Obama’s Principal For Healthcare Reform: ‘Fix What’s Broken; Build On What Works’

CHICAGO- In his speech this week at the Annual Conference of the American Medical Association, President Barack Obama promised Americans that if they like their doctors and medical plans, they can keep them.

On the other hand, if they are unhappy or can’t afford a plan, his new reform initiatives promise give Americans more affordable options.

Obama also announced plans for initiatives that would streamline the administrative aspects of the healthcare industry, such as upgrading the recording keeping system by switching from paper files to electronic ones.

“All that information should be stored securely in a private medical record so that your information can be tracked from one doctor another-even if you change jobs, even if you move, even if you have to see a number of specialists.

“And that will not only mean less paper-pushing and lower administrative costs, saving the taxpayers billions of dollars; it will prevent the wrong dosages from going to a patient. It will reduce medical errors, it’s estimated, that lead to 100,000 lives lost unnecessarily in our hospitals every year,” said Obama.

The president also addressed the piecemeal way the medical system charges patients for services. He called it “a system of incentives where the more tests and services that are provided, the more money we pay.

Obama proposed a reform plan that would “bundle payments” so patients don’t have to pay for every single treatment, but instead doctors would be paid for how they treat the overall disease. Details were not provided about how this sort of pay structure would work.

The president added that, “We need to create incentives for physicians to team up because we know that when that happens, it results in a healthier patient. We need to give doctors bonus for good health outcomes, so we’re not promoting just more treatment, but better care.”

It was left unclear by his comments where the funding for the incentives and bonus would come from, or what would be considered a good health outcome in patients such as those with chronic conditions as such as diabetes.

With regard to options for Americans unsatisfied with their current health plans, Obama proposed a Health Insurance Exchange. According to an analysis by gohealthinsurance.com, this would be a “nationwide marketplace where insurance companies would sell private health plans. The federal government would regulate the exchange so prices would stay competitive and fair. Obama would require that insurance companies accept all applicants regardless of health history or pre-existing conditions.”

As another way of providing Americans with lower costs for their services, Obama told the AMA audience that “we need to introduce competitive bidding into the Medicare Advantage programs. That alone will save $177 billion over the next decade.”

Among the president’s closing remarks were that, “the proposals will actually extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by seven years, and reduce premiums for Medicare beneficiaries by roughly $43 billion over the next 10 years. And, I’m working with the American Association of Retired Persons to uphold that commitment.”