Paying for Health Care Reform with Medicare/Medicaid Savings

Here in Asheville North Carolina, health insurance reform is a huge issue as our local population consists largely of retirees, many of whom are becoming increasingly concerned about the cost sustainability of their Medicare and their North Carolina health plans. As health care costs continue to rise, reform is something the Obama Administration earnestly hopes to include in the 2010 Fiscal Budget. President Obama has identified savings which could constitute a reserve fund for the proposed health care reform plan. Approximately half of the funding would come from proposals to generate revenue, while the rest would come from Medicare and Medicaid savings.

Based on White House projections, the Medicare savings proposals would reduce beneficiary premiums for physician and outpatient services by about $33 billion over the next decade. As a result of these proposals, beneficiaries would also see an improvement in the quality of their Medicare services. The reserve fund includes a host of Medicare/Medicaid savings proposals, some of which include:

- Improving the accuracy of Medicare and Medicaid payments. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would have to strengthen their integrity efforts in order to address flaws that have led to billions in overpayments and fraud each year.

- Reducing Medicare overpayments to private insurers would save taxpayers roughly $177 billion over 10 years, as well as reduce Part B premiums. This would be accomplished through the establishment of a competitive system in which payments are based on an average of plans' bids submitted to Medicare.

- Reducing hospital readmission rates and improving post-hospital care. The idea here is that a combination of incentive payments and penalties would lead to better care and fewer readmissions, which would save approximately $25 billion over 10 years.

- Expanding the Hospital Quality Improvement Program to improve quality of care for beneficiaries. This would be done by tying a portion of Medicare payments for acute in-patient hospital services to hospital performance on certain measures of quality. As a result of this effort, Medicare would save around $12 billion over 10 years.

- Cutting waste, abuse and fraud. When it comes to care, patients need quality, not quantity. Unnecessary treatments are not only expensive, but can also pose risks to patient health. To prevent physicians from ordering unnecessary treatment, the Administration proposes increasing scrutiny (through a pre-payment review process) in high-risk areas or for those physicians who order an excessive amount of high-risk services.

For residents of North Carolina, health insurance, Medicare and health care reform are no doubt important topics. As citizens directly affected by these potential changes in policy, it's important that you stay abreast of the facts, beware of misinformation surrounding health care reform, and show your support for legislation that speaks to your needs (which are probably not unlike those of many other Americans). If you are satisfied with your Asheville North Carolina health plans, rest assured in knowing that under Obama's plan, you would be able to keep your private insurance and continue seeing the doctors you trust.

BCBSNC Opens 100,000-Square-Foot ‘Green’ Building

BCBSNC Opens 100,000-Square-Foot ‘Green’ Building
New Building (CSC2) will Reduce Energy, Water Consumption

•New building will use 65 percent less energy and half the water
•CSC2 is centerpiece of long-term effort to reduce environmental impact


Chapel Hill, N.C. –Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) opened its first environmentally friendly building named the CSC2. The new building will house about 550 current BCBSNC employees.

The five-story building, which includes a six-level parking deck to reduce land usage, will use 65 percent less energy and half the water per square foot compared with the company’s traditional office space.

CSC2 is a “smart building.” Motion sensors detect the presence of employees, turning on lights and HVAC systems. After a period of inactivity, lights and HVAC systems turn off, preventing unnecessary use of energy.

Low-flow plumbing fixtures will save more than 1 million gallons of water each year – enough to supply 10 families with water for a year. In addition, three 25,000-gallon cisterns, located under the parking deck, will catch rainwater. Together, they hold 75,000 gallons of water.

Drought-resistant trees and native plants featured in the courtyard reduce watering needs and provide a beautiful and relaxing outdoor space

“With this new building, we’re making environmental stewardship a central business practice,” said BCBSNC President and CEO Bob Greczyn. “We’re committed to setting a standard for others to follow.”

The building design promotes recycling and encourages employees to use carpools and fuel-efficient vehicles. The parking deck features covered bike racks and power for electric vehicles.

CSC2 is the centerpiece of a long-term effort to reduce the company’s environmental impact. BCBSNC has set corporate-wide goals to reduce its overall energy consumption by 25 percent and its water consumption by 20 percent by the end of 2010.

Current company-wide environmental initiatives include:
• Redesigning ventilation systems at all its major buildings to reduce water and electricity use
• Installing water-saving plumbing fixtures
• Using environmentally friendly cleaning products
• Placing prominent recycling centers in all buildings and on all floors
• Along with current aggressive paper and cardboard recycling, expanding efforts to collect plastic, glass, aluminum and other materials
BCBSNC is creating a sustainability project manual for all its building projects that includes requirements for use of recycled materials, rapidly renewable materials, proper disposal of construction debris and maximizing purchase of materials from regional sources.

When the company has several months worth of documented energy and water savings, as well as other demonstrated environmental protection measures, the facility will be ready to receive Gold certification under LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).