美国国家公共电台 NPR Health Insurers Try Paying More Up Front To Pay Less Later

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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Diabetes¹, high blood pressure and other chronic² conditions account for the vast majority of health spending in the U.S. Some health plans are beginning to offer free maintenance care for people with chronic health problems. The hope is spending a little more on keeping them healthy early on will save a lot of money in the long run. Mark Zdechlik from Minnesota Public Radio reports.

MARK ZDECHLIK, BYLINE³: Ten years ago, Michael McBrayer of St. Paul learned he had Type 1 diabetes.

MICHAEL MCBRAYER: I give myself shots multiple times a day.

ZDECHLIK: McBrayer faces dire⁴ consequences if he fails to control his blood sugar.

MCBRAYER: Kidney failure, blindness, heart disease - all those things are looming⁵ out there.

ZDECHLIK: For the past several years, McBrayer's health insurance has paid for everything he needs to keep his diabetes in check. He doesn't spend a dime⁶ on supplies.

MCBRAYER: I need to test my blood upward to ten times a day. And every time I have a strip to test my blood, that's a dollar a strip.

ZDECHLIK: There are also syringes, insulin and other prescriptions⁷ as well as consultations⁸ every several weeks with a pharmacy⁹ specialist. McBrayer has health insurance through his wife's employer, the state of Minnesota. It's a HealthPartners plan that charges the state extra to cover diabetes care. The sales pitch for this hybridized insurance is that employers who spend a little more upfront helping¹⁰ people manage chronic conditions stand to save a lot in the future. University of Michigan professor and physician Mark Fendrick is a pioneer in this emerging approach to health insurance.

MARK FENDRICK: We've been trying to change the health care conversation in the United States from how much we spend to how well we spend.

ZDECHLIK: Fendrick says it makes both medical and economic sense to make it affordable¹¹ to properly manage chronic conditions like asthma¹² and diabetes.

FENDRICK: I want the health insurance plan my patients have to charge my patients the least for the services that are going to make them healthier.

ZDECHLIK: That may seem like common sense, but health plans have been running hard in the opposite direction. Consumers are on the hook for a rapidly growing, not shrinking, amount of their health costs. But Mike Thompson, who heads an industry group that advises some 12,000 companies, says businesses are beginning to realize that might not be the best approach.

MIKE THOMPSON: We're getting smarter as the evidence comes in as to how to be more surgical¹³ in how we apply those cost sharing so that people are more prudent¹⁴ on discretionary care but are more compliant¹⁵ certainly with the care they need to stay healthy.

ZDECHLIK: The enhanced insurance benefit that pays for all of Michael McBrayer's Type 1 diabetes maintenance is paying off for his wife's employer, too, according to HealthPartners executive Dan Rehrauer. He says the diabetes program has saved the state of Minnesota about $1 million on medical services since its inception¹⁶ almost 10 years ago.

THOMPSON: We've reduced hospitalizations and emergency department utilization¹⁷, which is exactly what we want to see. You've got a healthy employee and saving money.

ZDECHLIK: HealthPartners says the program McBrayer is a part of has helped quadruple the number of diabetes patients with optimal¹⁸ care. For NPR News, I'm Mark Zdechlik in St. Paul.

SHAPIRO: And this story is part of a reporting partnership¹⁹ with NPR, Minnesota Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.

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