Center for Health Care
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Launched in 2006, The Center for Health Care develops solutions to reduce costs and improve the availability and quality of health care for businesses and individuals, providing the only detailed, independent critique of health care issues available in the Northwest. We believe that it is critical for legislators, media, and citizens to be informed of health care issues impacting consumers. The Center hosts an Annual Health Care Conference at the beginning of the Summer as well as publishing studies and commentaries, and is a continuing resource for Washington citizens. |
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Healthcare Publications | Healthcare Blog
Washington Policy Center Launches 2009 Federal Health Care Reform Project
As Congress and the President debate plans for reforming health care, it is essential they and the public consider how more government involvement will impact accessibility, affordability, and quality. Health care reform must be focused on patients, allowing more access to more treatments and more doctors with less interference from insurance companies, politicians, and special interests. A balanced, common sense approach that provides assistance to those who truly need it and keeps health care patient-centered rather than government-centered for everyone.
The project is spearheaded by Dr. Roger Stark, WPC’s Health Care Policy Analyst. Dr. Stark is a retired surgeon and has been involved extensively in the health care community. In 2007 Dr. Stark authored the book Health Care in the U.S.: Problems and Solutions, and his opinion-editorials have appeared in The Seattle Times and the Washington DC Examiner. He has done in-depth research on Medicaid, health care reform measures across the country, and patient-driven health care.
Inside Olympia host Austin Jenkins talked to Kathleen O’Connor, Founder of CodeBlueNow! and Dr. Roger Stark, Health Care Analyst for the Washington Policy Center about what we might expect from Congress this summer as far as national health policy.
Watch 30 minute debate with :
Dr. Roger Stark appears on KING 5's Up Front health care reform panel
The Obama administration hopes to pass a healthcare reform bill by the end of this year. Almost everyone agrees "something" has to be done about its cost. Healthcare takes an increasing proportion of our national wealth, our tax dollars and our personal budgets. Dr. Roger Stark offers analysis and some solutions during this panel discussion on KING TV’s popular news show Up Front.
Watch the video on KING 5's website here
7th Annual Health Care Conference
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
at SeaTac DoubleTree
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Steven Eastaugh of George Washington University and a Health Care Advisor to President Obama
Dr. Steven Eastaugh, from the Department of Health Services Management and Leadership at George Washington University and a Health Care Advisor to President Obama, discussed Federal Health Care Policy Reform and Health Care Economics. He is a graduate of Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard JFK School of Government, Harvard Economics Department, and has a Doctor of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Dr. Eastaugh delivered the lunch keynote and discussed the pending federal health care reform plan. Watch his address and the audience Q&A below:
The conference included three panels covering:
State legislative review:
The conference opened with a legislative review panel featuring Reps. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) and Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale), as well as Steve Hill of the state Health Care Authority. KING 5's Allen Schauffler moderated the panel. Watch it below!
The conference included three panels covering:
State legislative review:
Health care leaders from both parties and the Governor’s office briefed attendees on newly-enacted health care bills, discussed their own reform ideas and looked ahead to the 2010 Session.
New trends in health care:
Experts presented the latest information on health care and new ways to deliver health care services.
• Introductions
• Medical Home
• Alternate Primary Care (Qliance)
• Evidence Based Medicine
• Wellness Programs
• Questions and Answers Part 1
• Questions and Answers Part 2
• Questions and Answers Part 3
Examined the emographics of the 45 million uninsured in this country and who they actually represent. The second portion of this panel gave an update on Health Savings Accounts.
• Introductions
• The Uninsured
• The Insured
• Questions and Answers
Powerpoints from the event:
• Suzanne Spencer, M.D., retired, Group Health Cooperative - Medical Home
• Erika Bliss, M.D., FAAFP, Director of Medical Care, Qliance Medical Group – Direct
Primary Care Practice Model
• Rep. Doug Ericksen, Ranking Minority Member, House Health Care & Wellness
Committee
Enacting a Core Benefits Health Plan for Young Adults
The legislature is considering a bill, SB 5052, designed to reduce the number of uninsured in Washington by lowering the cost of private health insurance for people ages 19 to 34, the age group most likely to lack health coverage. The bill would allow people in this age group to access a core benefits health plan in Washington. The bill was introduced, but not passed, in the 2007 and 2008 sessions, and has been reintroduced in slightly revised form for 2009.
Read the Legislative Memo here (PDF)
What is Not Wrong with Health Care in the U.S.
Change is coming to the health care system in this country. At $2.1 trillion per year, or 17% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), cost should be the driver for this movement to reform our current system. As the debate continues on in the next few months, however, a number of other arguments will be used to indict our present mix of public and private programs. Many of these arguments are based on a faulty presentation of the facts, so let’s look at the actual data and see what is not wrong with our health care system.
