WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- AHIP today encouraged policymakers and health care stakeholders to consider carefully the recommendations of a groundbreaking government report that evaluates the state of competition in the delivery and financing of health care.
The report, a joint effort of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), examines the role of competition in addressing challenges related to health care costs, quality and accessibility. The report identifies numerous barriers to competition that contribute to rising health care costs and inconsistent quality, including unnecessary regulation, distorted incentives and insufficient information about price and quality.
"Today's report should be required reading for anyone interested in promoting access to high-quality, affordable health care. If implemented, many of these common-sense recommendations would give consumers more choices and more information, while incentivizing providers to meet quality and cost standards," said Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of AHIP.
Many of the report's recommendations are aligned with goals that AHIP and its members have been working to achieve for many years, including:
* Developing payment methods for "aligning providers' incentives with
consumers' interests in lower prices, quality improvements and
innovation," and providing consumers with "more information on prices
and quality," and "greater incentives to use such information."
* Discouraging the enactment of legislation that would permit physician
collective bargaining and thereby raise costs for consumers, with no
resulting quality improvements; and
* Considering whether coverage mandates best serve consumers' health care
needs, given that "mandates are likely to limit consumer choice,
eliminate product diversity, raise the cost of health insurance, and
increase the number of uninsured Americans."
"We look forward to working with state and federal agencies, policy leaders, employers, consumers and our members to make progress on implementation of these important recommendations," Ignagni said.
America's Health Insurance Plans -- Providing Health Benefits
to More Than 200 Million Americans
America's Health Insurance PlansCONTACT: Mohit M. Ghose of America's Health Insurance Plans,+1-202-778-8494, or mghose@ahip.org
Web site: http://www.ahip.net/
