Fighting for Health Reform

We all know that the American healthcare system is in a state of crisis. Profits are skyrocketing, and relative health outcomes are down.

The time for reform is now. We are closer to passing comprehensive legislation than anyone has been in nearly 100 years. The weight of history and of consensus cannot be ignored.

So let’s seize this opportunity. Let’s do this now – but let’s also do it right. Let us pass health insurance reform that includes a strong public option.

For me, reform with a public option is about three things: competition, lower costs, and accountability. It’s time to put ordinary Americans back in the driver’s seat – and that’s exactly what the public option would do.

There are only two industries that aren’t bound by the anti-trust laws that apply to every other business in the United States: health insurance and Major League Baseball. In such a highly concentrated environment, there is no incentive to compete.

A public option would make insurance providers compete for business, just like any other company. It would give people a choice for the first time in decades.

Under the current system, health premiums are rising four times faster than wages. There are almost 50 million Americans without health coverage – but there are millions more who can barely afford what little coverage they have.

If private companies have to compete with a public plan, people’s premiums will come down. But providers will also improve the quality of coverage. As a result, better care would become available to more people.

And that’s why our reforms would prevent companies from discriminating against people who have pre-existing conditions. A public option would give the American people somewhere else to turn. It would allow them to hold insurance providers accountable.

It’s time to prioritize patients over profits. It is time to pass comprehensive reform with a public option.

I’d like to thank all of my colleagues who have led the fight for the public option, and all of the individuals and groups that have been working hard to advocate for the public option.

(In this photo: Senator Burris speaks to supporter of healthcare reform at Health Reform Vigil)

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Senator Burris Works With Freshman Colleagues to Improve Health Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Roland W. Burris today joined ten of his fellow freshman Democratic Senators to introduce an amendment package designed to increase efforts to promote innovation in the U.S. health care system and lower costs for millions of consumers.

For the sixth time since Labor Day, this group of freshman Democratic Senators have assembled to deliver back-to-back Senate floor speeches on the need for health reform. The eleven Democratic freshmen involved in drafting this package include Sens. Mark Begich (AL), Michael Bennet (CO), Roland Burris (IL), Kay Hagan (NC), Ted Kauffman (DE), Paul Kirk (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Mark Udall (NM), Tom Udall (CO) and Mark Warner (VA).

This package of amendments -- which have been endorsed by some of the nation’s top corporate executives and leading private-sector advocates of health reform -- will establish public-private provisions to better coordinate changes across medicine, prevent fraud, and make Medicare a leader in overall health reform by speeding the move toward a higher-value, lower-cost model for the future.

“The health reform legislation currently being considered is the smartest piece of policy this country has seen in decades. Amendments to the current bill will help to further the pending legislation, making our health care system better, more studied and more innovative.” said Senator Burris. “In order to fix this deeply broken system, we must restore competition and accountability to the insurance market and make health care more affordable for consumers, and that is exactly what we expect this legislation will do. The passage of this bill is critical to providing better quality, more innovative and lower cost health care to all Americans.”

Below is a summary of the specific amendments.

Working More Closely with the Private Sector on Cost Containment

Transforming payment systems and improving quality will require that the public and private sectors move forward together on the shared goals of cost containment, improved quality, and delivery system reform.

• CMS Innovation Center: We give the new Innovation Center explicit authority to work with private plans to align Medicare, Medicaid and private sector strategies for improving care.

• Independent Medicare Advisory Board: We broaden the scope of the new Independent Medicare Advisory Board to look at total health system spending and make nonbinding, system-wide recommendations.

• Quality and Value in Private Insurance: We require health plans in the exchange to share information on health plan quality and cost to empower consumers to make better informed decisions.

Stepping-up the Commitment to Reduce Regulatory Barriers and Fight Fraud

These amendments require the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to aggressively pursue streamlined regulations and anti-fraud initiatives to ensure that all sectors of the health care system work together to improve value.

• Administrative Simplification: We require HHS to develop standards that will allow efficient electronic exchange and streamlining of information among patients, providers and insurers.

• Health Care Fraud Enforcement: We direct HHS to better utilize technology to prevent health care fraud.

• Eliminating Legal Barriers to Care Improvement: We authorize the U.S. Government Accountability Office to study current laws and regulations to identify barriers to implementing innovative delivery system reforms.

Aggressive Moves Toward Delivery System Reform

These amendments allow HHS to experiment with promising new models to further lower costs, increase quality and improve patient health.

• Value-Based Purchasing: We require Medicare to implement pay-for-performance for more providers sooner, adding hospices, ambulatory surgical centers, psychiatric hospitals and others.

• Broader Payment Innovation: We allow a broader, more flexible transition to new payment models for Accountable Care Organizations (ACO).

• Medicare System Upgrades: We require HHS to modernize data systems so that valuable Medicare data can be shared in a reliable, complete, and timely manner.

• Good Quality Everywhere: We promote greater access to tele-health services, strengthen the provider workforce and the availability of high-quality hospital services to bolster health care access for Americans in underserved and rural regions.

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