Health Care Stakeholders Weigh In On the Obama Budget

By Clive Riddle, February 27, 2009

So how do some key stakeholders view the health care implications of President Obama’s FY 2010 budget?

AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) applauds the health care agenda, sort of. As the voice of the health plan industry, AHIP is compelled register very deep concerns over cutting Medicare Advantage payments to plans. Will we return to the Medicare health plan market withdrawals of a decade ago? Karen Ignagni, AHIP President, states:

“We have strongly supported recent efforts by the Administration and Congress to strengthen the health care safety net, expand coverage for kids, conduct comparative effectiveness research, and invest in health information technology. Our Board of Directors has offered a comprehensive proposal that starts with us playing a leadership role in advocating for market reforms and addresses the core issues of cost, access, and quality. Health plans will continue to be constructive participants in the health care reform discussion. We recognize that to achieve reform of this magnitude, every stakeholder group will be expected to contribute and will be challenged to innovate, perform better, and be held accountable for results.“As policymakers evaluate the entire Medicare program, including Medicare Advantage, as part of health care reform, it is vital that seniors continue to have access to the benefits and services they rely on. Medicare Advantage plans provide care coordination, disease management, and prevention programs for seniors and reward clinicians for delivering quality care to patients. Unfortunately, this proposal would force seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage to fund a disproportionate share of the costs to reform the health care system. A cut of this scale would jeopardize the health security of more than ten million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage and would turn back the clock on innovative payment incentives to improve the quality of care that patients receive.”

The AHA (American Hospital Association) commends the President, sort of. They are quite concerned that “half of the reserve fund would come from savings in health care programs, including proposals to bundle Medicare payments for hospital and post-acute care ($17.84 billion in savings), reduce payments to hospitals with certain readmission rates ($8.43 billion), and link a portion of inpatient hospital payment to performance on specific quality measures ($12.09 billion). The budget outline also cites the need to address physician self-referral to facilities in which they have a financial interest."

AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock states, "We commend President Obama for making health reform a top priority in his budget blueprint. However, we are concerned about any cuts that would affect the work hospitals do for their communities during this economic downturn. We remain ready to work with the president and Congress to strengthen health care in America."

The AMA (American Medical Association) offers applause without the reservations in bold print. They like the rollback of planned physician Medicare payment cuts. Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, President, American Medical Association states “President Obama’s budget proposal takes a huge step forward to ensure that physicians can care for seniors by rejecting planned Medicare physician payment cuts of 40 percent over the next decade. Looming widespread physician shortages coupled with aging baby boomers highlight the urgent need for permanent Medicare physician payment system reform to preserve seniors’ access to health care. “The AMA is committed to working with the administration and Congress to develop reforms that will reward and preserve access to high-quality care for seniors and all Americans.”

AARP (the Amer) not only applauded the budget, but now tells Congress to step up and act on it. AARP CEO Bill Novelli states “We are making it clear to our leaders that they need to work with the president in a bipartisan fashion to complete the plan for reform and finance reform in a fiscally—and morally—responsible way. They must make sure that any savings from Medicare and Medicaid are dedicated to reforms that strengthen the quality, efficiency and performance of our health care system, including these critical lifeline programs.”

AARP also announced key priorities to be included in health reform legislation in 2009, including: Making affordable health care coverage options available to everyone, especially people ages 50-64 who are among the fastest growing group of uninsured; Keeping Medicare affordable by rewarding doctors and hospitals for quality rather than the quantity of care; Promoting prevention and healthy behaviors; Eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; and Improving care coordination for people with chronic conditions and helping them stay in their homes and out of institutions.

The National Business Group on Health is pleased and concerned: they are “very pleased to see such emphasis on making health care affordable for all American” but don’t like new taxes and Medicare Advantage cuts.

Helen Darling, President of the National Business Group on Health states "with respect to proposed financing schemes for health reform, we have concerns that the funding mechanism could be subject to constant political pressures. The proposed 10-year $634 billion health-care fund - paid for through new taxes and particularly cuts to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries - approximates the annual portion of health spending that is estimated to be wasteful, redundant, or even harmful. We believe there are other ample opportunities to reduce costs through eliminating overuse of services, preventing serious adverse avoidable medical errors, and combating waste. As legislation is crafted in the coming months, we strongly encourage policymakers to look at the root causes of higher health care costs and use health reform as an opportunity to make lasting structural reforms - many of which have been discussed previously by both the President and congressional leadership - that will yield long-term savings and improve patient care and safety."

So, what does your spokesperson have to say about the ten year $634 billion health care fund, and the budget?