Richard L. Gundling, FHFMAVice President, Product Development, HFMA
During President Bush’s State of the Union address, expect to see health care take a front seat in his domestic agenda for the country. Being in his second term, he will be more willing to take the political difficulties of “reforming” health care. Recent reports have cited that health care now represents 16 percent of the economy and growing faster than personal incomes, and the number of uninsured is growing as well. He’ll use this as a call to action. President Bush is expected to call for a market-based approach to reform. These will include pushing the principles of consumer-directed health care with increased pricing transparency, mechanisms to make patients and providers more cost conscious, and public disclosure of quality measures. The adoption of the electronic health record is also a key initiative. These are all important components of reform. However, he can’t leave out the government’s role—meaning Medicare, Medicaid, and efforts to extend healthcare coverage. Though ideologically, President Bush may want to believe government won’t be heavily involved. The government already pays for more than half the nations’ health care and can’t be left out of the equation for reform. Reform efforts will doomed if he does.
Update: See HFMA News for a preview of how the President plans to address healthcare costs in the State of the Union address.
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