Analysis of the Guaranteed Health Benefits Plan
A major health care reform proposed by Insurance Commissioner Mike
Kreidler
December 2008
Introduction
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has proposed a universal, state controlled, high-deductible health insurance plan for all Washington residents who are not covered by another government program, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
The plan, called Guaranteed Health Benefits (GHB), is currently being reviewed and will be formally presented to the legislature at the start of the next session in January. If passed by the legislature, the public would then vote, most likely in the fall of 2009, on whether to adopt the plan and put it into effect across the state.
Key Findings
• The Kreidler plan would give all WA residents catastrophic insurance coverage for health care costs that exceed $10,000 per year
• The law would allow residents to buy additional health care coverage at their own expense to cover other routine medical care
• Participation in the plan is mandatory in law and the state defines what benefits are covered
• Funding for the plan would come from a new statewide 3% to 5% payroll tax
• Virtually every state, as well as the federal government, that has attempted a form of mandatory universal coverage has failed
• The Kreidler plan would likely lead to rationing as state managers seek to control costs
Read or download the full Policy Note here (pdf)
Op-Ed
Health Care Will be Expensive as Long as Someone Else is Paying for It, by Dr. Roger Stark, September 2008
New Studies
What Works and What Doesn't: A Review of Health Care Reform in the States, by Dr. Roger Stark, August 2008
Since the failure of HillaryCare at the national level in the early 1990s a number of states, including Washington, have made attempts at health care reform of their own. Each of these have been based on some form of government-managed system, generally including an open-ended taxpayer funding commitment combined with a generous set of mandated benefits.
In each case, these programs have failed to achieve their policy goals and have often proved unsustainable as originally enacted. Naturally, backers of these health care programs are reluctant to talk about their original ideas once they have failed, so past state efforts at health care reform tend to be forgotten.
This is unfortunate because the hard-won experiences of other states, and of Washington’s own attempt at state-managed reform, provide a valuable guide to today’s state lawmakers. The purpose of this paper is to summarize efforts by other states, in order to guide Washington lawmakers about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to enacting health care reform laws.
This study includes a review of six states, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Maine, that enacted government-managed health care reform plans, two states, Wisconsin and California, where such plans were proposed but failed to pass, and three states that have recently taken a different approach. These three states, Florida, Georgia and Indiana, have enacted reforms that move decision-making about health care to the individual, work with market forces, and create voluntary incentives that increase choice and expand access to health care coverage.
The Center for Health Care
Launched in 2006, The Center for Health Care develops solutions to reduce costs and improve the availability and quality of health care for businesses and individuals, providing the only detailed, independent critique of health care issues available in the Northwest. We believe that it is critical for legislators, media, and citizens to be informed of health care issues impacting consumers. The Center hosts an Annual Health Care Conference at the beginning of the Summer as well as publishing studies and commentaries, and is a continuing resource for Washington citizens.
Policy Analyst
Roger Stark, MD is the Center for Health Care Policy Analyst. Dr. Stark graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and moved to the Pacific Northwest where he completed his general surgery residency in Seattle and his cardiothoracic residency at the University of Utah.
After practicing in Tacoma he moved to Bellevue and was one of the co-founders of the open heart surgery program at Overlake Hospital. He retired from private practice in 2001 and became actively involved in the hospital’s Foundation, serving as Board Chair and Executive Director.
Dr. Stark has been a member of many local and national professional societies. He currently serves on the Board of the Washington Liability Reform Coalition, the Governing Board of Overlake Hospital, and is an active member of the Woodinville Rotary.
He and his wife live on the Eastside and have children and grandchildren in the area.
Contact Information
For questions or to receive e-mail updates from the Center for Health Care please e-mail Policy Analyst Roger Stark, MD, rstark@washingtonpolicy.org.
Events
Past Events
7th Annual Health Care Conference
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
at SeaTac DoubleTree
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Steven Eastaugh of George Washington University and a Health Care Advisor to President Obama
Dr. Steven Eastaugh, from the Department of Health Services Management and Leadership at George Washington University and a Health Care Advisor to President Obama, discussed Federal Health Care Policy Reform and Health Care Economics. He is a graduate of Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard JFK School of Government, Harvard Economics Department, and has a Doctor of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Dr. Eastaugh delivered the lunch keynote and discussed the pending federal health care reform plan. Watch his address and the audience Q&A below:
The conference included three panels covering:
State legislative review:
The conference opened with a legislative review panel featuring Reps. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) and Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale), as well as Steve Hill of the state Health Care Authority. KING 5's Allen Schauffler moderated the panel. Watch it below!
The conference included three panels covering:
State legislative review:
Health care leaders from both parties and the Governor’s office briefed attendees on newly-enacted health care bills, discussed their own reform ideas and looked ahead to the 2010 Session.
