Press release from World Congress

3rd Annual World Health Care Congress convenes in Washington, DC to discuss current state and future challenges of health care in the US

WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- President Bush, in his videotaped address, spoke of the success his administration has had in making health care reform more of a consumer-driven issue through Health Savings Accounts. President Bush said, "Over the past year the number of Health Savings Account owners has tripled from 1 million to 3 million." The Bush administration is turning health care into a consumer-controlled industry by putting doctors and patients in charge of their health. Immediately following, a very lively debate ensued between Senator David Durenberger (R-MN) and Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) regarding the current administration's health care proposal.

The 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress held in Washington, DC this week brought together executives, academics and politicians in order to find solutions to the challenges that face America's health care in the future. The exchange of ideas, from CEO's such as Ivan Seidenberg from Verizon, from academics such as Uwe Reinhardt from Princeton, and even from Allan Hubbard, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director, set the foundation for industry and government to better support healthcare users (i.e. Americans). A number of speakers at the conference used the event to make major announcements, such as Wal-Mart and Microsoft, while several keynote speeches were able to set the tone of industry, government and academia for items such as Medicare, Avian Flu and cheaper access to helpful drugs.

Wal-Mart used the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress to announce significant changes in health benefits for part-time workers. These changes include shortening the waiting period for company health insurance from two years of employment to one year; providing part-time employees with the ability to cover their children; offering a policy option for as little as $11 per month; and expanding the pharmaceuticals available under a $3 co-pay arrangement. The company will also offer employees a discount on healthy foods sold at company stores. Microsoft also used the conference to announce its vision and solutions framework for the health plan industry, aimed at enabling health plans to realize business efficiencies that ultimately improve the affordability of healthcare.

Keynote: The Global Perspective

J.P. Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, discussed challenges and proposed solutions to inadequate access to health care in both developing and industrialized countries. A highlight of his talk regarded finding solutions for developing countries, including building the infrastructure to deliver health care and working to make drugs more widely available. Garnier said, "We need to develop and make drugs available to poor countries at really, really low prices." In Mr. Garnier's view, the U.S. needs some form of national health insurance, but the health system must be privatized. He said that government's role is to regulate, not micromanage, and he believes legal reform is necessary. Going further, Mr. Garnier said that government should also target major risk factors such as obesity; health care must be thought of not in silos, but holistically in terms of diseases; and that the country must address diseases such as Alzheimer's through innovation. In both developing and developed countries, Mr. Garnier noted that visionary leaders with political will are required.

Keynote: Pandemics and Preparedness

The UN's coordinator for Avian Influenza, the director of the CDC, and the interim CEO of the Red Cross discussed the impact of a pandemic and achieving preparedness. The threat of a pandemic is real as Avian Flu is spreading rapidly across Europe and Africa. World Health Care Congress attendees, a group of over 1500 doctors, medical executives, CEO's and policy makers, believe the likelihood of a human pandemic is high; about 50% believe a pandemic will occur in the next 5 years. Only 35% say their organizations have a pandemic preparedness plan. Jack McGuire, Interim President and CEO, American Red Cross said, "The level of preparedness is directly related to the level of response." The consequences of a pandemic could be enormous in human, economic, and political terms; the potential scale could challenge the capacity of the health care system. The
UN/CDC/Red Cross panel noted that the strategy is to stop the influenza in animals and prevent the emergence in humans. If it does emerge, the objective is to contain and mitigate it. Speed is the key. It requires coordination, connectivity, and communication. Preparedness must be led by a high-ranking official, and involves international cooperation, coordination at a local level, and public/private collaboration.

Keynote: Microfinance -- Improving Economic and Health Status in Developing Countries

Muhammad Yunus recounted the history of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and described the outgrowth into social business enterprises. When established banks refused to lend to the poor of Bangladesh because they lacked credit, Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of micro-lending. He started in 1976 with $27, which enabled loans to 42 people. Grameen Bank now has 16,000 employees and has loaned to 6 million people in Bangladesh. After opening 380 branches last year, Grameen will open 500 branches this year. The bank is focused on loaning to the poorest of the poor, with a specific program which has provided loans of roughly $10 to 70,000 beggars. These loans provide poor individuals with the ability to start their own businesses. Muhammad Yunus noted that, "People have enormous capacity. We need to unleash that capacity." Mr. Yunus went on to say that the concept of micro-finance is applicable around the world because the basic concept and the basic needs of people are the same everywhere. Grameen has recently created a social business enterprise joint venture with Dannon to produce
nutritious, fortified yogurt at very low cost for the people of Bangladesh. This enterprise will make minimal profits, but will create jobs and improve the health of those in Bangladesh. It represents a model for other social enterprise ideas.

