Tuesday, Nov. 10 2009 6:51PM
Chamber hosts healthcare forum
Miranda Wycoff, Journal Staff
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ReprintAfter the passage of the healthcare reform bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday, the Nov. 10 panel consisting of area representatives from the healthcare industry was quite timely.
The panel, sponsored by the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, consisted of representatives from Truman Medical Center, Athletic Rehabilitation Center, HCA, Discover Vision Centers, Haynes Benefits, Lockton Companies and Humana Health Plans.
It was moderated by Alan Flory, CEO of ReDiscover Mental Health and chair of the chamber’s committee on healthcare.
The speakers were asked to discuss their opinions, ideas and challenges about the current healthcare reform bills working their way through Congress.
For the representatives of the hospitals, Steve Corbeil, president and CEO of HCA and John Bluford, president and CEO of TMC, coverage of the uninsured and under-insured is a major issue.
“We need universal coverage,” Corbeil said. “At hospitals we see those without insurance everyday.” Corbeil said of the thousands of Americans without health insurance, many seek out the emergency room for care, or they simply delay care.
“And then we’re all paying for it in the end,” Corbeil said.
He said solutions could include enacting a mandate that would require all Americans to have health insurance, subsidizing those families who can’t afford it, making insurance portable across state lines and from job to job, and expanding eligibility for Medicaid.
“All people should have access and coverage to healthcare,” Bluford said.
George Wheeler, president and CEO of Humana said his company believes everyone should have guaranteed access to health coverage, regardless of pre-existing conditions.
But, he said, the public needs an incentive to purchase healthcare before getting sick, otherwise the cost of insurance would only increase.
“Imagine if you could buy car insurance after an accident,” Wheeler said.
Therefore, Wheeler said the government should impose a mandate that would require all individuals to have health insurance, much like automobile insurance.
“There’s a reason car insurance is the law,” he said. “Guaranteed insurance without individual mandates would actually raise the cost.”
While most members of the panel agreed that everyone should be covered by health insurance regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, some panel members don’t agree with the House’s public option for health care, a controversial measure in the bill.
“The public plan is a terrible way to go,” said Jim Denning, president of Discover Vision Centers. “I don’t know about you but I’m kind of done with the government. I want to solve this problem ourselves.”
Denning said he thinks healthcare coverage problems can be fixed by coordinating care so that the information goes directly to the consumer and not from coverage provider to physician.
This will ensure that patients know more about their care and what it costs.
“Patients have no idea what their out of pocket is,” he said. Denning said insurance companies have the technology to better inform both physicians and patients what the cost of coverage is, and if that were to occur, patients and physicians alike would be more frugal with ordering tests and diagnostic procedures that are many times unnecessary.
Wheeler reiterated Denning’s point, saying, “The general public does not know the true cost of healthcare.” “We have a disengaged public,” he said. “It’s someone else’s money.”
He said that of the procedures like cosmetic surgery, weight loss surgery and Lasik eye surgery, where insurance doesn’t cover it so they are consumer-based, the cost has dramatically decreased while the quality has increased. And that he said, is because people know what the costs are and are aware of what they are spending. Thus making them more diligent with their research.
One thing a majority of the panel agreed on was preventative healthcare.
Matt Condon, president and CEO of the Athletic Rehabilitation Center, said it was all about supply and demand.
“Nothing will lower prices except a decrease in demand,” he said.
And that, Condon said, will only occur if Americans start getting healthier.
“Two-thirds of all adults are overweight and 60 percent of us don’t get the recommended level of daily activity,” Wheeler said.
Denning said of the top diseases causing deaths are preventable, including heart disease which can be caused by smoking, obesity and lack of exercise; lung cancer, caused by smoking; trauma, caused by car accidents and often induced by alcohol and pulmonary disorders, caused by smoking.
“It’s not rocket science,” said Rick Kahle president of employee benefits for Lockton. “It’s one person at a time deciding to be healthier. We are the ones who have to change this.”
To reach Journal reporter Miranda Wycoff, call 816-282-7017 or e-mail mwycoff@lsjournal.com
