Fischer: Highmark not in favor of 'public option' : Lou Corsaro
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-08-24 14:21:34 | Word Count: 491
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is not in favor of the public option that has been championed by President Obama and many Democrats in the health care reform debate, but their chief medical officer says they are eager for many other things to change.
“We’re the only industrialized country ... that doesn’t have everyone covered,” said Dr. Donald R. Fischer, CMO and senior vice president of Integrated Clinical Services, speaking Friday to an audience in Downtown Pittsburgh.
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Fischer said it’s Highmark’s position that the public option is unnecessary and doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to properly support it. However, the company believes changes in the system are critical, with costs continuing to rise faster than the rate of inflation.
“There’s lots of waste in the system,” he said. “Those who are insured are paying for those who aren’t.”
Highmark estimates that, right now, $2,500 of a premium for a family of our goes to pay for business costs and the uninsured. And Highmark’s estimate for the amount of uninsured people in the U.S. is in the 47-50 million range, close to where the Obama administration puts it.
However, Fischer said it’s people in the middle income bracket that are increasingly uninsured.
“Those in poverty have access to health care,” he said.
Of the uninsured people in the U.S., Fischer said half are being effectively “squeezed out” for a variety of reasons, about 25 percent are opting out and the other quarter are missing out by being unaware of what’s available to them. Those opting out are commonly young males.
Fischer said Highmark believes the primary goals in improving the health care system should be eliminating barriers and allowing all to be covered, increase the quality of care and reducing costs. Part of the way to accomplish that, he said, is to create state-by-state health care exchanges, which would offer greater transparency and allow people to choose levels of care. The program would have to be statewide because each state has differences in regulations and what is covered.
In any case, Fischer said something needs to be done, as the average U.S. lifespan of 81 is five years younger than Japan, and the infant mortality rate is too high here.
“We don’t have a coordinated system that makes sure the right thing happens as a matter of course,” he said.
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