Panelists: Health care reform is needed for Alabama

Four experts in Birmingham’s health care community said Wednesday President Barack Obama should amend his health care reform efforts by focusing more on cutting costs through tort reform, education and technology.

During the Birmingham Business Journal’s breakfast panel discussion titled “Obama Health Care Plan: How will it impact Alabama,” the panelists said Alabama’s obesity epidemic and overutilization of health care services are driving up the costs of medical insurance.

Educating the state’s population and providing incentives to promote healthier lifestyles would cut costs and that would eventually translate to lower health care premiums, they said at the forum held at Samford University’s Brock Recital Hall.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System CEO Will Ferniany said dollars spent on education do more to cut costs than money spent on health care delivery and health care reform is critical to the nation’s economic health as it competes in a global economy. Ferniany said U.S. firms are at a disadvantage because of skyrocketing health care costs.

“Health care is an important part of our economy,” Ferniany said.

BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama Chief Operating Officer Terry Kellogg said a state’s education level directly correlates to the health of its population. Alabama lags behind most of the country in both categories.

Kellogg favors incentives for people who engage in healthy behaviors. He said some large companies will see some premium savings for their employees’ participation in healthy living programs, although those savings won’t trickle down to smaller firms.

Lenora Pate, Sirote & Permutt’s health care practice group chair, doubts Obama’s plan for a public insurance option will come to fruition. She said reform likely will come through simple and incremental measures, not the sweeping overhaul Obama started the year with.

Two elements being debated are the creation of state health pools or allowing insurance companies to offer plans across state lines. BlueCross’ Kellogg didn’t see those options driving down prices.

Dr. Judith Favor said tort reform is needed to cut health care costs. She said 40 percent of health care costs are associated with defensive medicine and malpractice insurance. Curtailing frivolous lawsuits and capping malpractice monetary awards would help physicians drive costs by eliminating many unnecessary or redundant procedures.

“It’s amazing (tort reform) has not been at the forefront of the debate,” Favor said.