Trade Groups' Proposal Lays the Groundwork, But Isn't an Instant Cure

Yesterday, President Obama welcomed a commitment from many of the major players in our complex health care system to slow the growth in health care expenditures, but wisely framed this measure as the ground work for reform – not an immediate cure for the health care crisis. Obama said that this commitment from the trade groups for America’s health insurance plans, pharmaceutical industry, device manufacturers, the American Medical Association, and others to address health care costs will only "have an enduring impact... if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system.”

As a physician, I agree with Obama whole-heartedly, and challenge Congress to fulfill their duty to guarantee affordable, high quality health care for everyone in America. Because unfortunately, the health care industry’s commitment cannot be relied upon to bring the improvements in quality, access to care, and cost containment that we need.

While a 1.5% reduction in health care expenditures could bring trillions of dollars in savings, it is not clear to me how this will bring meaningful change for the patients that I see every day. Mr. A is a very young man whom I diagnosed with colon cancer last month in the hospital. His job does not provide him with health insurance. Since he came through the emergency room, his hospital bills were covered, but we are not sure how he will pay for ongoing chemotherapy and future treatments. Mr. N is a man in his 50’s who worked hard to put his kids through college, but last summer he was laid off from his job in advertising. He lost his health insurance and could not afford his blood pressure medications, which totaled several hundreds of dollars per month. He came to me in hypertensive emergency, narrowly avoiding severe complication. Neither of these patients could afford insurance on the individual market, and a small decrease in premiums would not make coverage any more available.

The health care industry has now proposed concrete ways that they would fulfill the commitment to reduce costs, but they have been attempting to do this for decades and have failed. Improved health information technology, simplified billing or measures stemming from the current health care system may save some dollars, but they do nothing to address access to care.

We need a public health insurance option to guarantee affordable, high quality coverage to individuals like my patients who are not served by the employer based system. It is simply unacceptable that hard-working individuals stricken with illness cannot afford their medical bills.