WOBURN, Mass., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- CEOs from the Fortune 500 companies Verizon Communications and Pitney Bowes will be rejoined by CEOs of CIGNA and Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals for a spirited discussion of health care issues that are key to purchasers’ ability to remain competitive in the U.S. market.
This informative keynote presentation will examine several key topics, including:
* How rising health care costs impact the competitiveness of the U.S. economy * What purchaser demands are of the health care industry and how this will play out in future * Whether true transparency of health care value for employers is achievable * How leading payer and provider sector initiatives are evolving to meet employer demands
Employers are interfacing with a health care marketplace that is both dynamic and complex. In the shadow of a half-decade of double-digit premium increases, employers are more vocal in their demands on health care payers and providers. They are increasingly turning toward high-deductible health plans, tiered provider networks, cost-sharing, wellness programs, and other measures for encouraging efficient use of health care services. Employers and purchasers are instrumental in the push for quality reporting and transparency that has extended to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hospitals, nursing homes, and others such as California’s Integrated Health Association and the Bridges to Excellence group.
Programming for The World Health Care Congress -- including presentations by leaders of large purchaser organizations such as The Boeing Company, Alcoa, Wal-Mart, Textron, Avon, Wendy’s International, General Electric, Waste Management, Lowe’s and Caterpillar, Inc. -- is designed to provide real-life examples of how employers from all industries are striving to impact quality while containing health care costs. The World Health Care Congress will also feature presentations by high-level representatives of the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, RAND, and leaders from all sectors of the health care industry. Executive delegates in attendance will work to determine actionable goals and implementation strategies for a new health care model that is based on quality, consumer choice, and transparency.
The Congress’ Employer CEO and CFO Summit program features a presentation by U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue on the sustainability of employer-sponsored health care. Mr. Donohue will address several tangential issues such as the role of domestic pressures and international competition in U.S. competitiveness; the impact on purchasers of entitlement programs’ cost-shifting from Medicare and Medicaid; CMS’s quality initiatives; immigration and other solutions to increase the U.S. workforce to help pay Medicare cost forecasts; and a review of aggregate data on payments by private payers and underpayments from Medicare and Medicaid.
“The 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress builds on the success of our previous meetings, advancing the dialog between some of the nation’s most influential purchasers and other health care constituencies,” said World Health Care Congress President Nicole Garratt. “We are pleased to feature leading employers that will provide cutting-edge examples of purchaser-led initiatives that encourage transparency, continuity, and cost-effectiveness in health care delivery.”
ABOUT WORLD CONGRESS AND ITS EVENTS
World Congress is the producer of The World Health Care Congress, The World Health Care Congress-Europe, The World Health Care Innovation and Technology Congress, The Health & Human Capital Management Congress, and The World Congress Leadership Summit Series. World Health Care Congresses convene CEOs and senior executives from all segments of the health care industry, with the latest thought leaders and case studies, representing innovative, solution-oriented approaches to make significant advances in health care cost and quality.
The 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress, co-sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, is the most prestigious meeting of chief and senior executives from all sectors of health care. The 2006 meeting will convene over 1,550 CEOs, senior executives, and government officials from the nation’s largest employers, hospitals, health systems, health plans, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and leading government agencies. For more information, please visit http://www.whcc2006.com.
Contact:
Tracey Fielding, 781-939-2555
The World Health Care Congress
CONTACT: Tracey Fielding of World Health Care Congress, +1-781-939-2555
