The transformation of our healthcare system will remain a key item on Connecticut’s agenda – as well as the nation’s – as we strive to enhance access to care, improve the health of individuals, and help make care more cost effective.
According to the recent Connecticut Health Policy Project report, healthcare spending in Connecticut reached $30.4 trillion – or $8,653.57 per resident per year in 2009. While the trend may be moderating, the number is still staggeringly high as it impacts our economic growth and development.
Innovation, engagement, alignment and individual health ownership will be instrumental in developing a modernized healthcare system so all Connecticut residents have access to affordable, quality health care that can also have a positive impact on the state economy.
As we move towards those goals, here is what we will see in 2015:
More value-based collaborations
Connecticut’s healthcare system needs to continue to shift from one based on volume of care to one that focuses on and rewards quality. More health leaders are recognizing the significance of care, cost and safety aspects of providing the right care at the right time in the right setting.
Today, more than $36 billion of UnitedHealthcare’s annual physician and hospital reimbursements are tied to accountable care programs, centers of excellence and performance-based programs. The company projects this will reach $65 billion by 2018. In Connecticut, nearly 50 percent of physician practices and almost 70 percent of our hospital partners are in some value-based agreement.
In addition to sharing risk and reward between insurers and healthcare providers, programs to share risk with individuals should be developed to provide incentives for people to take greater control of their health.
More health benefits choices for individuals and businesses
Connecticut residents and businesses have a greater number of health benefits options both on and off the Access Health CT insurance marketplace. When the state health insurance exchange opened on Nov. 15, new carriers were offering plans on the marketplace. In addition, private exchanges will continue to provide other options, particularly for businesses, as they shop around for affordable benefits for their employees.
More healthcare transparency for consumers
With more plans to choose from and greater differentiation among plans across and even within metallic levels, consumers are having to make more decisions to select the best benefit to meet their budget and healthcare needs. After that, they need to figure out how to access the most appropriate care with the best value and best outcomes. The level of consumer engagement will only grow.
So insurers are also expanding how consumers can engage with them, from the Web to phone to retail-like consumer support centers; providing incentives to reach healthcare goals; and offering more detailed data on the cost and quality of care.
For example, several major national carriers, including UnitedHealthcare, are working with the independent, not-for-profit Health Care Cost Institute to develop and provide consumers free access to an online tool that promises to offer the most comprehensive information about the price and quality of healthcare services. Consumers, employers and regulatory agencies will have a single source of consistent, transparent healthcare information based on the most up-to-date data.
How do these help? Consider that by simply providing healthcare prices to consumers, U.S. healthcare costs can be reduced by more than $100 billion during the next decade, according to a 2014 report by the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center.
As we look to enhancing the healthcare system, there are still concerns that need to be addressed.
The 2013 America’s Health Rankings report, published jointly by the United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, ranked Connecticut No. 7 among 50 states across healthcare measures and outcomes — but there is room for improvement, as outlined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2008 “Connecticut — Burden of Chronic Diseases.”
Innovative collaborations like the ones that Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has with UnitedHealthcare and Stanley Black & Decker, plus community-based groups, can reap significant benefits in addressing asthma, obesity, childhood diabetes and environmental hazards for children.
Greater collaboration with physicians, employers and community groups to improve access to and quality of care can help Connecticut residents live healthier lives — and can enhance our ability to grow our economy.
Stephen Farrell is the CEO of UnitedHealthcare of New England.
