Insurer shows gov’t how to cut costs

Insurer shows gov’t how to cut costs

A major health insurer says the government can save more than $500 billion in Medicare spending by sending patients to less expensive, more efficient doctors, reducing hospital visits by the elderly and cutting unnecessary care.

Those are among 15 suggestions made recently by UnitedHealth Group Inc., a Minnesota-based health management company that is the biggest participant in the government’s Medicare insurance program for the elderly. United said the proposals added up to $540 billion in savings over 10 years.

The proposals come as Congress and the Obama administration work on a major health care overhaul aimed at reducing costs and extending coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans. The company’s ideas could give Congress a road map toward reshaping and squeezing dollars out of the nation’s $2.5 trillion health system, which costs more and delivers more care than in many other countries, yet without producing a notably healthier population.

Like other groups with an interest in the outcome, United is also trying to position itself as a constructive voice in the debate-and avoid becoming a target itself.

Some of United’s proposals could be cast as attempts to ration health care-one of the attack lines some conservatives have been using against emerging proposals from the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Among the cost-savers United identified are:

-$166 billion by providing skilled nurse practitioners at nursing homes to manage illnesses and prevent avoidable hospitalizations;

-$37 billion by steering patients to physicians rated best on quality, efficiency and cost;

-$13 billion by reducing unnecessary use of advanced imaging technologies such as MRIs; physicians would have to receive prior authorization from a radiology benefit manager.

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