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WIN Updates

March- April 2009: White House Regional Forums on Health Reform

Working with Democratic and Republican Governors across the country, the White House has put together five White House Regional Forums on Health Reform. The forums bring together Americans across the region, key health care stakeholders, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle to discuss what must be done to change our health care system. Completed forums took place in Michigan, Vermont, Iowa, and North Carolina. 

A few key concerns that arose out of the first four community discussions were how to lower high medical costs, provide affordable health insurance to all Americans, and teach as well as practice wellness and prevention as an integral part of health care.

Participants stressed the importance of a fast reform of health care, often times citing the increasing number of families that must choose between paying for medical bills or paying for basic life necessities, such as food or shelter. Nancy Ann Deparle, Director of the WH Office of Health Reform, as well as White House Director of Domestic Policy, Melody Barnes, assured attendees that health care is a priority for President Obama. The President hopes to enact health reform legislation by the end of this year.

The last forum will be held in Los Angeles, California, on April 6th, time TBD.

Details are available at http://www.healthreform.gov/whitehouseforums.html

March 31, 2009: Report delivered to Obama from the Health Care Community Discussions

A Report from the December 2008 Health Care Community Discussions was delivered to President Obama. The overarching report summarizes the main concerns and suggestions collected from over 3,200 group reports that were submitted for review by the President’s transition team. The Samueli Institute hosted a Community Discussion on 12/29/08 that included over 150 participants; details and a full report are available http://www.siib.org/news/news-home/WIN-Home/CommunityDiscussion.html .  

After analyzing the information, volunteers found many similarities in identified concerns and solutions offered by the group reports. Concerns centered around four themes: Cost (health insurance premiums, prescription drugs, overall cost of the system), Access (access denial due to pre-existing conditions, poor access to services, inadequate coverage, etc.), Quality (concerns with the overall system, overuse of services, medical errors), and the System (link between employment and insurance, system’s complexity, lack of focus on prevention, coverage gaps). 

Suggested solutions stemmed from four topics: Principles for a Reformed US Health Care System, Roles in a Reformed US Health Care System, Specific Suggestions, and Suggestions for Future Engagement. 

The report is meant to show the commitment by the Administration to enact health reform that is responsive to Americans’ needs. 

Read the full report: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/index.html

February 26, 2009: HELP Hearing

The Senate HELP committee held a second hearing on February 26^th, 2009, titled, “Integrative Care: A Pathway to a Healthier Nation” largely reinforced what was discussed at the “Principles of Integrated Health” hearing held earlier that week, February 23^rd. The panel included Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Andy Weil.  Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) chaired the hearing and other Senators in attendance were Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY). The discussions revolved around implementing a grassroots education of younger generations on health, wellness and prevention, and the creation of a Health Advisory Council in the White House or Congress. All panelists advocated for the creation of a White House or Congress health policy group as presented in the WIN document. 

If you would like to read the witness’ testimony or watch the streaming video, please see the website address below:

http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_02_26/2009_02_26.html

February 23, 2009: HELP Hearing

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing entitled “Principles of Integrated Health: A Path to Health Care Reform.”  Dr. Wayne Jonas, President and CEO of the Samueli Institute, was asked to testify at this hearing. Other panelists included:

• Cathy Baase, MD, Global Director Health Services, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI
• Robert M. Duggan, M.A., M.Ac, President, Tai Sophia Institute, Laurel, MD
• James S. Gordon, MD, Founder and Director, Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington, DC
• Sister Charlotte Rose Kerr, RSM, R.N., B.S.N., M.P.H., M.Ac. (UK), Practitioner and Professor Emeritus, Tai Sophia Institute, Laurel, MD
• Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, R.N., Founder and Director, University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing, Minneapolis, MN
• Herbert Benson, MD, Director Emeritus, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
• Brian M. Berman, M.D., Director, The Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Susan Hartnoll Berman, Executive Director, The Institute for Integrative Health, Baltimore, MD
• Ron Z. Goetzel, Ph.D., Research Professor and Director, Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
• Kathi J Kemper, MD, MPH, FAAP, Caryl J Guth Chair for Complementary and Integrative Medicine; Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC
• Simon Mills, Project Lead, UK Department of Health project: Integrated Self Care in Family Practice, Devon, UK

Senator Mikulski oversaw the hearing, and directed much of the discussion towards the Medical Home approach to health care, focusing on Dr. Cathy Baase’s and Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer’s testimonies regarding their own use of “health coaches” that guide their patients towards a healthier lifestyle in their work and communities. 

Senator Mikulski and the panel agreed that a cultural change and language shift is needed by Congress and the White House to focus health care on patients vs. the current, ineffective and costly focus on insurance. Senator Mikulski specifically emphasized the need to ‘transform’ vs. ‘reform’ health care.   There was a consensus that to start the cultural shift, an office in the White House or Congress needed to be created to ensure the effective and immediate representation of integrative health care.

If you would like to read the witness’ testimony or watch the streaming video, please see the website address below:

http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_02_23/2009_02_23.html

February 23-27, 2009: IOM Health Policy Week

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and The Bravewell Collaborative partnered to convene a health summit that explored the science and practice of integrative medicine for improving patient-centered care and promoting the nation's health. The meeting reviewed the state of the science, assessed the potential and the priorities, and began to identify elements of an agenda to improve understanding, training, practice, and other actions that might help improve the prospects for integrative medicine’s contributions to better health and health care. Experts and patients alike were invited to discuss integrative medicine. The summit examined the ways integrative medicine seeks to address the personal and community environments that shape patients’ knowledge, skills, and support to be active participants in their own care.

The content informed the participants and identified priorities for moving forward, including exploration of both barriers and models of care and clinical programs that work. The summit covered integrative medicine research methodology and ways to measure the interaction of multiple therapies.

February 26, 2009: Samueli Institute Reception

On February 26, 2009, the Samueli Institute hosted an “Integrative Health Care Policy” reception. Attendees included integrative medicine, healthcare policy, and military medicine professionals, participants in the Institute of Medicine Summit, and members of organizations who have an interest in health policy and the creation of a wellness initiative for the nation. The reception was held in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine-Bravewell Collaborative Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public and two Congressional Hearings on Integrative Health Care and Health Care Reform, which were conducted during the week of February 23-27, 2009 in Washington, D.C. 

Over 150 people came to the reception to network, meet colleagues, and discuss integrative health care policy. After the reception, over 30 participants continued the discussions at a “dutch treat” dinner in a local Alexandria restaurant. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium and Tai Sophia Institute were Co-sponsors of the event.

The Institute provided a warm and welcoming space for researchers, policy makers, and health care leaders to gather and discuss strategies for bringing the topics of integrative health care, wellness, and healing to the forefront of the policy debates on health care reform.

December 29, 2008: Health Care Community Discussion

A draft of the WIN concept was discussed by over 100 participants in a Health Care Community Discussion in December 2008 at the Samueli Institute. Dozens of these expert participants provided specific edits and comments on the draft document, many of which were incorporated into the final version of the WIN paper. A full report from this Health Care Community Discussion is posted here.