10:59 Noel Peterson notes that providers in Minnesota--though highly successful in medical outcomes--get paid less. He notes that California, Florida and other such places have more political power than Minnesota.
A small business owner talks about issues with affordability. He wants more opportunities for risk pooling. Walz discusses the practicality of risk pooling.
Walz notes that there will be some small changes this year and notes that whichever Senator is elected President, he believes that the nation will have 18 months to fix health care issues before the electoral games begins again. Any one of the three will work on it, and Walz believes that it must be accomplished during this window.
10:51 Walz adds that Americans should be able to purchase prescriptions locally.
Andy Parrish of AARP thanks Walz for the forum. Walz asks why the donkey is the back half of their logo. Everyone laughs.
A young man who is self-employed about how lack of affordable health insurance deters innovative young people from striking out on their own to develop their ideas. Walz thanks him for adding the perspective.
Dee, a woman from Mankato expresses concern about the coming cuts to Medicare for doctors. Some won't be able to take new patients. Walz explains how Congress--including Coleman and Kobuchar are working on addressing incentivizing good outcomes.
10:43 Mike ??, the head of a Waseca health care institution summons a number of serious issues--costs, medical education, delayed care in Canada, the cost of malpractice, incentivizing good health habit, and the spectre of rationing expensive care.
Walz thanks him and notes that getting the range of opinion is important. He addresses the importance of individual's take responsibility for preventative measures like diet and exercise.
A man asks Glen Peterson for a definition of single payer insurance. He explains that there are multiple providers but one payer. The other Dr. Peterson then asks to answer the question. Noel Peterson notes the range from market based insurance (USA) to government run health care, citing the example of the UK. He thinks that universal insurance that includes competitive elements are important.
Ghita Worcester clarifies some elements. She notes that health care HMOs are non profit in Minnesota.
Mike Daly from Eagle Lake, from a family of pharmicists wants to know who came up with Medicare Part D and its "doughnut hole." He wants combined bargaining power to be included for negotiating drug costs.
Walz notes that Congress early in his term voted to allow the government to negotiate but Bush has done nothing with it. He explains the creation of Part D by special interests. All parties, including drug companies, should be included in the discussion.
10:29 A man who runs a homeless shelter comments about health care costs in his field. He mentions Congressional health care. He brings up the costs of drugs and alcohol. Walz notes the salary figure the man cited isn't correct since he turned down the pay raise. But he does agree he has good insurance through his job--noting that some who get this great insurance stand on the floor of the house and talk about not insuring others. He notes Jim Ramstad's leadership the passage of the Wellstone Mental Health Parity Act. About half the audience claps.
10:23 Walz says that people want accessible health that's convenient for their schedule. They want to be able to pick their own doctors. They want it to be affordable.
The first question is about the opinion of the insurance company execs toward single payer. Glenn Peterson says he hasn't talked to any of them about it. She also asks about single payer, universal care in China. Walz notes his own experience-American care is much higher quality.
10: 15 The session opens for questions and answers. Walz notes the broad spectrum of opinion on the panel.
10:11 Sharon Kaap, Patient Care Manager at the Owatonna Hospital, explains the hospital's heart failure program, which has led to a drop in deaths from heart failure. The hospital is finding now that psychosis--particularly geriatric--is emerging as a concern
Glenn Peterson, a professor at MSU-M, is making the case for a single-payer system (he's sitting in for Kip Sullivan, a single-payer advocate, who was unable to attend). Is health care a commodity or is it a basic human right? This is the core question and dilemma. He takes the second the second perspective. He begins by noting some of the economic implications of the commodity approach. He mentions the high compensation of CEOs of health care insurance execs. Individuals and businesses are underwriting this cost and layer of private bureaucracy. People with insurance still go bankrupt. The GAO study determined a single-payer system would reduce overhead costs by $300 billion. He brings up other overhead costs. He names the many supporters for single payer systems
9:57 Aileen Kaap is a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association and a RN Case Manager at the Owatonna Hospital She's reading a statement about the way the MNA would like to partner with the rest of the industry. Chief point: universal, single-payer health care.
9: 53 Noel Peterson, retired CEO of Olmsted Medical Center and a Navy man, teases Walz about the superiority of the Navy over the Army (Walz in an Army National Guard vet). He says there are successes in America's health care, but costs are high compared to most other developed countries. This makes it hard for businesses immediately, and also in lost opportunity costs. Doctors are concerned with a second issues: medical outcomes. With all the money we spend, being 29th in life expectancy is disappointing.
Those without insurance use ERs and delay treatment. Moreover, a larger percent of the health dollar ins given to managing five chronic diseases. This is costly. Individuals need to be more responsible in maintaining their health. Accountability is shared by everybody.
Universal coverage and health insurance reform is needed, including guaranteed issued. Transparency of quality is important. Shift is payment is needed--from massive dollars toward chronic disease care to shifting some to preventative care.
9:42 Ghita Worcester, Sr. Vice President, UCare Minnesota, explains UCare's programs and scope. She thanks Walz for his balanced approach to policy issues, citing the example of Medicare Advantage. She suggests there four points she wants to stress: public-private cooperate, the "health care" home, cultural appropriate care for diversity populations, and the need for health care providers to be accountable.
9: 37 Kelly Harder, Director of Human Services of Steele County, explains how his department works with the county commissioners, state legislators and administration, as well as the federal government. He thanks Walz for the recent work on preserving Medicare funding. Harder explodes the stereotypes of those receiving human services. He notes that yes--there's something to the notion that the largest percentage of money goes to single mothers who don't work-- but they're also typically over 80 years old.
Harder mentions the increased need for food aid and other costs.Lack of health care coverage on the part of the poor drives up health care costs because people are not doing preventative care and coming in when their costs are higher. He mentions how streamlining the process of providing health could probably fund universal care. He explains the difference between universal care and single payer, adding that there's no easy way of solving health care coverage insurances.
9:27 Bean explains his company's specialty, which is a truck part. He's a fairly witty guy, though his topic is serious. He's explaining hiw his company has struggled to survive and the difficulty of securing insurance and health savings account programs.
Mark Schoenbaum, Director of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care for the state of Minnesota. He's talking about state directives aimed toward getting health care access for all Minnesotans. He mentions technology issues and the successes of critical care hospitals in rural Minnesota. Given demographics, Medicare is a huge player in rural Minnesota. He notes the changes in Medicare made by Congress several years ago. This included prescription drugs--some of the details of this program are causing difficulties for rural pharmacies. Sixteen communities in Southern Minnesota are over ten miles away from a pharmacy.
9: 15 We're in Owatonna, liveblogging the health care summit. It's a packed house--AARP's Divided We Fail campaign is out in force, wearing red sirts. Walz has given some introductory remarks and he's introducing Bruce Bean, co-owner of delta Waseca, which employs 30 people.
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