-- Reduce healthcare inflation to less than 3 percent annually within 10
years.
-- Enable health insurance access for all and reduce the number of
uninsured to less than 2 percent of the U.S. population.
-- End prior condition refusals for insurance and policy cancellations
for sick people.
-- Extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund well beyond the current
estimate of insolvency by 2017.
-- Dramatically reduce the number of medical errors and costly "defensive
medicine," such as redundant procedures and unnecessary hospitalizations.
-- Improve healthcare quality to improve our worldwide quality ranking
from No. 35 to at least No. 5, correcting the bleak reality that a third of
the $2.4 trillion spent annually on U.S. healthcare does not contribute to
improved health.
-- Stimulate a vibrant healthcare economy that invests in the long-term
health of our citizenry through adoption of new technologies.
-- Ensure that the methodology of reform results in costs equal to or
less than the current system, not more. Reform should be, at worst, a zero
sum game.
Psilos Group urges policymakers to take a series of immediate and long-term
steps as they work out evolving healthcare reform details. In addition to
shifting the focus to how much America should pay for healthcare and how to
strengthen its value proposition, the venture firm advises policy makers to
slow down and develop a phased, step-by-step plan with clear and measurable
clinical and economic goals. They also urge alignment-building among key
stakeholders to make sure a majority are on board with the plan, not merely
supportive of enough votes to pass legislation.
The Cost of Healthcare Reform Vexes Most Americans
The issue of how much America should pay for healthcare, rather than "who
pays," is ultimately the one that frustrates American families, small
businesses, large corporations, healthcare providers and all levels of
government, Waxman wrote. "Debating "who pays" is simply a political
comfort zone that stokes traditional liberal versus conservative passions
and fuels talk show rhetoric," Waxman states in the white paper. "However,
it does nothing to actually cover the costs when bills are due. Addressing
"how much" is a more complex economic issue that needs to move front and
center, especially when healthcare costs are growing at double or triple
the general inflation rate and when real value for dollars spent is so
elusive."
Some Solutions To These Problems
To help accomplish these goals, the authors propose, among other things,
the creation of "Accountable Care Organizations" for chronically ill
patients, which includes 15 million Americans with four or more chronic
illnesses and currently represents the biggest load on Medicare. These and
similar "Virtual Accountable Care Organizations" could save more than $750
billion over 10 years. They also propose the replacement of "fee for
service" with performance-based reimbursement, reform of "defensive
medicine" practices and heightened use of technology to eliminate
hospital-based errors, which result in more than 100,000 deaths annually.
These are some key solutions to problems that will take a decade to fix,
Waxman concedes. "This is not an excuse for not starting, but neither is it
a reason to be careless or overzealous," he writes. "It is a reason to
begin with a well-thought-out plan. Americans are justly concerned about a
massive government-engineered change that is done too fast and which may
have unintended and negative consequences," Waxman adds.
"Policy Perspective" Authors
In addition to Waxman, the authors of Psilos Group's "Policy Perspective"
are Lisa Suennen, a Psilos Group Co-Founder and managing member; and
Darlene Collins, a Psilos Group managing director.
Albert S. Waxman, Ph.D., CEO and Founding Partner, Psilos Group
Dr. Waxman has more than 40 years leadership experience as an entrepreneur
and investor in the healthcare industry. As the CEO and founding partner of
Psilos Group, he and has firm have funded and developed more than 38
innovative companies dedicated to this vision, including ActiveHealth,
Click4Care, Definity Health, ExtendHealth, OmniGuide and SeeChange Health.
Lisa Suennen, Co-Founder and Managing Member of Psilos Group
Lisa Suennen has headed Psilos' West Coast office since the firm's founding
in 1998 and focuses
on the medical device, healthcare information technology and healthcare
services sectors.
Darlene Collins, Managing Director of Psilos Group
Darlene Collins, a Managing Director of Psilos, leverages more than twenty
years health care experience and a national network of government and
industry relationships in support of Psilos' investments.
About Psilos Group
For more information about Psilos Group, visit www.psilos.com.
Psilos Group has been a successful healthcare venture capital firm since
its founding in 1998. With more than $570 million under management, Psilos
focuses its investments across the healthcare services, healthcare
information technology, and medical technology sectors. Psilos invests
nationwide in businesses that are poised to create enduring market value by
fundamentally improving the U.S. healthcare system. Its portfolio companies
have a demonstrated ability to reduce the costs of healthcare delivery,
improve clinical quality, and advance the alignment of payer, patient, and
provider incentives. Psilos has offices in New York, the San Francisco Bay
Area and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Contact Information: Contact: Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones & Partners Phone: 650-529-1416 Dave Reddy Weber Shandwick Phone: (650) 868-4659