Medicare Rights Identifies Ways Health System Transformation Can Work Better for all New Yorkers

Today, the Medicare Rights Center released a report detailing the role consumer advocates and advocacy organizations can play in the implementation of health care reform efforts—known as health system transformation—designed to change how care is paid for and delivered to achieve improved quality and increased value of health care services in New York.

Medicare Rights enlisted the expertise of a panel of individuals to analyze the current state of health system transformation in New York, focusing specifically on three challenges a changing health system creates for advocacy organizations. These challenges include the need to:

• understand new risks,
• educate consumers and others about new realities, and
• engage consumers in designing, implementing, and monitoring new models.

Additionally, Medicare Rights proposes nine policy principles to aid in the development, implementation, and evaluation of new health system transformation models—specifically, models that affect older adults and people with disabilities—and to inform stakeholders of how to develop new health system transformation models while also keeping consumers and consumer advocacy organizations meaningfully engaged at all stages of implementation.

“Recent health system transformation initiatives are becoming part of the national health care fabric,” said Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center. “The policy principles and recommendations distilled in this report can serve as a guide for how to ensure that any changes to health care delivery and payment systems benefit and protect consumers and caregivers.”

Drawing from the Medicare Rights’ proposed policy principles, the insights of the expert panel, and experience, the report recommends the following actions for government, providers, insurers, and consumer advocacy organizations to make health system transformation work for all New Yorkers and ensure that consumer advocates are prepared for and engaged stakeholders in the development of new health system transformation models:

• Ensure clear communication from all parties.
• Ensure transparency in policies and results.
• Meaningfully engage providers.
• Meaningfully engage consumers.
• Support consumer advocacy organizations.

“Working together, we believe that government, insurers, providers, consumer advocacy organizations, and consumers themselves can build a stronger health care system—one that meets the needs of all people,” said Baker.

Read the report.