NC Health Reform

Why health care reform is more than health insurance reform

Posted on 30. Dec, 2009 in A Closer Look

Sometime over the summer, folks in Washington stopped talking about health care reform and replaced it with health insurance reform. If health insurance change was all that was needed, we could declare the battle nearly over. Since the beginning of the current discussion, health insurers have supported changes that include dropping of pre-existing condition clauses and no longer considering health circumstances when setting premiums.  In addition, almost all insurers, including BCBSNC, routinely cover the kinds of screenings and preventive care that would be required under reform proposals.

However, health insurance reform alone will not solve the cost, quality, service and information challenges.  No one states the need for health system transformation better than Dr. Donald Berwick in his classic 1999 address “Escape Fire.”  In describing his wife’s experience with treatment of a rare chronic condition, Berwick details a system of extremely dedicated and caring professionals but of ineffective and sometimes harmful care.  He also provides key insights about the response of organizations to crisis, using the example of a 1949 Montana “smoke jumper” tragedy that changed the way the country fights fires.

We would encourage you to read the entire address and reflect upon your own experiences in the health system and how we might transform it.