Thank you for the thought-provoking editorial on the need for further healthcare reform (“Think big on healthcare finance reform,” July 27, p. 24).
While I agree with the need for reform, and that dialogue on your approach will be important, revising our national financing structure and tax code does not go far enough. Rather than change how we think about the revenue and risk model, we need to change how we really think about health and wellness—for life.
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed, Ascension's sites of care across the country are seeing more people receiving the care they need and fewer struggling to pay for it. However, we also see many people who are still uninsured, underinsured and struggling under the burdens of our current system.
Our country needs a new approach—not a reformed financing system, but a true health system. As a compassionate and just society, we must value a person's life at every stage, from the very beginning to the final stages. We must provide care for that person's life, from birth to death, keeping them as healthy as possible.
We cannot force them to shift between payers throughout their life—and as a result compromise access to care and access to health—based on age, state of residence, employer, marital status, financial situation or other variable. No matter how you design the financing structure, this model is not a health solution.
Instead we must provide individuals with a reliable medical home where they can receive consistent care for their lifetime. We must incentivize and proactively encourage preventive care, quality primary care and effective end-of-life care. Only then can we improve health outcomes and patient experiences while lowering the overall cost of care.
The payer must be a partner in achieving this goal. The provider and the payer must have equal responsibility for keeping an individual healthy. We must have equal responsibility for providing care and coverage of that individual, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Instead of evaluating risk during our care for that individual, we must promote wellness and prevention so we can effectively minimize lifelong risk, reduce costs and improve value. And we must do it together.
I ask Modern Healthcare, its readers and lawmakers/candidates on both sides of the aisle to change the calls for healthcare reform to healthcare for life.