New trends in health care:
Experts presented the latest information on health care and new ways to deliver health care services.
• Introductions
• Medical Home
• Alternate Primary Care (Qliance)
• Evidence Based Medicine
• Wellness Programs
• Questions and Answers Part 1
• Questions and Answers Part 2
• Questions and Answers Part 3
Examined the emographics of the 45 million uninsured in this country and who they actually represent. The second portion of this panel gave an update on Health Savings Accounts.
• Introductions
• The Uninsured
• The Insured
• Questions and Answers
6th Annual health care conference
Read the 2008 Health Care Conference Policy Note about this event>>
The Washington Policy Center held its Sixth Annual Health Care Conference at the Sea-Tac Double Tree Hotel on May 13th. The event was sold out at 320 attendees. Grace-Marie Turner from the Galen Institute was the keynote luncheon speaker and Peter Neupert from Microsoft keynoted the afternoon session on health information technology. The morning panels dealt with issues from the last legislative session and an update on how other states are dealing with health care. Also added was a new trends panel that covered medical tourism, Health 2.0, and value-based health benefits. Surveys and feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive.
A lively discussion with Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) (Video), Rep. Bill Hinkle (R-Cle Elum)(Video), and WA Health Care Authority Administrator Steve Hill (Video) opened the conference. They talked about the 2008 Legislative Session and looked ahead to their priorities in 2009. More video of the panel is available on TVW's website.
Question and Answer Part 1
Question and Answer Part 2
Question and Answer Part 3
After breakfast experts from Massachusetts (Dr. Jack Evjy, Massachusetts Medical Society - see PowerPoint here), Wisconsin (Christian Schneider, Fellow, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute), and California (John R. Graham, Director Health Care Studies, Pacific Research Institute) discussed the various health care reform efforts in those states. Currently Washington's lawmakers are looking at Massachusetts' "Connector" plan and the proposed "Healthy Wisconsin" reform as models for how to reform health care in our state.
Dr. Jack Evjy, Massachusetts Medical Society
Christian Schneider, Fellow, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute
John R. Graham, Director Health Care Studies, Pacific Research Institute
Panel Q & A
Session #3 looked at emerging trends such as medical tourism, "Health 2.0" and value-based health benefit design, an idea that many Fortune 500 companies are embracing to help contain rising health care costs. The session was moderated by Dr. Roger Stark, Washington Policy Center. The panel included C. Philip Slaton, The Icon Group, LLC on Medical Tourism, Matthew Holt, Matthew Holt Consulting (see PowerPoint here), and David Hom, Chairman, Center for Health Value Innovation on Value Based Health Benefit Design (see PowerPoint here)
Introductions
C. Philip Slaton, The Icon Group, LLC
Matthew Holt, Matthew Holt Consulting
David Hom, Chairman, Center for Health Value Innovation on Value Based Health Benefit Design
Panel Q & A
Grace-Marie Turner of the DC-based Galen Institute delivered the lunch keynote address, talking about the health care plans offered by Sens. Obama, Clinton, and McCain. Video of the lunch keynote is available on TVW's website. On the day of the conference, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published Grace-Marie's op-ed "Candidates and health care reform."
Grace-Marie Turner video part 1
Grace-Marie Turner video part 2
Grace-Marie Turner video part 3
Grace-Marie Turner video part Q & A
Keynote Speaker Grace-Marie Turner talks with Kirby Wilbur
After lunch Peter Neupert, Vice President of the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft, talked about Microsoft's Health Vault project and the future of electronic medical records (see his PowerPoint here).
Peter Neupert video part 1
Peter Neupert video part 2
Peter Neupert video part 3
Conference attendees then heard from a panel of private and public-sector experts working with health information technology. , Regional Director, Department of Health and Human Services, Region
10, moderated the panel, with presentations given by John Hammarlund, Regional Administrator, Center for Medicine & Medical Services, Region 10, Jody Pettit, MD, Health Information Technology Coordinator, State of Oregon (see her PowerPoint here), Richard Onizuka, Director, Health Care Policy, Washington Health Care Authority, and Peg Hopkins, CEO, Community Health Association of Spokane.
Introductions
John Hammarlund, Regional Administrator, Center for Medicine & Medical Services, Region 10
Jody Pettit, MD, Health Information Technology Coordinator, State of Oregon
Richard Onizuka, Director, Health Care Policy, Washington Health Care Authority
Peg Hopkins, CEO, Community Health Association of Spokane
Panel Q & A
92% said overall the conference was a success.
97% said the overall cost of the conference was excellent.
Special thanks to all of our conference sponsors for making our 2008 Health Care Conference possible. We have received lots of positive feedback from policymakers and health care industry professionals who found the conference insightful and useful as our state debates the best way to reform health care.
