Blog
Business Health Forum Closure
Since its inception in the spring of 2007, the Business Health Forum has focused on educating and engaging Colorado employers on the issues and policies of health care reform at the state and national level. Through the efforts of its staff and Board, the goal of BHF has been to engage the business community in discussion and connect employers with decision-makers, practical solutions and each other, while at the same time bringing the employer perspective to many audiences.
Over the past 3 years BHF has presented over 70 interactive programs reaching more than 2000 participants throughout the state of Colorado. We've been a vital business voice in statewide coalitions affecting healthcare reform such as the Colorado Voices for Coverage, Partnership for Healthy Colorado, All Kids Covered, and the Tobacco Cessation and Sustainability Partnership.
The Board of Directors of the Business Health Forum has decided that the time is right to recognize BHF's contributions to the evolving health care reform movement and step aside to allow other organizations to continue to engage employers in the debate.
BHF has established a strong foundation through sharing the business perspective among a variety of stakeholders. We trust that employers can now more effectively utilize existing pathways and organizations to reach legislators and decision-makers to impact health reform at both the state and national level.
We strongly encourage you to remain involved in the health care reform movement. There are a number of organizations that are working with the business community and changing the way health care is financed and delivered in Colorado and nationally. Two such organizations here in Colorado are the Colorado Business Group on Health and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care. We suggest you become involved with and support these organizations or others which align with your views on how to create a sustainable health care system.
Finally, on behalf of the Business Health Forum's Board of Directors, I invite you to join us in expressing your appreciation to the management and staff of the organization for their hard work and dedication to the mission of the Business Health Forum. As new chapters unfold in health reform efforts, these tremendous individuals will move on to further successful efforts that I am sure will continue to have positive impact on our community.
Best regards,
Ann Brown
Board Chair,
Business Health Forum
Something Does Not Add Up
The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, an affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, recently released its annual report “Toward a More Competitive Colorado.” Though the report has many competitive health and economic indicators Coloradans should be quite proud of, the bad news, according to Metro Denver EDC, is that the tide is turning:
Our citizens are becoming poorer, less educated, and less productive; our long-term economic prospects are certainly dimming. While there are many bright spots in our analysis, it appears that we are now at the end of the investments we made in our state in the late 1980s after the oil shale bust and the Dot.com economic boom at the turn of the century when Colorado’s tax coffers benefited from a robust and growing economy.
Colorado’s investment in public education ranks toward the bottom. Graduation rates are slipping, and the percentage of family income necessary to pay for a public college is increasing. Federal Highway funding per capita is seventh lowest in the nation.
In order to remain a competitive state - attracting and retaining the best and brightest individuals and businesses - Colorado will need to consider reallocating funds and increase revenue. Reallocation is tricky. Just ask any legislator trying to navigate our complex constitutional budget constraints. On top of that, we’re again facing large budget deficits, forcing legislators to consider cuts in areas such as higher education, road repairs and Medicaid provider fees. By the way, Medicaid enrollment hit record levels this year.
It is against this backdrop that three ballot initiatives have been introduced that would severely limit public investment in Colorado’s future. Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61 would reduce state income taxes, disallow government debt for capital investments, limit local property tax revenue, eliminate many taxes and fees, and reduce motor vehicle fees to the point that they would not even pay for themselves.
Ballot initiative supporters argue that we should clean up government waste and inefficiency. Opponents fear Colorado is at a point where reducing state and local revenue will mean vital services - road repairs, emergency response, classroom teachers and safety net programs will be cut. They say the citizens - not the government - will suffer. In a state where much policy is decided on the ballot, the question is whether people truly take the time to understand the consequences of the initiatives they sign petitions or vote for when presented with simple sound bites packaging complex policies.
Colorado Matters (11/30/09): Tom Clark, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
Pueblo Chieftain: Three initiatives target state finances
Denver Post: Two tax-slashing measures make Colorado Ballot
Colorado Springs Gazette: Trio of anti-government ballot measures go too far, critics charge
Proposition 101 (formerly Initiative 10)
Amendment 60 (formerly Initiative 12)
Amendment 61 (formerly Initiative 21)
7th highest health premiums
According to the same Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation report Toward a More Competitive Colorado, though Colorado boasts the lowest obesity rates in the country and some of the fewest heart disease, cancer and diabetes-related deaths, we have the seventh highest health insurance rates in the country. Now there’s a topic worthy of more exploration...
Denver Business Journal: Colorado may be healthy, but its insurance is pricey
Colorado Legislators Draft Health Care Bills
At last week’s Colorado Voices for Coverage annual conference Senator Linda Newell and Representative Mark Ferrandino spoke about bills they plan to carry regarding Colorado’s health care system. Newell’s proposals include creating incentives to attract a corps of health service professionals to rural Colorado, automatic enrollment in Medicaid and CHP+ via the state tax form, and improving child welfare programs. Ferrandino’s bill would create an all-payers claims database to collect claim data and compare what providers are paid for their services.
