Among the next steps needed to control medical costs is arming the consumer with information on the quality and costs of the area’s hospitals and doctors, health insurance executives said Wednesday at a seminar hosted by Albany insurance agency Rose & Kiernan at The Desmond Albany Hotel.
“Transparency” is the buzz word for getting more information on the quality and cost of care to consumers — information that could help them choose the right place to get an MRI or make wise out-of-pocket expenditures if they have a high-deductible health plan, MVP Health Care President Denise Gonick said.
The insurers already have the information, and use it to make all manner of judgments, including which medical practices to reward financially for providing effective care. Now they must use it to drive consumer decision-making, said Dr. Kirk Panneton, BlueShield of Northeastern New York regional executive and medical director.
What insurers have been grappling with is how to present cost and quality information in a user-friendly format that will prove useful to consumers, CDPHP Senior Vice President Robert Hinckley said in remarks after the panel discussion.
Controlling rising costs of prescription drugs was another recurring theme of the early-morning session. The escalating costs of specialty medicines were among the issues contributing to multimillion-dollar losses experienced by all three local health insurers last year.
The health insurance executives also discussed uncertainties related to continued opposition to the federal Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
In 2017, states can apply to the federal government to amend their Obamacare exchanges. Some states might use these waivers to create single-payer health plans, in which state taxpayers cover the costs of all residents’ care, Hinckley said. He predicted that was unlikely in New York, but noted that a bill that would allow a single-payer system passed the state Assembly in the spring. A public health insurance option that would run parallel to a private insurance system failed to make it into the federal law five years ago.
Date: September 9, 2015