NewsBetter Health Care Together

Video: BHCT Financing Health Care Forum

6/26/2008 12:18:00 PM

Click here to watch the video of our June 25th forum at the National Press club.

The forum focused on financing options to reduce health care costs and improve access.

You can download the full study discussed at the forum here.

Health Reform Debate Lacks Realistic Funding Model

6/25/2008 10:37:00 AM

Experts Consider Financing Options for Health System Change at Better Health Care Together Forum Today

Washington, DC (June 25) – Health reform is an imperative and financing changes could be the catalyst needed, according to non-partisan and bi-partisan policy experts along with business and union leaders at a Better Health Care Together forum today.

"Changing the way health care is financed could have a major impact on our health insurance system," according to the authors of a Bipartisan Policy Center study titled “Financing the U.S. Health System: Issues and Options for Change,” released at today's event. “New financing approaches could affect health spending in several ways, by changing where people get health insurance, the nature of the health coverage they buy, transparency and awareness of pricing, and the share of health spending borne by government.”

The study describes recently proposed approaches to finance health care including current financing and more effective health spending, rolling back high-income tax cuts, modifying the current tax exclusion for health benefits, a play-or-pay model, and a value-added tax. Their implications on individuals, employers, and the health system are explored.

Click here to read the complete analysis.

The study was authored by Meena Seshamani, Jeanne M. Lambrew, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress – also a member of Better Health Care Together; and Joseph R. Antos, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

BHCT Members Testify at Senate Committee on Finance Panel

6/17/2008 10:35:00 AM

Panel on “Trends in Employer Sponsored Health Coverage” at the “Prepare for Launch: Health Reform Summit 2008”

Washington, DC – Today, Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel Corporation and Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees Union International (SEIU), two members of Better Health Care Together (www.betterhealthcaretogether.org), testified at the Senate Committee on Finance’s event, “Prepare for Launch: Health Reform Summit 2008: Trends in Employer Sponsored Health Coverage.”

Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corporation, laid out a comprehensive approach to tackle the health care challenge from the perspective of a major employer. His testimony detailed his thoughts on modernizing communication in healthcare, changing the reimbursement model, the importance of wellness & prevention, and Dossia – the innovative non-profit organization initiated by a consortium of large US employers for the purpose of creating a national system to deliver lifelong, personal, private, and portable health records for their employees. Barrett also talked about the need for health IT solutions as well as the need for home based healthcare solutions.

Stated Barrett: “As Congress prepares for the critical debate on healthcare, employers will take market based actions as large consumers to drive patient-centered care based on outcomes, not numbers of visits, consultations, and institutional visits. We share healthcare responsibility with the government and agree that a collaborative approach is likely to yield the most fruit. But let’s agree on the problem we want to solve, the roadmap to get there and how to channel the national passion toward real improvements in the health and lives of our citizens,” he concluded.

Andy Stern, President of SEIU, spoke about the work SEIU’s to educate elected leaders on the importance and necessity of fixing our broken health care system. He outlined the imperative to fix health care for the future, from the perspective of the employee.

Stern said, “In 2009, Congress has a clear choice to make. You must decide to make fixing health care a top priority and an urgent priority. The effort must be bipartisan, with the kind of leadership that was demonstrated in the “No Child Left Behind” law. It must be incorporated into your budget and chosen over expiring tax cuts for the wealthy. You must resist the pressure to legislate every detail.

Click here to download Andy Stern's full statement.
Click here to download Craig Barrett's full statement.

BHCT's Financing Health Care Forum

6/13/2008 2:53:00 PM

PLEASE JOIN US:

Financing Health Care Forum
Moderated by: Laurie McGinley, Wall Street Journal

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
When: 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Where: National Press Club, The Zenger Room
_________________________________________________________

Forum sponsored by:

Better Health Care Together

This forum will focus on financing options to reduce health care costs and improve access. A paper on financing options will be presented and discussed by the current and former directors of the Congressional Budget Office and health policy experts from business, labor, and think tanks.

There is no charge for this event.
_______________________________________________________

Introduction:

MARK McCLELLAN, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform

CHRIS JENNINGS, Jennings Policy Strategies

Paper Presented by:

JEANNE LAMBREW, Center for American Progress

JOSEPH ANTOS, American Enterprise Institute

MEENA SESHAMANI, Johns Hopkins University

Panelists:

PETER R. ORSZAG, Ph.D., Director, Congressional Budget Office

ROBERT D. REISCHAUER, Ph.D., President, the Urban Institute

STUART M. BUTLER, Ph.D., Vice President, Domestic and Economic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation

ELLEN BLACKLER, Executive Director, Public Policy, AT&T Services Inc.