Colorado Independent: Newell, Ferrandino outline health reform proposals
Senate to vote Saturday - Review the bills
The Senate is set to vote tomorrow (Saturday) on its version of health care reform. Assuming it passes, the House and Senate bills would then go to conference to work out the differences.
National Public Radio provides a quick overview comparing key components of each bill and rates the likelihood of each one remaining in the final version based on current areas of agreement between the two bills.
Consumer Tool for Purchasing Health Care
As the details of federal health care reform continue to unfold, twist and turn - many with implementation dates of 2013 (sausage making is a slow process), many employers and individuals find themselves reviewing health plan renewals right now. With this in mind, we've identified a tool to help consumers - employers, families and individuals - achieve a little health care reform on a personal level.
Colorado Health Matters Quality Report 2009, released this month, can help consumers make informed decisions about the quality of their health plans and health care providers. Consumers can review customer satisfaction ratings and quality data on Colorado health plans. Page 16 offers a worksheet for consumers to compare health plans. The report also contains Colorado hospital and doctor quality measurements, as well as a wealth of consumer resources on health care topics.
Health Matters is published annually by the Colorado Business Group on Health, an employer membership organization striving to empower purchasers of health care to demand quality products. To receive a printed copy of the report, please contact Donna Marshall, executive director at 303-922-0939, or download a complimentary copy at www.coloradohealthonline.org.
Business Roundtable Report Says Right Reforms Will Save Money
The Business Roundtable released a report Thursday quantifying which aspects of health reform should save costs and which could increase costs in the long run. Supporters of health care reform legislation are touting the report's recommendations already incorporated into current federal proposals.
From the Wall Street Journal:
...without changes to the current U.S. health-care system, costs would rise to $28,530 per employee. But the "right legislative reforms" would reduce those costs by more than $3,000 per employee, according to the report.
Health care reform would benefit Colorado's economy
Colorado's economy stands to benefit from health reform, economists told a sold-out crowd gathered at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce's annual Health Care Policy luncheon in Denver today. The Colorado business community was then called upon to lead the charge in health care reform. According to the authors of a new study, The Future of Colorado Health Care, "failing to enact health reform in Colorado will lead to higher health care costs, more uninsured Coloradans, and higher spending, especially by businesses."
A preview of the study, an economic analysis of health care reform and the impact on Colorado's economy was released today. Conducted by the New America Foundation and the University of Denver's Center for Colorado's Economic Future, the study was commissioned by the Colorado Health Foundation and The Colorado Trust to examine the economic impact of the recommendations put forth by Colorado's Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform (208 Commission) versus the impact of doing nothing.
Len Nichols, PhD, New America Foundation Health Policy Program Director, presented economic analysis of the impact of increasing health insurance coverage in Colorado and financing that increased coverage. Nichols acknowledges that making health care accessible to all comes with a cost, but argues that the net effect of taxing ourselves now and creating a health care system based on value is more cost-effective than accepting the ongoing increases of health premiums in our current system. Estimates project that by 2016 health premiums will eat up 30-39% of the median Colorado family's income if we continue on the current path. Most would agree this trajectory is unsustainable.
Nichols bluntly told the crowd of business people that real reform requires leadership from the business community. As business leaders, we need to accept that the current system will collapse and that it will take a shared investment to fix it. We can put pressure on the health insurance and delivery system and proclaim that we cannot afford to do business as usual. Meaningful reform, in his mind, will require building information infrastructure to share patient and best-practices data, incentives for quality care, and strong leadership.
Related:
"Study: Without health reform, Colorado business will face climbing costs," Denver Business Journal
DUTCH HEALTH MINISTER FINDS U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM LESS COMPETITIVE
The NY Times today features a conversation with Ab Klink, Dutch health minister. As his own country is looking at ways to increase competition within its insurance and hospital markets, he was surprised to find an apparent lack of competition and choices within the U.S. health care system. He argues that public programs restrict patient choices, as does the fact that so many citizens rely on an employer to choose a health plan for them.
Do the math
Since much of the impetus for health care reform is affordability - or lack thereof, our attention this week focuses on the numbers. First we point to a consumer tool that projects what health premiums will cost under various health care proposals. Second, we point you to a study on broad policy recommendations that might help bend the cost curve.
Health Reform Subsidy Calculator
Created by the Kaiser Family Foundation, this online tool lets you see projected premiums and subsidies based on different income scenarios under the House, Senate Finance Committee and Senate HELP Committee health reform proposals (updated as of 10/30/09).
Robert Wood Johnson's Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization Policy Brief - Geographic Variation and Health Care Cost Growth: Research to Inform a Complex Diagnosis resulted from a meeting convened by AcademyHealth. It examines the factors driving costs in the health care system and presents policy levers the participating experts believe would help rein in spending. Policy recommendations:
- Certificate of need laws requiring health care providers seek approval before adding new facilities, technology, or services.
- Policies that increase health plan bargaining power for technologies, services, drugs, etc.
- Price adjustments that align physician services and technology prices to accurately reflect the cost and eliminate incentives.
- Utilization review requiring beneficiaries get approval for select procedures prior to service.
- Value based insurance plan design to encourage a shift from low value to high value health plans.