Create Positive Incentives to Encourage Patients to be “Prudent Purchasers” of Health Care
Where the Candidates Stand
ACP recommends that federal health programs and private payers create incentives to encourage patients to be prudent purchasers and to participate in their care. Patients should have access to health information necessary for informed decision-making. Cost-sharing provisions should be designed to encourage patient cost-consciousness without deterring patients from receiving needed and appropriate services or participating in their care.
Consumer-directed health care—in which patients are actively involved in medical decision-making and are prudent purchasers of health care—is one strategy for reducing health care costs and improving the efficiency of the health care system. However, for patients to make informed decisions it is essential that they obtain accurate and understandable information necessary for such decision-making. Health systems should provide easy access to information about the actual prices of medical services and available treatment options and patient education about health, diet and nutrition, and preventive health care. Patients should have access not only to information about their own health and treatment options, but also to information that compares the effectiveness and costs of drugs, tests, and medical procedures. Public access to information about the qualifications and performance of physicians, hospitals and other providers of healthcare services would also inform patient decision-making. Achieving a transparent and interactive health information system that enables ready access to valid and reliable data will require collaboration between the public and private sectors.
From ACP’s Position Paper, Achieving a High Performance Health Care System with Universal Access.
Where the Candidates Stand
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
ACP Key Benchmarks for Reform
Create positive incentives to encourage patients to be “prudent purchasers” and to share responsibility for their own health care. Patients should have ready access to health information necessary for informed decision-making. Cost-sharing provisions should be designed to encourage patient cost-consciousness without deterring patients from receiving needed and appropriate services or participating in their care.
The Candidate’s Stand
Clinton proposes $50 million in funding for the development of web tools to educate consumers about performance measures and to promote informed patient choice, including $25 million for a Best Practices Institute. She also proposes providing incentives for patients in federal health programs to participate in chronic care management programs.
For more information visit the Clinton website.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
ACP Key Benchmarks for Reform
Create positive incentives to encourage patients to be “prudent purchasers” and to share responsibility for their own health care. Patients should have ready access to health information necessary for informed decision-making. Cost-sharing provisions should be designed to encourage patient cost-consciousness without deterring patients from receiving needed and appropriate services or participating in their care.
The Candidate’s Stand
An advocate for consumer directed health care, McCain proposes support for making the patient the center of care and placing more prevention and care decisions and responsibility in their hands. He calls for providing consumers with more information on treatment options, in addition to requiring transparency regarding medical outcomes from providers. Further, McCain’s reform proposal places a strong emphasis on personal responsibility in preventing chronic diseases and adhering to treatments following a diagnosis of an illness.
For more information visit the McCain website.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
ACP Key Benchmarks for Reform
Create positive incentives to encourage patients to be “prudent purchasers” and to share responsibility for their own health care. Patients should have ready access to health information necessary for informed decision-making. Cost-sharing provisions should be designed to encourage patient cost-consciousness without deterring patients from receiving needed and appropriate services or participating in their care.
The Candidate’s Stand
Obama proposes requiring providers and hospitals to collect and publicly report their health care quality and costs measures, in addition to requiring health plans to disclose the percentage of premium used for patient care versus administrative costs.
For more information visit the Obama website.
Policy Highlights
Establishing Federal Guidelines Protecting Against Genetic Discrimination![[PDF]](/graphics/new/pdf.gif)
- March 2008
Achieving a High Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the USA Can Learn from Other Countries, at www.annals.org. December, 2007
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