Address the Cost Healthcare or We Haven’t Truly Reformed Healthcare

On a recent CNBC Business News interview with Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, they asked him a few questions about healthcare reform and what his feelings were regarding the upcoming bill that is likely to pass. He talked about:

• how they would handle what Congress would be passing
• what impact it would have on Aetna
• how much government intervention would occur within Aetna

But one of the most intriguing comments I heard him say was at the end of the interview when he said that:

Until we address the things that fundamentally drive the COST of healthcare, we haven't truly reformed healthcare.

We at NCN wholeheartedly agree with that!

We can talk about providing access, we can talk about the increase in taxes, we can talk about the uninsured and providing coverage, but until we address how we appropriately pay and manage the costs associated with healthcare, whatever system is in place will surely fail.

 

Dwight Mankin (dmankin@NCNelink.com) is President of NCN, a healthcare cost management company.