Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Health Issues In State Of The State Addresses
Minnesota: In his Feb. 13 speech, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said the state needs "to make health care more affordable." Pawlenty said discussions are under way among lawmakers, policymakers, health care stakeholders and his administration, adding that he is "hopeful that a bipartisan agreement will soon be reached to dramatically reform health care in Minnesota." He said the overhaul must include paying physicians for the quality of care they provide, rather than the number of procedures. The state also can "lower costs" by encouraging adoption of electronic health records, creating uniform billing procedures and managing chronic conditions, "which account for the vast majority of health care costs." Pawlenty continued, "As these cost containment strategies take hold, savings will be used to help hold down premiums," adding, "Some of the savings will also be used to extend health care insurance to more of the uninsured" (Pawlenty speech text, 2/13).
Wyoming: In his Feb. 11 speech, Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) announced his support for a "health care insurance pilot project" that would "help deal with the underlying costs" of health care "and improve the lives of Wyoming's working families." He said, "It is not intended as an expansion of coverage. What it constitutes is a public-private partnership among state government, working families and employers to restructure the current insurance model." Freudenthal said the "intent" of the program is "not to limit" the charges for high-cost procedures "but to limit the utilization of those procedures" by asking residents to "take greater responsibility for their own health and their own health care." He said the program "has an emphasis on personal responsibility and wellness" and "an emphasis on the prevention utilization." He added, "It also is intended to create a better informed health care purchasing decision matrix for people" in the program. Freudenthal said "that instead of embarking on ... a sort of broad universal coverage program which ultimately ends up ... bankrupt" or "very close to bankrupt," the state should start with a program that "focuses on taking people, informing them about proper health choices, encouraging those choices and then rewarding those choices by allowing them to participate in a catastrophic insurance program." He said the state expects to "reach 500 people on a pilot basis with the $1.29 million" allocated previously to enroll adults under Kid Care CHIP, the state's version of SCHIP (Freudenthal speech text, 2/11). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Kaiser Raport zilnic de politicã de sãnãtate în evidenþã în probleme de sãnãtate de stat membru de adrese - Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Health Issues In State Of The State Addresses - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate