Schwarzenegger at summit puts focus on technology; Angelides dismisses meeting as a tardy campaign ploy
Contra Costa Times (California)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for improved medical record technology throughout the state and 500 new health clinics at elementary schools during a wide-ranging health summit Monday.
The governor brought together more than 100 leaders from business, labor unions, universities and patient advocacy groups to explore ways to clamp down on soaring health care costs and to insure more people. Nearly 6 million Californians lack health insurance.
“I want to drive this all the way until we have coverage for everyone,” the governor said.
Schwarzenegger said he hopes by January to develop a plan for health care reform.
Critics dismissed the gathering as an election-year ploy. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, released his own five-point health plan in Los Angeles on Monday and criticized Schwarzenegger for just now tackling the issue.
“No governor in recent California history has cared less about health care or done less to expand and improve it than Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Angelides said.
One consumer group said the governor’s summit ignored the two major causes of rising health costs — bloated insurer overhead and drug company profits.
Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said the governor ignored the “900-pound gorilla in the room” because he has received $775,200 from insurance companies and HMOs and $1.08 million from drug companies since 2003.
Many of the participants in the governor’s forum said they found the wide-ranging discussion invigorating, while acknowledging that it will take deadlines and leadership to produce results.
“I’m enthusiastic about bringing these players together,” said Dr. William Walker, director of Contra Costa Health Services and an invited participant.
Walker briefly talked to the group about the Contra Costa Health Plan, an innovative program that includes Medi-Cal recipients, county workers and some private business employees, and also provides care to many uninsured residents.
The governor announced he has signed an executive order directing state agency leaders to develop plans for spending at least $240 million to expand medical record technology in rural communities and among “safety net” health providers serving the poor.
Schwarzenegger also requested ideas for developing public-private partnerships to enable hospitals and physicians to speed up their acquisition of such technology.
The goal is to move beyond paper records in individual doctor’s offices. Advocates see technology as a way to ensure ready access to patient information from a variety of locations, reduce medical errors and better coordinate health care providers.
“We’re not going to solve the problems of the 21st Century without using 21st Century technology,” agreed Dr. Robert Pearl of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser has a comprehensive computerized record system often used for medical studies.
In his executive order, the governor calls for a forum on health technology and asks state agency heads to report within 60 days of the forum and to begin a technology program by next July 1.
No clear consensus emerged on how to produce broader health care reform, a much bigger challenge. Many participants agreed that controlling costs and ensuring everyone has access to health care should be top priorities. Several speakers said making sure all children are insured would be a good start.
The event split the labor community, with some opting to participate and others, such as Rose Ann DeMoro of the California Nurses Association, branding it as a political stunt.
One of the major problems, said Andy Stern, national president of Service Employees International Union, is that people no longer work for the same company for decades and employers are moving away from providing health care, pensions and other benefits. Many workers now have “self-managed work lives,” he said, yet the nation lacks the infrastructure to enable people to do this well.
“The truth is employers and employees are separating and are on their way to getting a divorce,” Stern said.
Angelides announced his health care plan at a town hall forum Monday in Los Angeles. He called for providing health insurance to all California children through the Healthy Families program, requiring large corporations to provide health care for workers and their families, appointing new leaders at the state Department of Managed Care to crack down on HMOs earning excessive profits, forcing drug companies to provide affordable drugs and giving people the opportunity to purchase safe drugs via the Internet.
Schwarzenegger released a prescription drug plan of his own over the weekend. His would apply to people who earn up to three times the federal poverty level, or $60,000 for a family of four. Drug companies would have five years to voluntarily provide 40 percent discounts on brand-name prescriptions and 60 percent discounts on generic medicines. If they failed to do so, they could be banned from participating in the Medi-Cal program.
—————
Reach staff writer Sandy Kleffman at 925-943-8249 or [email protected]
