Reimbursement, Universal Health Care, and Campaign Contributions

Medical device companies are shifting their allegiance from Republican to Democratic. In this election cycle, Democratic candidates have received $7.4 million in campaign contributions from political action committees and individuals associated with medical device and pharmaceutical companies according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the past six election cycles, device and pharma companies contributed twice as much to the Republican candidates as to the Democratic candidates.

Why the shift from Republican to Democratic? Does the industry itself perceive change in the air? Overwhelmingly, Americans want some kind of universal health care in this country. I'm in favor of it too, but most Americans think Europeans have a dreamland situation—free health care for everyone, anytime. But it isn't so. In the UK, public health care is often augmented by private health insurance. And universal health care can lead to political tensions. In Denmark, 60-70% of salary goes to taxes, including taxes to finance the 'free' health insurance. Yet those who don't work and don't contribute to the system still have access to it, meaning a large minority of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries are taking advantage of the system.

If the Democrats are more likely to actually implement a universal health care system, then it makes sense that device and pharma companies would want to be in a position to influence how that system is constructed. Will there be a single-payer system, doing away with the 350+ health insurance companies in this country (I hope so)? Who will have access to it: all persons or only citizens? Will the entire reimbursement scheme be rebuilt? Today, devices are not usually reimburse as separate entities, but rather as part of a procedure. So an incremental improvement to your medical device doesn't automatically get you a better price, because the differential comes out of the hospital's pocket. How would the reimbursement system change and would it benefit the device industry?

CDG recently sponsored a conference on medical device reimbursement and it is now available on CD or On Demand video. You can learn more about our reimbursement practices today, and interpret for yourself the complexities of implementing a universal health care system, by viewing Mary Ann Clark, VP for Health Economics & Reimbursement for the Burgess Group, at CDG e Conferences, or call me          773-489-5721       .

Comments

[Ken Nickell]

I am a representative from AARP’s Divided We Fail initiative and saw your post about health care issues in this year’s upcoming election. It is important that people like you voice their opinions in order to end gridlock in Washington and demand progress in terms of health care affordability. To learn more about our campaign, go to www.dividedwefail.org.