Special to the American
As Congress reconvenes, at the top of the legislative agenda is ground-breaking legislation to reshape and reform the ailing American health care system. And three area members of Congress will be armed with fresh information gained at a health care reform event held recently in St. Louis.
U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) Missouri and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) hosted a bipartisan Congressional Healthcare Listening Post at Christian Hospital – BJC Healthcare. They were joined by a panel of health care providers, insurers, prescription drug providers, labor leaders and patient advocates.
Clay said there are five key questions that “are at the heart of this critical issue that affects every American”:
* What are the highest priorities that we must address?
* What steps must be taken to reduce current health care costs and cost growth?
* How should healthcare reform be financed?
* How can we use reform as an opportunity to improve quality of care?
* And what about the role of the public and private sectors?
Clay said, “The answers to these five questions are going to drive the national conversation about: How do we cover the uninsured? How do we contain healthcare costs? How do we reduce health care disparities? And ultimately, how do we transform America’s health care system from a sickness model to a prevention model?”
Like Clay, Emerson stressed the bipartisan nature of the forum.
“This is a group that crosses political boundaries, and that’s extremely important because it will require solutions from Republicans and Democrats to attack the crisis in health care unfolding in our country,” Emerson said.
“It will also require experts from the policy side of health care as well as practitioners, administrators, advocates, insurers and educators.”
Carnahan was realistic about the enormity of the problem.
“Forty-six million Americans, one and a half million living right here in Missouri, are uninsured. Most of these people work, and are left without preventative care options, costing taxpayers much more when they get sick and head to area emergency rooms,” Carnahan said.
“Reforming health care will strengthen our middle class, help businesses create jobs and be competitive, rebuild the economy and put our nation on a sound financial footing far into the future.”
Joining Clay, Emerson and Carnahan were 75 area health care stakeholders who participated in the two-hour discussion.
Panelists included: Dr. James Kimmey, President & CEO, Missouri Foundation for Health; Steve Lipstein, CEO, BJC Healthcare; Ilena Aslin, AARP; Robert Fruend, Jr., CEO, St. Louis Regional Health Commission; Dwayne Butler, CEO of People’s Health Centers; Dr. Steve Miller, Chief Medical Officer, Express Scripts, Inc; Trey Davis, Vice President of Governmental Affairs – Missouri Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Dennis Matheis, President, Anthem Blue Cross – Blue Shield; Dr. Nathaniel Murdock, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology – Washington University School of Medicine; Dr. Denise Hooks-Anderson, President, Mound City Medical Forum; Paula M. Gianino, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood-St. Louis Region, and Dr. Will Ross, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Diversity, Associate Professor of Medicine – Washington University School of Medicine.