LOUISE NOVOTNY, Research Director, Communications Workers of America
________________________________________________________

Please RSVP to: ExecDirector@betterhealthcaretogether.org
Click here to download a .pdf version of the invitation.

Politico: A 2008 Campaign Flash Point

6/10/2008 11:33:00 AM

By: Jeanne Cummings
June 10, 2008
URL: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10965.html

Beyond the war in Iraq, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have another big disagreement: how to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

Obama offers a plan that seeks to transform the way chronic diseases are managed to reduce costs, requires insurance coverage for children and opens up the private health plans used by federal employees to those who can’t get coverage elsewhere.

McCain’s plan is equally ambitious but veers in a decidedly different direction. His long-term goal is to decouple health insurance and the job market. He won’t ban employer-based coverage, but he wants to give people tax breaks to purchase their own health insurance, which would follow them from job to job or provide coverage to those who stay at home.

The emergence of health care as a major presidential campaign talking point marks a striking comeback for an issue deemed politically radioactive for more than a decade.

It’s a second act won in part by the rising cost of care; the aging — and diminishing health — of our society; and a heckuva lot of hard work and ground grading by scores of people, some of whom stood against each other during the last big health care debate.

In recent years, more than a half-dozen deep-pocketed, big-name coalitions have been formed to push health care back onto the national agenda in Congress and in the White House.

Among them are:

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases, which has spent the past year meeting with presidential candidates’ advisers to offer policy ideas for overhauling the health care system. The partnership has broad industry backing and is bipartisan — its two leaders are Ken Thorpe, a former Clinton White House adviser, and Mark McClellan, a former Bush White House health official.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, founded by former Senate leaders Bob Dole of Kansas, Howard Baker of Tennessee, Tom Daschle of South Dakota and George Mitchell of Maine — two Republicans and two Democrats, respectively — to develop bipartisan solutions to health care and other issues. It could be a key player in trying to bridge the partisan differences on Capitol Hill.

Better Health Care Together, which joins labor unions with business partners such as Wal-Mart and AT&T.

The Partnership for Quality Care, which is an association of health care providers and labor unions, and combines the strength and brainpower of management and workers.

The Health Care Coalition for the Uninsured, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AARP, hospitals, insurers and drug makers. The group worked hard last year on children’s health insurance and is now being revived for next year’s battle.

The Coalition to Advance Health Care Reform, an association of 50 business leaders who are advocating for market-based changes.

Divided We Fail, formed by unlikely allies AARP, the Service Employees International Union, the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Business. The group has also tapped Hollywood to recruit marquee names to urge federal action.

The work of these organizations is supplemented by many other more specialized groups, ranging from the Campaign for Children’s Health Care to the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association to hospital and physician organizations.

Ezra Klein: More Americans Fear Losing Their Health Insurance Than Being in a Terrorist Attack

5/21/2008 10:00:00 AM

By Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
Posted on May 21, 2008, Printed on May 21, 2008
URL: http://www.alternet.org/story/85947/

If health insurance were cheap, we could all buy it. If universal health care could get 60 votes in the Senate, we'd all have it. But these two imperatives -- the need to control costs and the need to attract the 60 Senate votes required to overcome a filibuster -- point in opposite directions. This is the central paradox of health reform.

The most intractable policy problem is not, fundamentally, the 47 million uninsured or the fact that insurers have a business model right out of Dickens. It's cost. In 2006, the average family policy cost $13,600. This is why one out of six Americans are uninsured; they can't afford the premiums. An October 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that more Americans were "very worried" about being priced out of their health insurance than feared losing their job, their house, or being in a terrorist attack. And with good reason: Premiums have gone up 98 percent since 2000. Wages have not.

Corporate America's outlook is similarly grim. Better Health Care Together, a health-reform coalition that includes Intel, Wal-Mart, and General Mills, recently issued a report, Health-Cost Crossroad: Why American Businesses Urgently Need Health Care Reform. The paper warns that "health care cost growth threatens businesses, workers, and the overall health of the American economy," and frets that "if trends continue, health benefit costs will exceed profits in Fortune 500 companies in 2008."

Video: BHCT's Healt-Cost Crossroad Event in Wisconsin

5/12/2008 6:04:00 PM

WisEye.org has just posted video from our recent health care summit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

You can watch it, or listen to it, by clicking here.

