(Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, on the benchmark initiative)
Gov. John Carney has issued an executive order establishing the Health Care Delivery and Cost Advisory Group as part of a long-running effort to rein in rising health costs.
The group will provide feedback to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) on how to measure and report the total cost of health care in Delaware and how to determine metrics across the health care system to create quality benchmarks.
The creation of the advisory group comes five months after the Governor signed House Joint Resolution 7 granting authority to DHSS to establish a benchmark with a growth rate for health care spending linked to the overall economy of the state.
In June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a 50-state analysis of per-capita health care spending showing Delaware had the third-highest rate in 2014 behind only Alaska and Massachusetts.
The CMS analysis of all insurance payers – Medicare, Medicaid and commercial – found that Delaware’s per-capita rate was $10,254, or more than 27 percent above the U.S. average of $8,045. Without changes, the analysis estimates that Delaware’s total health care spending will more than double from $9.5 billion in 2014 to $21.5 billion in 2025.
Factors ranging from the lack of competition among insurance companies, lack of competition among hospitals and poor overall health among Delawareans have been viewed as some of the reasons for the high costs.
“Delaware has consistently ranked among the states that spend the most on health care, yet we’re not seeing the best results,” said Governor Carney. “High costs present a barrier to quality health care, squeeze family budgets, crowd out other important state investments, and prevent businesses from investing in innovation and job creation. We’re committed to addressing this issue, to bringing providers to the table, reducing costs, and improving health outcomes for Delawareans across our state.”
The advisory group will include the DHSS Secretary; Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission; Chair of the Delaware Center for Health Innovation; hospital representatives; representatives from the insurance industry, a licensed physician; a health economist; and a business community representative.
Click here to view the Executive Order.
