Lost in the PPACA and Supreme Court Hullabaloo: Who’s Addressing the Rising Cost of Health Care?
There’s a lot being said about last week’s Supreme Court PPACA decision. Lost in the hullabaloo is one burning question: Who’s addressing the rising cost of health care? While our industry will now work at full-throttle helping clients deal with the ramifications of the ruling, we cannot lose focus of the bigger issue. This is the statement our company released following the Court’s announcement:
While the Supreme Court’s decision about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act determined the outcome of one of the most significant judicial cases of the century, no one has yet addressed one of the most pressing issues facing our nation: the rising cost of health care. Our country still does not have measures in place to control a system that is on an unsustainable cost trajectory. If we are to effect meaningful change, we are obligated to devise methods to curb rising expenses.
The solution is a system that produces knowledgeable and engaged health care consumers. This can only be achieved through innovation — not through mandates, regulation and government programs. Evolution must be led by the private sector and requires collaboration between benefits advisors, employers, insurance carriers, providers and consumers.
These stakeholders must develop education and advocacy initiatives to drive profound employer-employee involvement. Ultimately, the remedy will harness technology and build transparent processes. It will offer access to comparative information about quality, outcomes and price so individuals can become better health care consumers. And, it will create effective wellness programs that change behavior and inspire healthy lifestyles.
A successful transformation will take leadership and a commitment from companies willing to operate on the vanguard of this type of reform. Until we are dedicated to working at this level, regardless of what happens in the White House, at the Capitol or in the highest court of the land, not much is going to change.
