Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

Thomas Bjorn Zeltner, Director-General of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, said an important step for U.S. health care reform was to develop "a long term vision, you need a long term consensus on where to go." He added that a long term consensus is something "I don't think you have right now." He said it was important to "plan for 20 years ahead."

At a briefing held by the Alliance of Health Reform, Zeltner also felt that it was important to "reduce the number of uninsured" as well as the "underinsured." He felt that drastic reform can be difficult on a national level, but individual state reforms can be "easier."

While the briefing highlighted the health care systems from Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, Senior Fellow at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago Michael O'Grady said that health care is "not really a foreign policy competition." According to O'Grady, the U.S. should look at the successes and failures of other health care systems, but "some is transferrable, some is not."

Mark McClellan, Director of the Engelberger Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution, said that there is "a common growing interest in addressing the quality of care." He felt one sticking point in the minds of citizens was that of "provider payment." He stated that many people in the U.S. want payment based on "value" rather than "fee for service."

Diana Monissen, Director General for Curative Care of the Dutch Ministry of Health, said that the Netherlands had drastic health care reform in 2006. She said that currently in the Netherlands, basic health coverage is required by law. She also stated that risk adjustment for high risk patients. She said that their new universal health care has created "a healthier society." She felt that "sometimes you really need a big step" on health care reform.

Robert Leu, Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Bern, Switzerland, stated that the Swiss health care system is "highly decentralized" and requires "hardly any financing from federal levels." He claimed that all people in Switzerland have "equal access to care" and insurance companies "have to accept anyone."

Reinhard Busse, Professor and Department Head for Health Care Management at the Berlin University of Technology, Germany, {added to the discussion by looking at the aspect of people paying a fixed percentage of their wage towards the social health care system. He added that 85 percent of people in Germany have social health insurance as opposed to only 10 percent who have private health insurance. He added that the social system provides "access to all borrowers." He also said that individual hospitals have to report on their quality of care, so people can "compare hospitals."

The briefing was concluded by Robin Osborn, Vice President and Director of the Commonwealth Fund's International Program in Health Policy and Practice, who said that their survey showed that one third of Americans felt the U.S. health care system "should be completely rebuilt."