California Education Coalition for Health Care Reform INTRODUCTION TO CECHCR

Who is CECHCR?  Association of California School Administrators  California Association of School Business Officials  California County Superintendents Educational Services Association  California Federation of Teachers  California School Boards Association  California School Employees Association  California Teachers Association  Community College League of California  School Employers Association of California 2

Stronger Together  Management and labor working together  Of the education community  By the education community  For the education community 3

CECHCR Strategies  Share policy information  Develop and share “Best Practices”  Coordinate legislative initiatives, such as:  Study of a “School Pool”  Transparency  Health Families  National health care reform 4

Three Education Programs 5 Module I “Joint Labor–Management Health Benefits Training” Module II “Health Benefits: Making Informed Choices” Module III “Health Benefits: Current Issues and Trends”

Follow-up Services Module IV  Additional Training  Follow-up consultations  Assistance in engaging health benefits plans

Cost Trends Trends are Unsustainable for Districts, Employees, and the Population We Serve

Note: Health insurance premiums projected for assuming (1) that the average growth in premiums between 1999 and 2009 (8.7%) continues or (2) that the average growth in premiums between 2004 and 2009 (6.1%) continues. Source: Kaiser Family Foundations projections based on data from Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, Projected Health Insurance Premiums for Family Coverage, Assuming Average Growth Rates, from and

The Industry’s Explanation for Higher Costs  “80% of all claims are lifestyle related” – a quote from a Blue Cross of California representative  Excess utilization  New technology  Aging population I didn’t do it!

What the Research Shows  Waste, inefficiency, high administrative costs  Poor quality  Inappropriate care  Huge variation in costs

Welcome to the Health Care Industrial Complex 11 Industry Growth Since 1970 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics; Himmelstein, Woolhandler, Lewontin analysis of CPS data

Deaths from Medical Errors

Significant Cost Variations  The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care – research on Medicare costs  McAllen, TX has one of the highest cost per Medicare enrollee  Why?

Comparing Cost Trends Cost Trends Have Been Contained in Other Countries

* PPP=Purchasing Power Parity. Data: OECD Health Data 2007, Version 10/2007. Average spending on health per capita ($US PPP*) Total expenditures on health as percent of GDP 15 International Comparison of Spending on Health, 1980–2005 * PPP=Purchasing Power Parity. Data: OECD Health Data 2007, Version 10/2007. Average spending on health per capita ($US PPP*) Total expenditures on health as percent of GDP EFFICIENCY Source: Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance,

US Life Expectancy

 Utilization is lower in the U.S. than it is in other countries Health Care in the U.S.

The U.S. spends more per capita than other countries, and yet is ranked last by all these indicators.

CECHCR’s Role  To train local districts to be more informed purchasers of health care  To educate and coordinate the education community about various reform proposals and how they impact school districts / unions  To facilitate dialogue and collaboration among school-based purchasers statewide 19

 Health Care For All  The Commonwealth Fund  Kaiser Family Foundation  California HealthCare Foundation  The California Endowment  Physicians for a National Health Program  For additional information and links to various health care websites: How You Can Stay Informed Good sources of information: 20

Questions or Comments? 21