Home > Outreach : American & German Healthcare
Topic 2009: Healthcare Reform and Progress
- Pre-conference day with site visits and info sessions
- 1. Conference Day--Policy Perspectives
- 2. Conference Day--Best Practices
In both the United States and Germany, 2009 promises sweeping changes in healthcare. The new Obama Administration is poised to overhaul the ailing US system. It will build on efforts at reform that have made significant progress at the state levels (e.g. Massachusetts, Minnesota); it will also likely introduce new overarching structures designed to improve access to evidence-based, high-quality, and affordable care for all Americans. Key elements in the Administration's propsed plans include requirements on employers and individuals, a new institute or federal agency that would conduct research on the comparative effectiveness of treatments, new regulations affecting the health insurance industry, and the creation of a public plan like Medicare that would compete with private insurance plans. What specific goals will guide the Obama Administration's health policy decisions? Who are the winners, who the losers?
In Germany, a multi-year healthcare reform process began in 2007. Post-reform data are available on trends in key areas: access, costs, financing, innovation, contracting, and competition. On January 1, 2009, the reform culminated in a new system to finance healthcare. The new Gesundheitsfonds (healthcare fund) significantly changes the playing field for health insurers.
To discuss experiences and best practices in healthcare policy, CGES recruited an impressive array of speakers. They shared the most up-to-date information and outlined opportunities and challenges ahead. Key topics included:
• What are the specific plans of the Obama Administration? How far along are individual elements of reform? What are the next steps?
• What structures are most conducive to ensuring everyone can access high-quality health care? What is the role of government?
• Where is comparative effectiveness research going? What are the issues?
• What are the new regulations on benefits in the U.S. Medicare/Medicaid system and with private providers vs. regulations in Germany?
• What's new in the healthcare markets in the USA and Germany?
• Pharmaceutical benefit management that is cost-effective and high-quality
• Medication therapy management and its role
• The role of minute clinics and other new dynamic structures for consumers
• Payment policies
Attendees also had extensive opportunity to provide input and develop ties with each other that persist beyond the meeting. To that end, the 2009 forum featured a pre-conference day of site visits and info sessions as well as a second full conference day of parallel workshops.
Trans-Atlantic Experts' Roundtable 2009 Program
Pre-Conference Day (optional), Monday, April 27
To foster cooperation and exchange, the meeting began with an optional pre-conference day of site visits and specially arranged small-group meetings.
- Mayo Clinic Rochester
- Pharmaceutical Benefit Management at Minnesota’s largest employer, University of Minnesota (UPlan)
- Convenient Care Clinics and Pharmacies (Gopher Quick Clinic)
- Universities and Industry Working Together: Innovative Concepts for Cooperation in Drug Development—Drug development at the Minnesota Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development (ITDD)
- Home Telehealth: Design, Evaluation, Opportunities and Obstacles for Further Establishing Home Telehealth Systems
- Healthcare Structures: Balancing Government and the Market—Germany's G-BA and the Institute for Quality and Economic Effectiveness in Health Care (IQWiG)
Day 1
Perspectives on Key Elements of Reform in the US and German Systems
University of Minnesota
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
| 8:00 | Registration and coffee |
| 8:30 | Welcome— Dr. Meredith M. McQuaid, Associate Vice President and Dean, International Programs, University of Minnesota Dr. Sabine Engel, director, Center for German & European Studies audio |
| 8:40 | Keynote Addresses—Healthcare Reforms in the USA and Germany "Healthcare Reform in Germany—Access, Quality, Sustainability" Ulla Schmidt, Federal Minister of Health, Germany audio Ulla Schmidt "The Obama Administration's Healthcare Concepts" Hubert H. Humphrey, III, J.D., public affairs counsel, Tunheim Partners slides Humphrey audio Humphrey |
| 9:45 | Moderated Q&A with Hubert H. Humphrey and Franz Knieps. Moderator: Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer, director, PRIME Institute, University of Minnesota audio discussion |
| 10:45-11:15 | coffee break |
| 11:30 | Perspectives on Reform Two panels with US and German experts representing insurers, industry, patients, and providers Senator David Durenberger, Chairman, National Institute of Health Policy; Moderator—introductory comments audio Panel 1: Position Statements "Primary Care: The Forgotten Specialty" Frank B. Cerra, M.D., Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, Academic Health Center, University of Minnesota audio Cerra "Public Health and Health Care Reform" Dr. John R. Finnegan, Jr., Dean, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota audio Finnegan "Perspectives on Previous and Future Reforms: The View of the German Pharmaceutical Industry" Kimberly Lei, General Manager, Lilly Deutschland GmbH slides Lei audio Lei |
| 12:10-12:40 | Moderated Panel discussion and Q & A with Panel 1 speakers. Moderator: Senator David Durenberger, Chairman, National Institute of Health Policy audio discussion |
| 12:45-1:30 | Panel 2: Position Statements "Reforming the US Health System: A Payer Perspective" Simon Stevens, Executive Vice President, UnitedHealth Group audio Stevens "Employer Perspectives on Needed Reforms" Carolyn Pare, CEO, Buyers Health Care Action Group audio Pare "Health Care Reform and Progress: Key Elements of Reform" Ulrich Dietz, Head, Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals, Federal Ministry of Health, Berlin slides Dietz audio Dietz |
| 1:30-2:00 | Moderated Panel discussion and Q & A with Panel 2 speakers. Moderator: David Durenberger audio discussion |
| 2:00 | Reception and Lunch |
| 3:00 | Event closes |
| 3:00 | opportunity for additional site visits |
| 7:00 | dinner and evening program for conference participants |
All conference sessions were audio-recorded to ensure broad sharing of the discussion's results among private and public decision makers in both the United States and Germany.
Day 2
Best Practices—Interactive Break-out Sessions and Two Keynotes
University of Minnesota
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
| 8:00 | Registration and coffee |
| 8:30 | Welcome—Dr. Sabine Engel, director, Center for German & European Studies |
| 8:35 | Keynote Address "Update on the MA Healthcare Reform: Three Years In"—Bob Carey,
principal/founder of RLCarey Consulting, Boston slides Carey audio Carey |
| 9:15 | Moderated Q&A. Moderator: Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer, director, PRIME Institute, University of Minnesota audio discussion |
| 9:45-10:00 | coffee break |
| 10:00-11:30 | Interactive Break-out Sessions Led by 2-person moderator team, one from USA, the other from Germany, these parallel sessions are designed to provide additional opportunities for conference attendees to share their specialized expertise and to establish links that will persist beyond the conference and so further US-German cooperation.
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| 11:30-12:00 | coffee break |
| 12:00-1:30 | Concluding Keynote and Panel Discussion "The Future of Health Care in Different Systems"— Franz Knieps, Director-General, Health Care Provision and Long-Term Care Insurance, Federal Ministry of Health, Berlin audio Intro Moderator audio Knieps Panelists: Dr. Volker Amelung, MN Commissioner Cal R. Ludeman, Dr. Steven Sheingold, Moderator: Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer audio Amelung, audio Ludeman, audio Sheingold audio discussion part 1 audio discussion part 2 |
| 1:30 | lunch |
| 3:00 | Farewell |