I'm listening to a tele-townhall meeting with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Dr. Denis Cortese, CEO of the Mayo Clinic, and Mary Wakefield, the highest ranking nurse in the federal government.
Senator Klobuchar has said there are thousands of people from all over Minnesota on this call. She has received over 18,000 emails and letters from people all over the state.
Note: My notes are my typing as I hear things, but I do make mistakes and did leave things out as I'm not a pro at this. I haven't written a lot of diaries either and am doing my best to listen and type at same time. I'm impressed with how Senator Klobuchar is handling this.
Senator Klobuchar says small businesses pay 18% more for health insurance than large businesses do. Senator Klobuchar has heard from many smaller businesses who very much want something to pass. She says we need to build on what works (such as the Mayo Clinic model), we need to reduce costs because health premuims are predicted to double in 10 years and Medicare is expected to go in the red. and we need to expand access.
Dr Cortese is strongly in favor of both the concept of health care reform and health insurance reform - these are two separate concepts. True health
care reform is payment reforms, so we are paying for outcomes. He's said Medicare should focus on paying for value and outcomes, and it currently pays for volumes. He strongly urges the country focus on payment reform.
He is talking about insurance reform. He says everyone should be covered, there should be some mandate, it should be portable, there should be no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, and he believes there is a role for government to provide a sliding scale subsidy so all can afford health insurance. He would like to set up an Exchange as has been talked about.
Mary Wakefield talked about affordability, as people with insurnace are paying more and more out of pocket costs. The high costs are not only hurting people and providers, but also the economy. Health care providers lost over $1.2 billion in uncompensated care, which is passed on to the public in higher premuims. She says people and business absorb costs of approximately $400 per year to absorb these costs. She says 20% of women over age 50 have not received a mammogram. We need to do more prevention.
The questions are now starting:
- Caller heard there will be 15 million more people covered, and there won't be enough doctors so health care will be rationed and it will start with Medicare. Amy replies her mom and dad are on Medicare, and she isn't going to ration care. Amy said the idea of rationing comes from the cost control discussion. Amy says its important to understand some places that have the highest quality, such as Mayo Clinic, have the lowest costs. Amy talks about ways to improve quality while containing costs. Dr. Cortese says a lot of the places with highest quality have lowest cost.
- Caller says only 12% of people in a survey say health care is the most important issue facing us. So why are we rushing it? Amy has found it to be higher than 12%, and we can't sustain the current system long term. She talked to Senator Snowe earlier this week, and we are not giving up.
- Caller has ideas for cost containment and payment reform - remove the third party payor so there is a direct reimbursement between consumer and provider. Amy talks about various proposals on insurance reforms and cost control, pre-exsisting conditions, co-op idea or public option, etc.
- Caller is asking if Amy supports the public option and why or why not. She is open to this, and she believes we need to put pressure on insurance companies and more competition. We can also better regulate the insurance companies. We have the co-op proposal too. She uses the word "competitive option." Mary Wakefield added what's essential from President's view is the public option is (best way or one way - didn't catch which) to achieve this.
- Caller has question about tort reform. Senator Klobuchar would like to see some work on this. She said something about people who file lawsuits need to file affivadit, and adds Minnesota has lowest malpractice premuims it the nation.
- Caller asks about cost control. What steps are we taking to reduce the costs? Says we don't have much competition. Uses LASIK as an example of doctors have lots of competition resulting in lower prices. Dr. says competition is the key and he agrees.
I am out of space, but they are not finished with questions.