Wisconsin Politics: Ryan, Lawton talk health care at forum

5/9/2008 1:42:00 PM

By Samantha Hernandez
4/25/2008
URL: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=124568

MILWAUKEE -- U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, said today that he will introduce legislation to bring more transparency to the health care system and allow it to evolve with the market.

“I think a government-centered system is a wrong approach,” Ryan said during a panel discussion on health care reform that focused on the direction of the industry in Wisconsin.

He went on to say that the next five years will determine where the country goes with health care and that the current system is built for inflation.

“The reason you see an incredible markup is because they can,” Ryan said. He wants patients to be the nucleus of the system.

Ryan gave opening remarks at the forum, which included one panel discussion on a business perspective on the need for health care reform and a second from a policy perspective. It was sponsored by Better Health Care Together, a national coalition of major U.S. corporations, labor unions, non-profit organizations and other groups trying to build momentum for a new health care system in America by 2012.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Broad coalition decries health care dysfunction

5/9/2008 1:23:00 PM

Corporations, unions brainstorm on reform ideas

By GUY BOULTON
gboulton@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 25, 2008
URL: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=743844

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the Service Employees International Union aren't likely allies. Nor are AT&T Inc. and the Communication Workers of America.

They are all among members of Better Health Care Together, a coalition formed to build support for significant, structural reform of the health care system.

"We can't fix something like this by playing around the fringes," said Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower Inc., a coalition member.

The coalition held what it billed as a "regional discussion" Friday at Manpower's corporate headquarters in Milwaukee.

What was striking about the coalition is its members, and their apparent willingness to talk - and even listen - to each other.

"We don't always agree with one another," said Mary Kay Henry, executive vice president of the SEIU. "But we know we are never going to solve this problem until we sit down and work it out."

BHCT Issue Brief: Health-Cost Crossroad - Wisconsin

4/25/2008 4:05:00 PM

Why American Businesses Urgently Need to Fix the Health System

Our latest issue brief describes how the problems in the health system affect U.S. businesses; how this situation affects workers and families; and why a fix is needed by 2012. It also includes a Spotlight on Wisconsin, highlighting the State’s unique strengths and challenges.

Click here to download the full issue brief.

Better Health Care Together Coalition Names Health Care Expert Jody Hoffman as Executive Director

4/2/2008 2:24:00 PM

April 2, Washington, DC — Better Health Care Together (BHCT) today announced Jody Hoffman as the Executive Director of this diverse coalition dedicated to urging public leaders to build a new American health care system by the year 2012.

Hoffman is currently a Principal with Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates, one of the oldest government relations firms in Washington, D.C. She will continue to lead their health care practice while expanding Better Health Care Together (www.betterhealthcaretogether.org) with her in-depth knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid financing, reimbursement and systems organization.

“With a health care policy expert like Jody Hoffman at the helm, Better Health Care Together is poised to be a driving force in the movement to change our nation’s health care system,” said Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “The time is now to address this problem, and Jody can help make it happen.”

"We are delighted to welcome a person of Jody Hoffman's experience and stature to the Better Health Care Together team," said Carl Camden, President and CEO of Kelly Services. "With her help, Better Health Care Together will continue to work aggressively for fundamental reform of our health care system."

“The unique nature and leadership of BHCT, a group of entities from diverse perspectives, rather than traditionally aligned entities, will help transform the nature of the health reform debate. It’s what we need if we are going to achieve real change," said Jody Hoffman.

BHCT Issue Brief: Health-Cost Crossroad - Oregon

3/12/2008 4:18:00 PM

Better Health Care Together, Intel and Oregon Health Forum Host Discussion Aimed At Overhauling Ailing Health Care System

BHCT Releases Report Demonstrating Urgent Need to Act Quickly

Portland, OR – In Portland, Oregon, today, the Oregon Health Forum and Intel hosted the second in a series of Better Health Care Together (BHCT) regional discussions on how to fix the nation’s health care system. As part of the event, the Better Health Care Together coalition released a report, “Health-Cost Crossroad: Why American Businesses Urgently Need Health System Reform,” which found that by 2012, if trends persist, the number of uninsured will climb by 7 million and the costs businesses pay for benefits will rise by 55 percent.

The report also included a “Spotlight on Oregon,” highlighting the fact that although Oregon has been a leader in health care policy, like the rest of the nation, health costs consume an increasing portion of Oregon businesses’ revenues and wages and the percentage of Oregonians without coverage continues to increase.

Click here to read the press release.
Click here to download the full issue brief.

