Congressional Forum: Urgent Need for Health Care Reform
<p>The high cost of health care in the United States—higher than anywhere else in the world and rising faster than our gross domestic product—is taking its toll on families, employers, and government, Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said in <a href="/publications/publication/2009/sep/road-high-performance-health-system-changing-course-and-making">invited testimony</a> before a House of Representatives' Steering and Policy Committee forum this week. </p>
<p>The health reform provisions in the House bill would go a long way toward fixing our broken health system by reducing the number of uninsured and making health insurance more stable and affordable for lower- and middle-income families, Davis said. She also outlined how proposed reforms would improve the quality and efficiency of care and reduce costs—and proposed areas that might be considered in the final bill, such as the creation of an independent commission to coordinate public and private payer payment policies. </p>
<p>"Congress has a historic opportunity to put our health care system on the path to high performance," Davis said. "Though moving in a new direction can be politically difficult, the comprehensive reforms developed by Congress will help spark economic recovery, put the nation back on the road to fiscal responsibility, and ensure that all families are able to get the care they need while having financial security." </p>