States are leading the way in addressing the issues of affordable healthcare, quality of care and access to care in the United States, according to a new issue brief announced last week by the National Governors Association.
The issue brief, released by the NGA Center for Best Practices and titled Leading the Way: State Health Reform Initiatives demonstrates that states are taking broad approaches to reform by using a combination of strategies.
"Governors cannot wait for federal solutions to the rising cost of healthcare and the growing number of the uninsured," the report says. "As a result, healthcare reform efforts at the state level have been a priority for governors in recent years."
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Pa.), vice-chair of NGA, said governors recognize that creative solutions are needed to address rapidly rising costs and facilitate access to care.
Rendell said his state's Prescription for Pennsylvania program is an example of how Pennsylvania has implemented affordable quality healthcare by providing small businesses and the uninsured healthcare options through the private insurance market.
According to NGA Chair and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.), Minnesota has leveraged expertise from public and private sectors to create QCare, a quality standard for rewarding healthcare performance and improving outcomes.
The briefing recounts a number of ways states have implemented reform:
- increasing coverage through expansions of Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or other public programs
- increasing coverage through premium assistance programs and small business incentives
- using a state-defined benefit package to allow individuals to receive basic health services through private insurers
- improving quality and increasing prevention and wellness by instituting pay-for-performance evaluations, electronic data exchange and early treatment of preventable diseases
The NGA issue brief offers a comprehensive state-by-state snapshot of existing, underway and proposed health reform efforts across the country, NGA said.
In the same vein, a report released last month by the Association for Community Affiliated Plans suggests how Medicaid can be applied as a turnkey solution for healthcare reform instigated by the states.