UnitedHealth Group President and CEO Stephen J. Hemsley Supports Systemic Modernization That Helps Controls Costs and Improves Health Care Quality and Access 

DETROIT (April 16, 2009) – The effort to modernize our nation’s health care system will be a “generational journey” that must begin now, UnitedHealth Group President and CEO Stephen J. Hemsley said in a speech today to the Detroit Economic Club.  During the speech, Mr. Hemsley commented on shifting the emphasis from reform to sustainable and comprehensive modernization of the health care system that will help slow the rise of medical costs and improve the quality of and access to health care for every American.

“The escalating costs of health care cannot be attributed to one or two items or areas in the system – it is not all doctors’ fees and hospital rates or insurance premiums or tax policy or new drugs and diagnostic testing.  In fact, the problem is systemic,” said Mr. Hemsley. 

Today, the nation spends $2.6 trillion on health care annually, representing approximately 18 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.  Rising health care costs limit the country’s ability to extend coverage to more citizens, threaten the viability of our social safety net, and negatively impact the U.S. budget and the vitality of American industry, he said.

Mr. Hemsley added, “We find ourselves standing at a moment in time when we finally appear to have the singular opportunity to begin to truly modernize health care. This is the opportunity, the responsibility and perhaps the destiny of this generation.”

He noted that “there will be those who say that it will be hard to get all the detail of what comprehensive modernization needs to look like into a legislative package this year – and therefore the national reform effort should be slowed down. I, for one, don’t believe that.” Mr. Hemsley added, “UnitedHealth Group believes that with goodwill, it should be possible for the main stakeholders to come to a sensible agreement on the broad outline of a pragmatic, but far-reaching set of proposals that will help slow cost growth, improve access and raise quality.”

Recognizing the important steps taken by President Obama and the Congress with the passage of the economic stimulus legislation and the targeted expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Mr. Hemsley noted that we must “execute well on what we have recently done and build on what is already working.”

As the country begins to address health care modernization, Mr. Hemsley identified three, interrelated components – resources, responsibility, and rules – that must be considered in every change that is made.  “We want to optimize health care resources and the delivery of health care to achieve a better cost environment.  We need to drive social education and healthy lifestyle and behaviors, along with more responsible, informed use of our expensive health care resources,” he said.  And, the legacy rules, regulations and health care policies that currently exist must be modernized and simplified with a “view toward overall cost optimization.”

Key leaders and partners in the modernization effort will be federal and state governments.  “Think about government as a strategic change agent, initiating modernization efforts by setting broad, but clear goals, timeframes and measures on critical areas for advancement.  This is combined with the years of knowledge gained by the private sector on the elements of success and change management processes necessary to reach these goals.  This would constitute a true public-private partnership driving toward common goals,” said Mr. Hemsley.

He concluded: “In short, my message is this:  Now is the time for comprehensive health care modernization.  To expand coverage, we have to tackle costs and quality.  The good news is:  We do actually know how to do this.  And at UnitedHealth Group, we are committed to sharing these practical ideas with policy makers – on payment reform, on strengthening primary care, on reducing health disparities, on engaging consumers and on preventing illness.”

Mr. Hemsley’s speech to the Detroit Economic Club builds on the foundation of six principles for health care modernization developed by UnitedHealth Group.  The principles are guiding the company’s engagement in the national health reform debate.  The principles are:

• Build upon the foundation of employer-based health coverage;
• Optimize public resources;
• Employ progressive approaches to health care benefits;
• Modernize the way care is delivered to improve affordability and quality;
• Modernize Medicare; and,
• Make technology an enabling force for better health care.

To view the UnitedHealth Group principles for health care modernization go to:
www.unitedhealthgroup.com/publicpolicy/041609HealthReformPrinciples.pdf

To view the full text of the Detroit Economic Club speech go to:
www.unitedhealthgroup.com/publicpolicy041609HemsleyRemarksDetroit.pdf

About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making health care work better. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through six operating businesses: UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, AmeriChoice, OptumHealth, Ingenix, and Prescription Solutions. Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves more than 70 million individuals nationwide.

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