Minn. search for quality health care leads to ... gift cards
(AP) Health ought to be its own reward, but Senate Democrats want to give publicly insured patients another incentive to follow their doctor's orders - $20 gift cards.
The cards, which patients could use for purchases at various stores, are part of a mammoth health spending bill slated for a Senate vote Thursday.
Sen. Linda Berglin, who heads the Senate health budget panel, is betting that it will pay off for the state to sink $1 million into incentives for diabetics who control their blood sugar and smokers who quit. She said patients play a part in improving the quality of health care.
"It's not a huge amount of money but I think it'll have a lot of impact," said Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis. "These quality guidelines are not reached simply by the doctor. There has to be the patient involved in it too."
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State leaders have been searching for ways to improve health care. That search led Gov. Tim Pawlenty to establish the QCare program last year - offering bonuses to health plans and providers that score well on treating costly chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
State leaders hope the quest for quality will also lead them to savings. The Republican governor envisioned QCare saving the state more than $150 million annually within a few years.
Berglin said giving out cards that patients could redeem at Target and other stores might bring the state closer to achieving the QCare goals. Her proposal would apply to patients covered by subsidized programs including the MinnesotaCare plan for the working poor.
House and Senate Democrats have different approaches to Minnesota's health care programs. The Senate bill focuses on the uninsured and includes a major outreach campaign targeting a majority of uninsured who already qualify for state programs.
A House DFL plan presented Wednesday pairs broader children's coverage with efforts to improve care and bring costs down. A major pillar of the bill would create a "medical home," a nurse or doctor who would coordinate a patient's care from multiple providers.
Both chambers are shooting for universal health coverage by 2010, but would let task forces come up with the specifics later this year.