Keynote: Perspectives from Leading Purchasers

The CEOs of Verizon, Pitney Bowes, and CIGNA, and the executive director of The Permanente Federation discussed what is needed to reduce escalating health costs. The chief executives agree that unbridled health costs threaten to wipe out profits and hurt competitiveness, requiring employers to act. Also, in addition to addressing costs, employers have a stake in maintaining a healthy and productive workforce. Pitney Bowes is investing (with positive ROI) to keep employees from developing costly chronic conditions. Michael Critelli, Chairman and CEO, Pitney Bowes said, "Managing costs instead of health creates both poorer health and higher costs." Mr. Critelli noted that employers want employees to take greater control of their health and, in addition, employees should have more personalization of their care, more tailored benefits, more portability, and better information to make decisions. Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon, said, "It is not the cost I want to shift to employees; it is the responsibility."

Keynote: Wiring the Nation

Dr. David Brailer, DHHS's Coordinator for National Health Information Technology, and leading health system executives discussed the evolving U.S. health care technology infrastructure. DHHS efforts have focused on getting the public to understand what needs to be done in creating a health IT infrastructure, why this needs to be done, and specifically who is supposed to make this a reality. Brailer sees government's role as guiding the market. Guidance involves creating IT standards, certifying products to create trust, creating rules for data privacy and security, coordinating policy making, and creating demonstration projects. Dr. Brailer said, "It is clear there is market failure. We are seeking a 'guided market' that smoothes the ability for the market to function." Beyond IT, Dr. Brailer explained that changing health care requires changing business processes away from episodic to continuous care, and changing the financial incentives to pay providers differently - not for units of work but overall care.

Keynote: Innovation vs. Access

GE's Dr. Robert Galvin facilitated a conversation on innovation vs. access between MediCare/MedicAid Administrator Dr. Mark McClellan and Economics Professor Uwe Reinhardt from Princeton University. Of note from the conversation was that price-setting on drugs would not necessarily lower costs and could decrease innovation -- something that the attendees to this year's World Health Care Congress agreed with. Dr. McClellan said the focus shouldn't be price, but value. Medicare's financial incentives must change from paying for volume to paying for value. This requires looking not at the cost of a unit of care, but at holistic care. Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, said, "Medicare's payment is based on volume; it needs to change to be based on value." Determining coverage policy for costly new drugs with small marginal benefit is sensitive. Dr. McClellan said the key is to get evidence on the benefits. Dr. Reinhardt noted that a cost/benefit standard (in terms of cost per life-year) will have to be determined, as has been done in England. Dr. Reinhardt said if a treatment costs more than this standard, Medicare won't pay, but consumers may be able to pay out of pocket. Also, better systems are required to track drug effectiveness post-market. Much effort takes place before a drug is approved, but little monitoring is done to determine what really works and how well it works; therefore, an evidence database is required. Dr. Reinhardt said that government should fund this as a public good. The panel showed how academics and politicians are both focused on measuring quality and translating the measures of quality into useful information.

Keynote: Consumer Choice

The CEOs of UnitedHealth and Vanguard and the president of Consumers Union discussed how greater consumer choice in health care is inevitable, is happening, and is a positive force. UnitedHealth believes the entire health system must change to become consumer centric, where benefits, tools, resources, and information must all be tailored to individual consumers and their specific needs. The future health system will be supported by technology and integrated, interoperable databases. And, it will be integrated with financial services. "Everything to make a better health system is available, but we haven't put it together," said William McGuire, MD, Chairman and CEO, UnitedHealth Group. As evidence, over the past 25 years, the 401k market has evolved to a consumer market. The keys in this evolution have been education, technology enablement, providing good choices, and learning and adapting. Consumers Union has found over the last 70 years that in all categories, consumers want information that is clear, relevant, and unbiased, that is based on sound independent research, and that is easily available.

About World Congress

World Congress is the producer of The World Health Care Congress, The World Health Care Congress -- Europe, The Care Continuum Congress, The World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress, The Health & Human Capital Management Congress, and The World Congress Leadership Summit Series. World Congress events convene CEOs and senior executives from all segments of the healthcare industry, with the latest thought leaders and case studies, representing innovative, solution-oriented approaches to make significant advances in healthcare cost and quality.