League of United Latin American Citizens Joins BHCT

3/5/2008 9:54:00 AM

LULAC Joins Better Health Care Together Coalition to Advocate for a New American Health Care System

(Washington, DC)-- Better Health Care Together (BHCT) today announced that The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has joined its coalition and will participate in their efforts to fix the nation’s broken health system. They are the newest addition to the diverse coalition of concerned leaders from the business, labor, and public policy sectors dedicated to urging public leaders to build a new American health care system by the year 2012.

“Because of the disproportionate number of Hispanics who are uninsured and under-insured, LULAC strongly urges a health care coverage plan that insures all people in an equitable manner,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “With a population of 46 million, it is vital to urge greater awareness among health care providers of the disparities in the health care system. Hispanic patients should not have to choose between purchasing groceries or buying medication. LULAC also advocates for patient education programs to increase patients’ knowledge about diseases disproportionately affecting Latinos such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s and AIDS, but also how to find the best health care and participate in the treatment process.”

“We are excited that LULAC has joined Better Health Care Together, and we look forward to the valuable contributions they will bring to the coalition, as we continue to work toward the common goal of ensuring that all Americans have affordable health care," said Linda Dillman, executive vice president of benefits and risk management for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Retailer to open walk-in clinics

2/8/2008 4:59:00 PM

BY TOBY MANTHEY AND STEVE PAINTER
Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/216169/

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday it plans to open walk-in medical clinics under the name The Clinic at Wal-Mart in cooperation with local hospitals and the national RediClinic LLC chain to provide immediate care for patients with common ailments.

The first of the clinics, to be housed in the retailer’s supercenters, are expected to open in Little Rock and Atlanta in April. The four Little Rock clinics will be operated in partnership with St. Vincent Health System, a part of the Catholic Health Care Initiatives system.

The move is the Bentonville-based retailer’s latest effort to play a role in changing the nation’s health-care system, as well as create greater efficiency and bring down costs.

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Wal-Mart backs health-care quest

2/5/2008 10:21:00 AM

BY CHARLOTTE TUBBS
Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/213431/

Wal-Mart said Friday it wants to work with government, business and labor groups to change the country’s health-care system.
The Bentonville-based retailer hosted the first regional meeting Friday of Better Health Care Together, a coalition formed last year which includes Wal-Mart, labor unions, other corporations, a think tank and a public policy center.

In addition to U. S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both Democrats from Arkansas, approximately 150 business leaders, state agency administrators, educators and others attended the event at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.

Wal-Mart has been criticized for its health benefits, which critics said were unaffordable for Wal-Mart employees. In 2005, Wal-Mart introduced a less expensive health insurance plan.

More than 90 percent of Wal-Mart employees are now covered by the company’s health insurance or by other plans. Joe Quinn, director of state healthcare policy for Wal-Mart, would not say what percentage of the retailer’s employees have their health insurance through Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart also now offers generic prescriptions for $ 4 both to its employees and to customers, and has begun leasing space to medical clinics in some of its stores.

Video: "Better Health Care Together" Tries To Counter High Health Care Costs

2/5/2008 8:33:00 AM

Lindsey Clark, Online Producer , KTHV - Little Rock, AR
Created: 1/11/2008 10:33:50 PM

Four trillion dollars by 2015, that's how much the National Coalition on Health Care estimates the U.S. will spend.

Countering those high costs is one reason U.S. senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, along with business and health care advocates, gathered Friday at the Clinton Library.

Wal-Mart hosted the "Better Health Care Together" event in an effort to make it more affordable and accessible.

This regional discussion is a part of a national initiative started last year to change health care for the nation.

Click here to watch the video from the event at KTHV's website.

Pryor, Lincoln call for health-care overhaul at forum (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

2/5/2008 8:27:00 AM

By ANDREW DeMILLO Friday, January 11, 2008

LITTLE ROCK - Whoever is elected the next president will have overwhelming support to reform the nation's health-care system because of an increasing demand from the public, Sen. Mark Pryor said Friday.
"I think health care, for a politician who's running for president, is almost an irresistible issue because it interconnects with so many different aspects of life in America today," Pryor, D-Ark., said at a forum at the Clinton Presidential Library. "Whoever wins the presidency and gets sworn in a year from now, that person will come in with a sense of mandate when it comes to health care."

Pryor and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., both called for an overhaul of the nation's health-care system during a daylong forum sponsored by a coalition of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., other large U.S. employers, and business leaders. The Better Health Care Together coalition also includes the Service Employees International Union, AT&T, Intel Corp. and General Mills Inc.

The coalition is not pushing specific policies, but is calling for "quality, affordable" health care for every American by 2012.
"If you're here, you recognize (that), although it's a system that many envy and a system that many aspire to be like, it's not a system that I think many of us would agree is perfect. It has a ways to go," said John Agwunobi, senior vice president and president of Wal-Mart's professional services division.

