3rd Annual World Health Care Congress convenes in Washington, DC to discuss

current state and future challenges of health care in the US

    WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- President Bush, in his videotaped
 address, spoke of the success his administration has had in making health
 care reform more of a consumer-driven issue through Health Savings
 Accounts. President Bush said, "Over the past year the number of Health
 Savings Account owners has tripled from 1 million to 3 million." The Bush
 administration is turning health care into a consumer-controlled industry
 by putting doctors and patients in charge of their health. Immediately
 following, a very lively debate ensued between Senator David Durenberger
 (R-MN) and Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) regarding the current
 administration's health care proposal.
     The 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress held in Washington, DC this
 week brought together executives, academics and politicians in order to
 find solutions to the challenges that face America's health care in the
 future. The exchange of ideas, from CEO's such as Ivan Seidenberg from
 Verizon, from academics such as Uwe Reinhardt from Princeton, and even from
 Allan Hubbard, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director,
 set the foundation for industry and government to better support healthcare
 users (i.e. Americans). A number of speakers at the conference used the
 event to make major announcements, such as Wal-Mart and Microsoft, while
 several keynote speeches were able to set the tone of industry, government
 and academia for items such as Medicare, Avian Flu and cheaper access to
 helpful drugs.
     Wal-Mart used the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress to announce
 significant changes in health benefits for part-time workers. These changes
 include shortening the waiting period for company health insurance from two
 years of employment to one year; providing part-time employees with the
 ability to cover their children; offering a policy option for as little as
 $11 per month; and expanding the pharmaceuticals available under a $3
 co-pay arrangement. The company will also offer employees a discount on
 healthy foods sold at company stores. Microsoft also used the conference to
 announce its vision and solutions framework for the health plan industry,
 aimed at enabling health plans to realize business efficiencies that
 ultimately improve the affordability of healthcare.
     Keynote: The Global Perspective
     J.P. Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, discussed challenges and proposed
 solutions to inadequate access to health care in both developing and
 industrialized countries. A highlight of his talk regarded finding
 solutions for developing countries, including building the infrastructure
 to deliver health care and working to make drugs more widely available.
 Garnier said, "We need to develop and make drugs available to poor
 countries at really, really low prices." In Mr. Garnier's view, the U.S.
 needs some form of national health insurance, but the health system must be
 privatized. He said that government's role is to regulate, not micromanage,
 and he believes legal reform is necessary. Going further, Mr. Garnier said
 that government should also target major risk factors such as obesity;
 health care must be thought of not in silos, but holistically in terms of
 diseases; and that the country must address diseases such as Alzheimer's
 through innovation. In both developing and developed countries, Mr. Garnier
 noted that visionary leaders with political will are required.
     Keynote: Pandemics and Preparedness
     The UN's coordinator for Avian Influenza, the director of the CDC, and
 the interim CEO of the Red Cross discussed the impact of a pandemic and
 achieving preparedness. The threat of a pandemic is real as Avian Flu is
 spreading rapidly across Europe and Africa. World Health Care Congress
 attendees, a group of over 1500 doctors, medical executives, CEO's and
 policy makers, believe the likelihood of a human pandemic is high; about
 50% believe a pandemic will occur in the next 5 years. Only 35% say their
 organizations have a pandemic preparedness plan. Jack McGuire, Interim
 President and CEO, American Red Cross said, "The level of preparedness is
 directly related to the level of response." The consequences of a pandemic
 could be enormous in human, economic, and political terms; the potential
 scale could challenge the capacity of the health care system. The
 UN/CDC/Red Cross panel noted that the strategy is to stop the influenza in
 animals and prevent the emergence in humans. If it does emerge, the
 objective is to contain and mitigate it. Speed is the key. It requires
 coordination, connectivity, and communication. Preparedness must be led by
 a high-ranking official, and involves international cooperation,
 coordination at a local level, and public/private collaboration.
     Keynote: Microfinance -- Improving Economic and Health Status in
 Developing Countries
     Muhammad Yunus recounted the history of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh
 and described the outgrowth into social business enterprises. When
 established banks refused to lend to the poor of Bangladesh because they
 lacked credit, Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of micro-lending. He
 started in 1976 with $27, which enabled loans to 42 people. Grameen Bank
 now has 16,000 employees and has loaned to 6 million people in Bangladesh.
 After opening 380 branches last year, Grameen will open 500 branches this
 year. The bank is focused on loaning to the poorest of the poor, with a
 specific program which has provided loans of roughly $10 to 70,000 beggars.
 These loans provide poor individuals with the ability to start their own
 businesses. Muhammad Yunus noted that, "People have enormous capacity. We
 need to unleash that capacity." Mr. Yunus went on to say that the concept
 of micro-finance is applicable around the world because the basic concept
 and the basic needs of people are the same everywhere. Grameen has recently
