that the current health care delivery system takes care of patients after they become sick and require medical attention at a hospital or specialized clinic. She said HAP and other providers want to change that policy and payment in a profound way.
"So that more care can occur out of the hospital," Scanlan explained. "We don't get paid, hospitals and doctors, for doing good chronic-care management. We don't get paid for keeping you out of the hospital. And so part of the proposals are things that are called bundling or value-based purchasing. But what it means is that we as providers, hospitals, physicians, nurses, come together as a team to work with people on keeping them healthy and out of the hospital. If they happen to go into the hospital ... we can begin to work with them to do the kinds of things out of the hospital that are necessary so that you don't get readmitted."
Sam Marshall, president of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, argued at the summit that profit is not a dirty word in the health care industry. Marshall said a key component of restructuring the system should include "economic incentives" that reward everyone for "better care" rather than just more care. "There should be economic incentives to reward individuals for healthy lifestyles, for being in a fitness program, for doing wellness, for having annual check-ups," he said.
And Dr. Dana Kellis, senior vice president and chief medical officer for PinnacleHealth, will join our TV conversation and add his perspective on the national effort to overhaul health care. We welcome you to tune in and let us know what you think. Shoot us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Watch a report from WITF's Radio Smart Talk Health Care Summit with Mark Wallace:
Would preventive medicine and patients taking more responsibility for their health help reduce costs?
Scott LaMar reports:
What health care concerns do you have?
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