Lincoln said that any health-care reform should include insurance programs that currently exist. Requiring companies to provide coverage raises questions, he said.

"When you mandate coverage ... you have to make sure that it's affordable," Lincoln said. "Just mandating it doesn't solve the problem. We still have the secondary issue of 'How do you make that happen?'"

A service of the Associated Press (AP)

BHCT Issue Brief: Health-Cost Crossroad - Arkansas

1/11/2008 12:59:00 PM

Wal-Mart Hosts First Better Health Care Together Regional Event with U.S. Senators Lincoln & Pryor
Discussion Focused on Reforming Health Care in America

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., January 11, 2008 -- Today, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) hosted the first Better Health Care Together regional discussion on national health care reform in Little Rock, Arkansas. As part of the event, held at the Clinton Presidential Library, the Better Health Care Together coalition released a report, “Health-Cost Crossroad: Why American Businesses Urgently Need Health System Reform.” The report found that by 2012, if trends persist, the number of uninsured will climb by 7 million and the costs businesses pay for benefits will rise by 55 percent. It also included a “Spotlight on Arkansas,” highlighting reductions in obesity and increases in immunizations. However, in spite of these improvements and a promising economic outlook, the state’s overall health condition continues to decline.

Click here to read the press release.
Click here to download the full issue brief.

BHCT Member Organization, Wal-Mart, Donates $2 Million to Medical Center

10/30/2007 3:39:00 PM

Medical center’s tech boosted by $2 million Wal-Mart donation

BY TRISH HOLLENBECK Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Washington Regional Medical Center has received a $ 2 million contribution from the Wal-Mart Foundation to support technology advancements and associated quality improvement initiatives in its new electronic medical records system.

The announcement was made Monday morning at the Fayetteville hospital during a check presentation by Linda Dillman, executive vice president of benefits, risk management and sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

She presented the check to Bill Bradley, president and CEO of the medical center.

Washington Regional is nearing the completion of an $ 8 million clinical information system to support the development of an electronic medical record system. As a result, the hospital has become one the first in the nation to feature realtime patient data streaming from a patient’s bedside and sounding an alert if a change in condition warrants a rapid response.

Bradley said Washington Regional ranks in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationally with its level of implemented clinical information systems.

“We are clearly saving more lives,” he said, adding that the hospital is delivering health care more effectively and efficiently as a result of the investment.

SEIU's Andy Stern and Dennis Rivera Named Two of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare Today

8/27/2007 9:13:00 AM

Modern Healthcare Online names Stern and Rivera #5 and #6 respectively in sixth annual top 100 list.

BHCT member organization, SEIU, just had two of their officials named to the top 100 Most Powerful in Healthcare Today list put out by Modern Healthcare.

Here are a few excerpts from the announcement article:

“We are at a unique moment in history for change in our healthcare system,” says Andy Stern, president of the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union, and No. 5 in this year’s readers’ poll. “I think those of us willing to be both forceful advocates and also good partners are now creating the environment to finally solve this problem.”

Dennis Rivera who was president of Local 1199 of the SEIU in New York until recently taking the chairmanship of a new national healthcare union within the SEIU, debuts at No. 6, right behind his boss, Stern, who squeezed onto the list last year at No. 99.

Rivera does not register surprise at his strong showing, noting that SEIU Healthcare boasts 1.1 million members, including 84,000 nurses and 12,000 doctors. Working with a budget topping more than $500 million, SEIU Healthcare has earmarked more than $100 million to organize workers and is poised to embark on a political action fund drive to collect more than $40 million over the next two years, he says.

Echoing one of this year’s major themes in regard to coalition-building, Rivera notes that SEIU Healthcare is actively working with the most unlikely of partners—employers—to advocate for the adoption of a national healthcare plan. “I think that there is ferment in this country that we need to change the healthcare system—that we need to fix it,” Rivera says.

“I think there is a moment of change in healthcare that is being accelerated by new partnerships,” Stern says, highlighting the Divided We Fail partnership that the union has undertaken with the AARP and the Business Roundtable to spark action in healthcare. The SEIU has also teamed up with large employers such as AT&T, Intel Corp. and Wal-Mart—organizations the union has tangled with before—to address the issue of healthcare reform. “This is different from 1993 when (healthcare reform) was strictly a moral issue. Now it is a moral and economic issue. I think that has increased the chances for success,” Stern says.

Click here to read the whole article.

Click here to see the entire top 100 list.