AHA’s Hatton, Panel Discuss Health Care Prices

Reducing regulations and expanding care models that ensure coordination and reward performance are two ways to address health care prices, AHA General Counsel Melinda Hatton said today during a Kaiser Family Foundation panel discussion focused on the issue. “We have been big supporters of new models of care that reward quality and outcomes,” said Hatton, encouraging more experimentation with these types of models. In addition, Hatton highlighted the AHA’s Value Initiative, which the association launched last year to provide hospital and health system leaders with the education, resources and tools that they need to advance affordable health care and promote value within their communities. Kris Haltmeyer, vice president for health policy and analysis at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; Jenny Bryant, senior vice president of policy and research at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; Robert Murray, former executive director of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission; and Martin Gaynor, professor of economics and health policy at Carnegie Mellon University also participated on the panel, which discussed a wide range of issues. The panelists discussed a number of factors contributing to health care prices, including drug prices. “The focus I think needs to be on the list price of drugs,” said Haltmeyer, saying he hopes President Trump’s announcement on this issue later this week will take a close look at that. As part of the forum, KFF released two new analyses examining health care prices and utilization in the U.S. compared to other countries, and variations in prices in employer plans.