Planting the Seeds of Tomorrow: Demanding Value in the Health Care Debate
When I was an intern, I watched a baby die. His name was Sam—or at least that is what we called him—and he didn’t have much of a chance from the start. He was delivered in the emergency room to a young woman who showed up late at night in labor. She was both malnourished […]
Five Observations on the Democratic Debates
The Democratic debates demonstrate how central health care will be in the 2020 election. Whether this debate leads to meaningful relief for the millions of families struggling under the financial burden of medical care depends largely on how the issue is framed and on the clarity with which we see our policy goal. Here are five observations that may help.
Reframing the National Health Care Debate
For decades, the national health care debate has focused largely on our acute care medical system; and gridlocked because neither Republicans nor Democrats assume any change in the health care delivery model: we either pay for it or we don’t, creating a false choice between cost and access. Moving beyond this gridlock requires a new way to both frame this challenge and to evaluate the various proposals being advanced to address it.
CCO 2.0: What’s Next?
Remarks at the Oregon Health Forum on the stakes involved for Oregon’s CCO care model over the next five year contract period.
Guiding the Asteroid
Sixty-six million years ago an asteroid hit earth, bringing about the extinction of the dinosaurs, and wiping out roughly seventy-five percent of life on the planet. Don’t look now but there’s an asteroid approaching in the rearview mirror of the U.S. health care system. We need to step back from the political gridlock and pay […]
The Future of Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations
Over the past five years, Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations have demonstrated how to expand access while lowering the cost trend and improving quality and outcomes. The next five years will pose a new set of challenges and opportunities which was the subject of an Oregon Health Forum panel on June 21.
Taking Responsibility for America’s Health
Applying Oregon’s CCO model nationally could save nearly $1 trillion
Earlier this year ECONorthwest, one of the Pacific Northwest’s most respected economic consulting firms, conducted modeling to determine the implications of applying key elements of Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organization model nationally. The finding suggests a potential ten-year total fund savings of almost $1 trillion. See overview here. This work assumed a two percent reduction in the […]
Health Care Prices Under Scrutiny
Late last month California Attorney General Xacier Becerra filed a lawsuit against Sutter Health, alleging that the health system is charging prices for hospital services that far exceed what the company would be able to charge in a competitive market. “It’s time to hold healthcare corporations accountable and bringdown illegally inflated healthcare costs that are […]
Health Care as a Right?
The Oregon legislature adjourned last weekend without referring to the voters the “Hope Amendment”— a proposed constitutional amendment declaring that: “It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to … affordable health care as a fundamental right.” I understand and am sympathetic with what the sponsors of […]