By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Nov. 15
A leading member of the Kansas Legislature said today that policymakers should pay attention to a new report that warns that the continued overuse of expensive drugs and technology could put health care costs out of reach.
The report
issued by the Congressional Budget Office said that spending on health care is on course to consume 31 percent of the nation”s Gross Domestic Product by 2035 and 49 percent in 75 years. And contrary to popular assumptions, the report”s authors concluded that increased use of drugs and technology
not aging baby boomers
will be the main cause for the run-up in costs.
“The current financial incentives facing both providers and patients tend to encourage or at least facilitate the adoption of expensive treatments and procedures, even if the evidence about the effectiveness relative to other therapies is limited,” the report stated.
The analysis struck a chord with Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, who has long been concerned about the overutilization of expensive health care services.
“We are spending too much money growing the current system that is broken,” said Barnett, a doctor who chairs both a standing committee on health and the panel that oversees the operations of the Kansas Health Policy Authority. “America cannot sustain this (health spending) growth and remain competitive in the world.”
The CBO report said the reimbursement policies of the Medicare and Medicaid programs should be changed to give doctors and hospitals incentives to provide the most cost- effective care. Caregivers would be guided by “comparative effectiveness” studies, which detail the most effective treatment options for specific conditions and provide a cost-benefit analysis of those options.
Research by Dr. John Wennberg at the Dartmouth Medical School shows that up to one-third of the more than $2 trillion that Americans now spend annually on health care is wasted on unnecessary hospitalizations, unneeded tests, unproven treatments and expensive, cutting-edge drugs.
“To affect medical treatment and reduce health care spending, the results of comparative effectiveness analyses would ultimately have to change the behavior of doctors and patients
that is, to get them to use fewer services or less intensive and less expensive services than are currently projected,” the CBO report said.
Barnett said comparative effectiveness data could help lower expenditures, but only if reimbursement policies require its use.
“We have to start reimbursing for treatments that are proven effective and we have to stop reimbursing for those that are not,” he said.
Barnett said patients also must assume some responsibility. They can”t continue to expect to receive a battery of expensive diagnostic tests, if their condition doesn”t warrant them. And, he said, they can”t expect to get the newest drug on the market if studies indicate it”s significantly more expensive than other effective medications.
“We can”t continue with direct consumer marketing that drives overprescribing,” he said.
-Jim McLean is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
jmclean@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 110.