Biotechnology Healthcare - September/October 2008 - (Page 19)

Access to and Financing of High-Tech Therapies Joel Miller F. Randy Vogenberg, RPh, PhD prove access. But the plan misunderstood and underestimated the cost side of the equation. That’s coming back to hit them financially now in a big way. When you talk to Republicans, they say reform is more of a cost issue. They would view the Massachusetts experiment as a disaster, because the costs are out of control. Employers, physicians, and healthcare providers in the hospital community have been focusing on quality for the last several years. Providers and health plans say quality will drive improvement in costs and can help solve the access problem. That’s their perspective on a universal healthcare solution. They don’t think the government can do it, and employers generally favor more of a marketdriven solution. THE PANEL James C. Greenwood is president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), which represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies and related organizations. He served 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Arthur “Abbie” Leibowitz, MD, is cofounder and chief medical officer of Health Advocate, which helps employers and workers resolve issues they encounter in dealing with their healthcare and insurance systems. He previously served as chief medical officer at Aetna and as an executive vice president at Medscape. Joel Miller is senior vice president for operations of the National Coalition on Health Care, a bipartisan organization that consists of about 80 of the nation’s largest companies and organizations, including AARP, AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, Duke Energy, and UnitedHealth Group. NCHC’s co-chairmen are a former Republican governor and a former Democratic U.S. congressman. F. Randy Vogenberg, RPh, PhD, is cofounder and chief strategic officer of Employer-Based Pharmaceutical Strategies, which helps pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device manufacturers collaborate with self-insured employers. He previously was a senior vice president with Aon Consulting, and is a senior scholar with the Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 · BIOTECHNOLOGY HEALTHCARE 19

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Biotechnology Healthcare - September/October 2008

Biotechnology Healthcare - September/October 2008 Openers Editorial/David B. Nash, MD, MBA Contents At a Glance: Multiple Sclerosis Drug Track Personalized Medicine Healthcare Reform’s Effects on Biologic Access Breast Cancer Status Testing: A Crapshoot With Deadly Odds Trends, Issues, and Perspectives In the Management of MS So High-Tech, Yet So Simple The Evolution of Ascertaining the Value Proposition Specialty Pharmacy Employer to Employer Health Plan Confidential Trends

Biotechnology Healthcare - September/October 2008

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