My friend wrote: "How revealing it is that when the heat gets turned up and it looks like Single Payer is becoming a real possibility, that the Illness Profit Industry suddenly starts coughing up changes that they have resisted for decades. First gender neutral charging and, now, this."

Health industry offers to slow cost increases -- chicagotribune.com
NOAM N. LEVEY

WASHINGTON -- Leading health industry groups, including hospitals, drugmakers, insurers and doctors, have agreed in a letter to President Barack Obama on ways to slow the explosive growth of health-care spending, according to administration officials and others knowledgeable about the agreement.

The letter, which the president is to tout at the White House on Monday, embraces savings strategies being pushed by policymakers, such as simplifying billing, restructuring the way hospitals are paid and improving information technology.

Their plan lacks detail about how the estimated $2 trillion in savings over the next decade would be realized. Nor does it outline any commitments by the industries to accept specific reductions in their revenues.

Still, the agreement shepherded by the Service Employees International Union signals continued engagement by powerful health-care interests in the Obama administration's push to overhaul the nation's system.

Several industry groups -- including insurers, whose lobbying group signed the letter -- have played central roles in defeating prior efforts to reshape the system, including the 1990s Clinton administration push.

In addition to the SEIU, signatories include the American Medical Association; the American Hospital Association; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; the Advanced Medical Technology Association; and America's Health Insurance Plans.

Spending on health care reached $2.2 trillion in 2007 and is expected to increase by more than 6 percent a year on average over the next decade, faster than the economy's general growth, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In their letter, the groups estimate that they could slow the annual growth rate by an average of 1.5 percentage points over the next decade, although savings probably would vary year to year.

"Health-care costs will continue to rise," said one administration official, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. "But achieving a slowdown in the rate at which they increase would be a huge accomplishment in terms of freeing up resources for other priorities and in terms of relieving pressure on the federal budget."

Congressional Democrats are intensifying their efforts to develop legislation in the face of gathering opposition from conservatives warning of a drift toward government-run health care.

Republicans last week received a briefing from an influential GOP political strategist about how to challenge the administration's health-care initiative.

On Sunday, administration officials said the letter illustrated the momentum behind the president's health campaign.

The letter also drew praise from AARP public policy director John Rother.

"While serious questions remain about the details, AARP believes the agreement of providers to slow the skyrocketing cost of health care is critical for the health reform we are all working toward," Rother said.