McClellan calls on NRHA members to share ideas, provide health reform leadership
More than 900 rural health rock stars are gathered in Austin, Texas, the live music capital of the world this week.
And keynote speaker Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, recognized their ability to influence positive change.
“Real health care reform isn’t going to come from Washington; it’s going to come from ideas you have,” Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, told 900 NRHA members on Wednesday. McClellan is director of the Brookings Institution Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and a former CMS administrator and FDA commissioner.
“These are challenging times, but we need your leadership now more than ever,” he said.
McClellan provided both legislative and judicial updates and predictions on the Affordable Care Act.
“It’s a live issue,” he said. “Those (provisions) already taking place probably won’t be overturned… Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, our current system for access to affordable care isn’t working. These issues will be with us into 2012 and beyond.”
He provided four “key elements to achieving real health care reform” that he said are each framed around providing better quality care at lower costs:
- · Measurement and evidence
- · Payment
- · Insurance choice
- · Benefits
McClellan also highlighted several rural accountable care organizations (ACO) pilot programs in Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington.
“There was an intent in ACO regulation to recognize many special issues that arise in these programs for organizations in rural areas,” he assured NRHA members.