Major Stakeholders in Health Reform Debate Call for Greater Focus on Disease Prevention...

Major Stakeholders in Health Reform Debate Call for Greater Focus on Disease
Prevention and Management in Senate Finance Committee's Policy Options Paper

Considerable Room to Strengthen Emphasis on Promoting Health and Wellness and
Reducing Common and Costly Chronic Disease in Medicare

WASHINGTON, May 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 200 members of the
Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) -- an organization representing
some of the nation's biggest voices in health care -- called on Sens. Max
Baucus and Charles Grassley to strengthen the focus on chronic disease
prevention and management in their recent paper, "Transforming the Health Care
Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care
Costs."

Specifically, PFCD partners called for a greater focus on shifting the health
care delivery system from its current state of providing care after a health
crisis to emphasizing prevention and intervention strategies through
incentives for patient and providers to better prevent, detect and manage
chronic disease.

In a letter to Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus and Senate Finance Chair
Ranking Member Charles Grassley, the 195 partners and affiliated organizations
that signed the letter thanked the chairs for the incorporating suggestions to
improve care of high cost chronically ill beneficiaries in the recently
introduced policy paper, and encouraged them to strengthen the ideas brought
forward in that paper to emphasize better prevention and management of chronic
disease among all Medicare beneficiaries. The comments aim to encourage
Congressional leadership to introduce policy reforms that motivate all
participants in our health care system -- individuals, providers and payers --
to embrace health promotion and wellness, and catch disease early.

The group outlined several recommendations for updating the health care
reforms proposed in the policy options paper including:

-- Ensure that reforms to the Medicare delivery model and payment system
shift from rewarding acute care and treatment after a health crisis to
helping beneficiaries pro-actively manage their health by emphasizing
prevention, early intervention, and appropriate treatment.
-- Introduce care-coordination strategies in Medicare such as
patient-centered medical homes and community health teams to
strengthen
communication between doctors and patients and reduce errors, wasteful
spending and disparities.
-- Design financial incentives for patients and providers in Medicare to
lower barriers to patient compliance with provider recommendations and
prescribed care to prevent, detect, and manage disease.

Of note, the group also emphasized that slowing the progression of chronic
disease is critical to improving our nation's health, guarding the financial
stability of our health care system, and expanding our nation's economic
horizons.

Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, are responsible for seven
out of 10 deaths and affect more than 130 million Americans. The annual
economic impact on the U.S. of the seven most common chronic diseases is
estimated to be $1.3 trillion, which could balloon to nearly $6 trillion by
2050.

About the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease:
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is a national and state-based
coalition of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor
groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number
one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs in the U.S.:
chronic disease. For more information about the PFCD and its partner
organizations, please visit: www.fightchronicdisease.org.

SOURCE Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease

Anne Kott, +1-202-778-6321, for Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease