|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: |
Ignagni: Reform Needs to Happen
Speech to AHIP’s annual state issues conference
Washington, DC – AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni today affirmed health plans’ strong support for comprehensive, bipartisan health care reform that covers all Americans, improves quality, and makes care more affordable.
Speaking at AHIP’s annual state issues conference, Ignagni said the experience in the states has shown that insurance market reforms need to be paired with a commitment to universal coverage to keep coverage as affordable as possible.
Ignagni also encouraged Congress to make a renewed, system-wide effort to hold down the rising cost of medical care to put the health care system on an affordable, sustainable path. AHIP has called for bending the health care cost curve by 1.5 percentage points annually by rewarding best practices, shrinking the wide variation in care, expanding care coordination, and equipping doctors and patients to make decisions based on what works.
AHIP last year issued a reform proposal to achieve universal coverage, make pre-existing conditions a thing of the past, and discontinue rating based on health status or gender. AHIP has also released far-reaching proposals to modernize the delivery system to improve the affordability, safety, and quality of care.
These proposals reflect the concerns that were raised by the American people during a nationwide listening tour AHIP conducted last year. The listening tour featured open roundtables with uninsured individuals, small business owners and employees, union members, physicians and other providers, and working families from diverse communities.
