AHPI Governors Chart Course Ahead as Health Care Picture Remains Blurred

Federal Health Care Reform

At their annual meeting last week, Governors of the American Health Policy Institute examined various systemic challenges facing employment-based health care, with AHPI Chair Marc Reed, Chief Administrative Officer at Verizon Communications Inc., noting: "If we really want to know where we'll be five to ten years out, now is the time to start laying down the seed."  In a discussion of the health care landscape, Brian Klepper, Principal at Healthcare Performance, Inc., stated, "The only way for us to beat [the cost curve] is to focus on organizations that are proven to get a better result at a lower cost... This is the best discussion about health care and the changes that need to happen that I have ever heard."  The meeting also included a frank discussion of opioid abuse led by Marty Gervasi, Chief Human Resources Officer at the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., who noted: "The toll is extraordinary.  Overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50 years old, and there is no doubt this problem will continue to evolve."  Mr. Reed observed: "The reason we have AHPI is to provide this type of diagnostic evidence-based research that hopefully broadens the discussion beyond the simple questions of access and winner and losers.  We look at the whole value stream and address issues such as excess."  Other topics covered at the meeting included: 

• Insights and updates from key Congressional and Administration officials;
• The impact of higher cost pressure and unfavorable return on investment on employers and how certain employers are addressing those issues; and
• A description by AHPI CEO Tevi Troy of the upcoming studies the Institute is preparing.