Make Your Move /
Health Reform & the Commercial Marketplace
May 4, 2009 | Washington, DC

Agenda /

7:30 am-5:00 pm / Registration

8:00-8:30 am / Networking Breakfast

8:30-8:45 am / Welcome and Introduction

8:45-9:30 am / Threading the Needle:  The Policies and Politics of Reform

Healthcare reform advocates must navigate a complex political system to build support for their agendas.  Effective reform will require inclusion of and consensus from various healthcare stakeholders, including commercial market players.  What steps can reformers take to be successful?  How might they have the best shot at building the necessary consensus?  Panelists will detail lessons learned from previous health reform attempts, and discuss the forces that make our current situation unique.

9:30-10:30 am / Creating Choice or Crowding-Out?: The Public Plan Option

Healthcare reform promises to change strategies and operations for insurers, but nobody knows exactly what direction health benefit design will ultimately head.  Currently, one of the most hotly debated issues is whether a public plan should be created to compete “side-by-side” in the commercial marketplace.   Panelists will present opposing viewpoints– outlined in recent papers – on whether a public option should be included in health reform.  Will such a plan effectively control healthcare costs without moving patients out of the private market?  Or will it reduce hospital and physician revenue while shifting costs to consumers?

10:30-10:45 am / Refreshment Break

10:45-11:30 am / Investing for the Future:  Capital Flow Demands and Healthcare Reform

The recent financial collapse has made it increasingly difficult for hospitals, physician groups, and nursing homes to access capital.  Health reform proposals contemplate significant changes in care delivery and payment, but will these efforts ensure that providers have adequate cash flow to fulfill missions, obligations, and push innovations?  Panelists will give a CEO-level viewpoint on how to navigate through financial challenges and how investors view the imminent changes to the healthcare marketplace, particularly in light of current economic conditions.

11:30 am-12:00 pm / A Balancing Act: Designing Insurance Benefits that Protect Beneficiaries and Manage Federal Costs

12:00-12:30 pm / Framing the Health Reform Landscape

12:30-1:30 pm / Networking Lunch

1:30-2:15 pm / Keynote Address

2:15-3:00 pm / Shifting the Curve: Technology and Cost Control

Controlling the growth of health care costs is essential to expand access, improve affordability, and manage federal entitlement spending.  The drivers of cost growth include increased demand, new technologies and treatments, and misaligned incentives between payers, patients, and providers.   New tools, including new benefit designs, improved transparency, innovative payment models, and comparative-effectiveness research are aimed at better informing healthcare decision-making and aligning incentives.  What are the drivers of cost growth? How will the federal government’s choice of cost control methods change the way manufacturers and payers pursue their business strategies or impact patient access to therapies?  What will be the impact of these tools on technology use and future innovation? 

3:00-3:15 pm / Refreshment Break

3:15-4:00 pm / Meeting the Promise: Coverage Expansion and System Capacity

Coverage expansions will likely increase demand for healthcare products and services by insuring millions of people that currently lack health insurance.  What service lines will experience the biggest shift in demand?  Is our insurance system prepared to meet these needs?  Do we have enough primary care providers?  Where are the greatest areas for business opportunities and tensions, and who stands to benefit most from potential shifts?  Participants will hear panelists’ perspectives on what lessons can be learned from recent program expansions such as Medicare’s Part D program and various state-based efforts.

4:00-4:45 pm / Linking the Players:  Chronic Care Coordination with 21st-Century Technology

The economic stimulus package and recently passed CHIP authorization both include significant funds to promote the use of health information technology (HIT) as a way to improve care coordination and quality.  How will new payment incentives, increased support for HIT, and the emergence of new models of care delivery shape decision-making by physicians, hospitals, and payers?  Moreover, will the incentives contained in these measures promote widespread adoption of electronic health records and other forms of HIT?

4:45-5:00 pm / Concluding Remarks

5:00-6:00 pm / Networking Reception