Axios Live: Affordability is driving the conversation about health care reform

WASHINGTON — Speakers called for health care policy and delivery changes at an Axios Live event last week.

Why it matters: The U.S. health care ecosystem is at an inflection point as cuts to entitlement health programs loom and federal efforts to reshape provider incentives unfold.

• Axios' Adriel Bettelheim and Maya Goldman spoke with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Health Transformation Strategies managing partner Elizabeth Fowler at the event, sponsored by Health Care Transformation Hub.

What they're saying: "The faster we can get away from fee-for-service and the further we can get away from it, the better off we are," Whitehouse said.

• "And the more we can unclench the grip of the specialists on the reimbursement system, the better off we are – so moving primary care to a more ascendant position and reimbursing primary care more sensibly."
• "They're things that we're very capable of doing in a bipartisan way."

The bottom line: "We've come up to a conclusion – we've turned health care into financial engineering, not health care," Schweikert said.

What's next: Fowler thinks mandatory participation models could be a solution. "I think we absolutely have to look down the road of mandatory models," she said.

• "Otherwise, you're still reflecting the providers who want to make change, who want to move in a different direction, and that's great. But you're not catching those who are doing just fine under fee-for-service and in fact are still taking advantage of all of those perverse incentives that the other speakers spoke about."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Health Care Transformation Hub executive director Wyatt Decker said there is a "pressing need for a clearinghouse around the scientific data on care delivery systems."

• "I submit that all of you in our audience are familiar with the incredible innovations that the United States has promulgated in medications, biopharmacy and procedures, but we're also actually pretty innovative in care delivery," he said.
• "And there's a growing body of scientific data that tends to get kind of buried in the piles of other scientific articles around how do we deliver care in a way that is patient-centered, that helps give higher quality care that is more accessible and more affordable."RSVP here.