At AmeriHealth, we get it. The status quo in health care, which allows 46 million of our fellow Americans to remain uninsured, is unsustainable and unacceptable. Regardless of age or preexisting conditions, we believe that everyone should have health coverage, as we understand that rising medical costs are devastating to working families, small businesses, and our nation. We also strongly believe health plans can lead the way toward improving quality and containing costs through simplifying administration, redesigning payment for doctors and hospitals to reward quality, focusing on disease management and prevention, and introducing health information technology.
As the country moves into implementing reform, it is time to focus on making coverage affordable for consumers by attacking the primary cost drivers, such as higher priced medical technology, more costly drugs, and the increased use of health services due to a rise in chronic illness. Emphasizing wellness and preventive care by aligning incentives to improve health care quality and efficiency is also important to slow the growth of health care costs.
For more than a decade, AmeriHealth has focused its efforts on the health and well-being of customers and the community. We will continue to work closely with all of our stakeholders in health care as we prepare for the changes that lie ahead.
