Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, outlined the five principles he says will “truly change the climate of the healthcare dialogue” in his remarks before the National Health Policy Conference on Feb. 13: universal coverage, “sharing the burden” (including insurance pooling), controlling costs, disease prevention, and shared responsibility. Baucus said he would work to pass legislation to encourage healthcare IT; he also wants to give health researchers access to Medicare databases and identify accurate performance measures.
Baucus further stated that expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program “is the Finance Committee’s first healthcare priority this year.” He also said he planned to “ramp up oversight” of the Medicare drug benefit and of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in addition to exploring whether Medicare Advantage plans should be paid, “on average, 12% more than fee-for-service care.” Read the press release.
