Council Applauds Introduction, Passage of Measures Encouraging Value-based Health Insurance Design
"For all the ongoing debates about health care policy, meaningful solutions to the persistent problem of high health care costs have been frustratingly elusive,"
"Thankfully, bipartisan lawmakers in
Based on the premise that preventable or manageable chronic diseases drive a significant portion of the health care cost trend, VBID attempts to lower or remove financial barriers to essential, high-value clinical services while aligning payment with quality outcomes.
The newly enacted budget bill included a measure to implement VBID within Medicare Advantage and expand access to telehealth programs. Additionally, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in both chambers have jointly introduced legislation (S. 2410/H.R. 4978) allowing health savings accounts (in conjunction with high-deductible health plans) to cover certain chronic disease prevention prescription medications and services on a pre-deductible basis, as the Council has long recommended.
"We strongly support these efforts to address the real culprit in our health care system: rising costs," Klein said. The Council is one of only two employer groups (along with the
"Public- and private-sector initiatives that work to better align costs with quality are likely to be much more effective than efforts to eliminate the tax incentives for employer-provided health care," Klein said. "Such shortsighted proposals are based on the fallacy that people are 'over-insured.' In fact, a principal problem is the high unit cost of health services and the disconnect between the price and the value of many services," Klein said.
For more information on health policy matters, or to arrange an interview with Klein, contact
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