WASHINGTON – The Social Security Advisory Board has released a report calling on policymakers to find lasting solutions to the long-term problem of escalating healthcare costs.
The report, "The Unsustainable Cost of Health Care," details how healthcare costs are rising faster than the incomes of workers, retirees and governments. If unaddressed, the advisory board warns, this trend will undermine the economic security of workers and retirees and place enormous strain on government budgets.
In the worst-case scenario, retirees will have less of their relatively fixed incomes to spend on anything other than healthcare. As employers' costs rise, workers will see their wages grow more slowly or even fall at exactly the same time as their need to save more for their own retirement and healthcare is increasing, the report notes.
Making the U.S. healthcare delivery system more efficient, the advisory board stated, is the key to reducing costs over the long run.
"As we developed our report, we saw widespread variations in medical practices with commensurate variations in the costs of services delivered but virtually no evidence that high-cost treatment patterns were delivering superior outcomes," said Board Chairman Sylvester J. Schieber.
The report draws on findings from several institutions, such as Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. Through the use of evidence-based coordinated clinical processes, the report says, Intermountain has demonstrated it's possible to deliver higher quality care at lower costs.
Changing how the nation pays for healthcare can play an important role in slowing cost growth over time. The report says policymakers should be aware that the current fee-for-service model creates incentives for healthcare providers to give more, but not necessarily better, care.
Payment methods that encourage healthcare providers to place greater emphasis on effective and efficient care can encourage both cost and quality goals, the report claims. It also asserts that consumers need better incentives to seek out the best value care when making decisions that are in the best interest of their health.
Congress created the independent, bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board to advise the president, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.
Appointments to the board are made by the president, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate.
