Health Leaders to Subcommittee: Structural Reform of Medicare is Imperative

WASHINGTON – In testimony submitted to the House Ways and Means health subcommittee, Healthcare Leadership Council president Mary R. Grealy said it is beyond question that the Medicare program “as it exists today, cannot be sustained for future generations” and that Congress must move forward with structural reform of the program.

Ms. Grealy’s statement was submitted to subcommittee chairman Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA) in conjunction with the panel’s hearing on premium support models for Medicare reform.  The Healthcare Leadership Council is a coalition of chief executives from leading companies and organizations representing all health sectors.

In her statement, Ms. Grealy said Congress faces a stark choice in deciding how to deal with Medicare’s fiscal challenges.  She said lawmakers could simply reduce the amount of money the government pays for healthcare goods and services, which would exacerbate healthcare access problems for seniors.  Or, she said, “a more patient-centered approach to improving Medicare would involve using the power of consumer choice to drive value, quality and positive outcomes.”

She stated that the Council supports an approach giving Medicare beneficiaries the option of remaining in conventional fee-for-service Medicare or moving into a competitive exchange with the ability to select from multiple competing private health plans.

“In order for such a competitive exchange to be viable, health plans and providers would have to emphasize quality and cost-efficiency, as well as ensuring affordability,” she said in her statement.

She emphasized in her statement that, with 7,500 new beneficiaries joining the program daily and receiving three dollars in healthcare services for every one dollar in taxes paid, “it is a fallacy to insist that we can maintain the Medicare program exactly as it is today.”

The full Healthcare Leadership Council statement can be found here.