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06/03/2006Mackinac Policy ConferenceHealth costs seen as a threatMACKINAC ISLAND — A comprehensive approach from businesses, the health care industry, the public sector and workers is needed to rein in the country's spiraling medical care costs. A panel at the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island said a multi-layered overhaul of the U.S. health care system is needed to solve key challenges of access, cost and quality of medical care. The inability in the past decade to find solutions has pushed more people into the ranks of the uninsured, and hinders the ability of business to compete globally, officials said. "Lower income workers are being priced out of the market for health insurance," said Paul Ginsberg, one of the country's leading economists on health care costs. Health care costs have escalated at an average of 2.5 percent annually above the country's economic output over the past 30 years. Costs outpaced consumers' and employers' ability to pay for health insurance. "Our spending on health care grows a lot faster than our incomes," Ginsburg said. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said ignoring health care costs is only making the problem worse by forcing more individuals to put off early treatment and eventually seek costlier care. An estimated 46 million Americans don't have health insurance, she said. "When we do not address the issue of the uninsured, we are not saving money," Stabenow said. "It's costing us more." Ideas offered for improving the country's health care climate include better technology to create individual health care records easily accessed by patients, better defining of essential-versus-elective benefit levels, and more access to generic and low-cost prescription drugs. Some communities also are trying "tri-share" programs, where the cost of coverage is split between employers, workers and the public sector. Stabenow said the political climate to find solutions is improving, as several bipartisan measures are pending in Congress in areas that include tax incentives to health care providers to improve patient record-keeping. There are also proposals to lower prescription drug costs by getting generic drugs to the market faster, and making health care more affordable to small business. "In order to create the political will, everybody who's paying the bill has to be on the same page," Stabenow said. We are spending way too much — we can't continue to do this." See related stories:
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