Hays Companies, National Employer Advocate: 'We Can't Avoid the Elephants in the Room When Reforming Healthcare'

Hays Companies, National Employer Advocate: 'We Can't Avoid the Elephants in
the Room When Reforming Healthcare'

BOSTON, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- If you ask Eric Kasen, Vice President and
principal of the New England office of Hays Companies, America's national
healthcare conversation has been held as if there were only two stakeholders
with skin in the game: consumers and insurers. Unless the U.S. switches to a
single-payer plan soon, employers have as large a stake in healthcare reform
as any player.

Hays Companies, the nation's second largest privately held employee benefits
broker and consulting firm with an office in Boston, is tackling critical
issues in the healthcare debate seldom addressed by other sources, including
Metrics-Based Health Plan Decision Making, Population Health Management, and
Risk Pool Management.

"As an advocate for companies trying to do right by their employees, I'm
dismayed by proposals from Washington," said Kasen. "They either tinker at the
margins or ignore the elephants in the room... big issues responsible for
driving up healthcare costs, such as providers' irresponsible business models
and patients' irresponsible behaviors."

Kasen believes the nation needs game-changing, long-term initiatives for the
healthcare system. Implemented in concert with such immediate changes as
eliminating pre-existing condition clauses, these initiatives can rein in
costs, improve patient care, and encourage a healthier citizenry:

Regulate provider compensation based on the quality of outcomes rather the
quantity of services. Changing compensation from fee-for-service to an
outcome-based model aligns the physician and patient's interests. Some of our
finest medical institutions, such as the Mayo Clinic, already operate under
this model.

Offer financial incentives to medical students to become primary care
physicians. Too many specialists and not enough family doctors creates a glut
of expensive services that drive up healthcare costs. Family physicians are
the lowest paid -- and the most important -- segment of the medical field.
Providing financial incentives to talented young students to become primary
care or family physicians would go a long way toward balancing the scales.

Put a reasonable cap on medical malpractice claims as federal law.
Disproportionately punitive malpractice claims have led to two negative
trends: 1) Physicians avoid key specialties to avoid the effort and expense of
protecting themselves from lawsuits. The cost of malpractice insurance, as
well as the scarcity of providers in these specialties, dramatically increases
the cost of patient care. 2) Doctors are tempted to practice "defensive
medicine" to ward off malpractice claims, ordering uncalled for tests and
procedures.

Create a uniform electronic national medical records system. Some hospitals
are already improving the speed and quality of care using e-records to
exchange such information as relevant test results, doctors' notes, and
hospital records, but the practice needs to be extended nationwide.

Require healthcare plan subscribers to receive an annual physical. Patients
simply must assume more responsibility for their health. Hays Companies' data
analysis shows the majority of U.S. employer plans spend less than 2% of their
claims on adult physicals, and more than 38% on chronic health issues such as
Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These preventable or manageable
diseases can be caught early by primary care physicians during annual
physicals.

Tax unhealthy behaviors, like smoking, alcohol, and sugary drinks. Reckless
drivers pay more for their auto insurance because their behaviors are costly
and avoidable. Shouldn't the same hold true of consumers' healthcare
expenses?

These proposals attack long-standing practices and ask everyone to give a
little, but today's healthcare system is so broken it cries out for bold
changes from providers, insurers, employers, and employees alike.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Eric Kasen
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=92192

SOURCE Hays Companies

Julie Dennehy for Hays Companies, +1-508-533-8311, julie@dennehypr.com