 created a social business enterprise joint venture with Dannon to produce
 nutritious, fortified yogurt at very low cost for the people of Bangladesh.
 This enterprise will make minimal profits, but will create jobs and improve
 the health of those in Bangladesh. It represents a model for other social
 enterprise ideas.
     Keynote: Perspectives from Leading Purchasers
     The CEOs of Verizon, Pitney Bowes, and CIGNA, and the executive
 director of The Permanente Federation discussed what is needed to reduce
 escalating health costs. The chief executives agree that unbridled health
 costs threaten to wipe out profits and hurt competitiveness, requiring
 employers to act. Also, in addition to addressing costs, employers have a
 stake in maintaining a healthy and productive workforce. Pitney Bowes is
 investing (with positive ROI) to keep employees from developing costly
 chronic conditions. Michael Critelli, Chairman and CEO, Pitney Bowes said,
 "Managing costs instead of health creates both poorer health and higher
 costs." Mr. Critelli noted that employers want employees to take greater
 control of their health and, in addition, employees should have more
 personalization of their care, more tailored benefits, more portability,
 and better information to make decisions. Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and
 CEO, Verizon, said, "It is not the cost I want to shift to employees; it is
 the responsibility."
     Keynote: Wiring the Nation
     Dr. David Brailer, DHHS's Coordinator for National Health Information
 Technology, and leading health system executives discussed the evolving
 U.S. health care technology infrastructure. DHHS efforts have focused on
 getting the public to understand what needs to be done in creating a health
 IT infrastructure, why this needs to be done, and specifically who is
 supposed to make this a reality. Brailer sees government's role as guiding
 the market. Guidance involves creating IT standards, certifying products to
 create trust, creating rules for data privacy and security, coordinating
 policy making, and creating demonstration projects. Dr. Brailer said, "It
 is clear there is market failure. We are seeking a 'guided market' that
 smoothes the ability for the market to function." Beyond IT, Dr. Brailer
 explained that changing health care requires changing business processes
 away from episodic to continuous care, and changing the financial
 incentives to pay providers differently - not for units of work but overall
 care.
     Keynote: Innovation vs. Access
     GE's Dr. Robert Galvin facilitated a conversation on innovation vs.
 access between MediCare/MedicAid Administrator Dr. Mark McClellan and
 Economics Professor Uwe Reinhardt from Princeton University. Of note from
 the conversation was that price-setting on drugs would not necessarily
 lower costs and could decrease innovation -- something that the attendees
 to this year's World Health Care Congress agreed with. Dr. McClellan said
 the focus shouldn't be price, but value. Medicare's financial incentives
 must change from paying for volume to paying for value. This requires
 looking not at the cost of a unit of care, but at holistic care. Mark
 McClellan, MD, PhD, said, "Medicare's payment is based on volume; it needs
 to change to be based on value." Determining coverage policy for costly new
 drugs with small marginal benefit is sensitive. Dr. McClellan said the key
 is to get evidence on the benefits. Dr. Reinhardt noted that a cost/benefit
 standard (in terms of cost per life-year) will have to be determined, as
 has been done in England. Dr. Reinhardt said if a treatment costs more than
 this standard, Medicare won't pay, but consumers may be able to pay out of
 pocket. Also, better systems are required to track drug effectiveness
 post-market. Much effort takes place before a drug is approved, but little
 monitoring is done to determine what really works and how well it works;
 therefore, an evidence database is required. Dr. Reinhardt said that
 government should fund this as a public good. The panel showed how
 academics and politicians are both focused on measuring quality and
 translating the measures of quality into useful information.
     Keynote: Consumer Choice
     The CEOs of UnitedHealth and Vanguard and the president of Consumers
 Union discussed how greater consumer choice in health care is inevitable,
 is happening, and is a positive force. UnitedHealth believes the entire
 health system must change to become consumer centric, where benefits,
 tools, resources, and information must all be tailored to individual
 consumers and their specific needs. The future health system will be
 supported by technology and integrated, interoperable databases. And, it
 will be integrated with financial services. "Everything to make a better
 health system is available, but we haven't put it together," said William
 McGuire, MD, Chairman and CEO, UnitedHealth Group. As evidence, over the
 past 25 years, the 401k market has evolved to a consumer market. The keys
 in this evolution have been education, technology enablement, providing
 good choices, and learning and adapting. Consumers Union has found over the
 last 70 years that in all categories, consumers want information that is
 clear, relevant, and unbiased, that is based on sound independent research,
 and that is easily available.
     About World Congress
     World Congress is the producer of The World Health Care Congress, The
 World Health Care Congress -- Europe, The Care Continuum Congress, The
 World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress, The Health & Human
 Capital Management Congress, and The World Congress Leadership Summit
 Series. World Congress events convene CEOs and senior executives from all
 segments of the healthcare industry, with the latest thought leaders and
 case studies, representing innovative, solution-oriented approaches to make
 significant advances in healthcare cost and quality.
     Contact:
     Tracey Fielding
     PR@worldcongress.com
     500 West Cummings Park, Suite 5200
     Woburn, MA 01801
 
 

SOURCE World Congress

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