Forum explores health care costs and reform
Published: October 3, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share this
JENKINS TWP. - A former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary told an audience of local business and health care leaders on Friday that current proposals for federal health care legislation do not constitute reform and will not address the rising cost of health care that threatens to cripple the national economy.
Michael Leavitt, the former governor of Utah and the nation's top health care official from 2005 until 2009 under President George W. Bush, spoke at a forum about health care costs hosted by Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In his keynote address, Mr. Leavitt challenged the common description of America's health care system as a "system," saying it lacks an integrated network structure.
That fragmentation, along with incentives that reward more health care but not quality care, are the primary ills of American health care, he said. True cost containment will only come when governments, medical providers and businesses work together to create a linked network, he said.
"Our success will be dictated by our ability to form collaborations and participate in them," he said. "If we fail to do that, we will fail. We will be overcome by the marketplace."
Mr. Leavitt explained that the current structure of health care delivery in the country demands that collaboration and innovation begin on a regional level, and Northeast Pennsylvania has an opportunity to become a "regional health care hub."
The presenters at the forum, including hospital and clinic CEOs, a business owner, the dean of The Commonwealth Medical College and the secretary of the state Department of Health, drew a bleak picture of the health care situation nationally and locally.
Denise Cesare, president and CEO of Blue Cross of NEPA, said Northeast and Northcentral Pennsylvania face a shortage of more than 1,500 physicians in the next 15 years and local residents spend $1.2 billion outside the region on health care annually.
Christopher Weiler, the president and CEO of the Weiler Corporation, a Cresco-based manufacturer of industrial brushes, said his company will spend more on health care this year than on raw materials.
Everette James, secretary of the state Department of Health, said individuals will have to learn that they have a role in driving up health care costs, and they also have a role in finding a solution to the current crisis.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com
1 posted comments