Sullivan: Health care at a crossroads
One would let states take federal funds and design their own systems. The other would get rid of private insurance and put all American health care into the hands of a government program, Sullivan said, making his statements via video at State of Reform, a one-day conference at the Dena'ina
The conference brought about 500 professionals together, focused on a series of discussions about health care policy, reform and managing costs.
"Along with Sen.
The repeal and replace debate over the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, is a dormant discussion for now, Sullivan said. Four different versions -- from the American Health Care Act to the Better Care Reconciliation Act to the Skinny Repeal and the Graham-Cassidy Bill -- failed to pass by the
One example of how that works came as a suggestion from
"He asked why not de-couple treatment from the Medicaid expansion?" Sullivan said. "I took that idea back and worked on it with key senators. We ended up adding
While predicting no further bills amending the ACA this year, Sullivan encouraged professionals to keep the ideas coming from trouble-shooting problem areas.
"The best ideas come from the people in the room," he said.
The resignation of Health and Human Secretary
Former Secretary of HHS Price, along with
Moderator DJ Wilson asked Sullivan how his views on fixing or replacing the ACA differed from Sen.
But Sullivan said the two had worked together daily, "if not hourly," on legislation impacting
"I'm not going to grade my colleague. We wanted to work (the bill) and didn't talk to the press," Sullivan said.
Sound bites in media reports quoting
"Many of those who would 'lose' their coverage were people who, if given a choice without the individual mandate, wouldn't chose to get insurance," Sullivan said. "But those nuances were rarely analyzed. In the end, we didn't have enough data and we didn't have enough time."
Health care as an economic force
In a discussion of health care's impact on the
Increasing benefits in health care causes a decline in real wages for employees across the
"Medical tourism" takes patients out of
But
But as the retirement age demographic continues to increase, Popp posed the question of whether the job market will be able to attract enough professionals to fill all the needed jobs.
"Are we going to be able to meet the demands of the future? There are labor shortages in our city," Popp said.
Medical staff is heavily recruited from outside, and while the economic impact of good paying physician and nursing jobs is a boon to the state economy, caregiving and support work at the other end shows depressed wages and low pay.
But like
"Any contracting will cause pain because those federal dollars will go away," Popp said, noting that the bottom line is the trend of increasing health care jobs will continue. "Just not the sharp rise of the past."
State budget crisis
A keynote panel assembled at lunch discussed questions about how to fix the intertwined health care and fiscal challenges facing
Thayer advocated a three-part attack on
"Oil companies had their taxes changed three times, three years in a row," Thayer said.
Giessel talked about the need for transparency in medical billing. Doctors are getting rich off the system, she said.
"I don't mind a physician who owns an airplane but three airplanes and a helicopter?" she said.
As a medical professional herself, Giessel said she would like to target patient incentives on the front end through wellness care in order to lower the number of Alaskans who consume most of the medical care through bad health.
All of them noted the state's fiscal crisis is linked to the high cost of providing health care to its employees and retirees, and about a third of the state budget goes to health care overall, Gara noted. On the other hand, federal dollars are helping the state by paying for Medicaid expansion that enables more to have coverage, he added.
But employers are still the largest buyers of health care in the country, said Merriman. Employers need to demand more value for their dollars through a more transparent system.
Policy makers are pinning no small amount of hope on bills afoot in the
House Bill 123, sponsored by Rep. Ivy Spohnholz D-
Thayer predicted that in five years, the current ACA won't exist because of amendments and reforms. In the meantime, individual businesses are struggling and demanding changes.
There's more work to be done on the state spending level by renegotiating contracts with public employees, Thayer said. During his tenure at the
"That's a social engagement with your dentist and might not be the best way to use funding," he said.
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