Delaware News


New Report Outlines Plan for Strengthening Primary Care in Delaware

Captive | Captive Insurance | Insurance Commissioner | Date Posted: Monday, December 21, 2020


Official Seal of the Insurance Commissioner of Delaware

Provisional Affordability Standards aim to strengthen primary care in Delaware through increased investment

Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro announced the release of the Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery’s initial provisional Affordability Standards as part of a new report, Delaware Health Care Affordability Standards: An Integrated Approach to Improve Access, Quality and Value, which includes plans to more than double primary care spending in the commercial fully-insured market by 2025.

The Affordability Standards announced today also include decreasing price growth for certain healthcare services and expanding the use of payment models that aim to improve healthcare value. The Affordability Standards and targets were informed by data from Delaware health insurers, the Delaware Health Information Network Health Care Claims Database, publicly available sources, and the perspectives shared during more than two dozen stakeholder interviews.

“An effective healthcare environment requires a strong primary care system, but it also requires shared standards that define success and progress. The multi-pronged approach announced today aims to increase primary care investment without increasing the total cost of healthcare or health insurance premiums,” Commissioner Navarro said. “We are grateful to our many partners who shared their data and experience during the process of building these guidelines. Now we ask the public as a whole to share their feedback on this report.”

The department will be accepting public comment on the report until January 25, 2021. Anyone may submit comments via email to DOI-legal@delaware.gov.

The Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery was created through the passage of Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 116 in 2019. The General Assembly recognized the importance of a strong system of primary care and the need to help bend the healthcare cost growth curve, directing the department to establish the office in order to “reduce health-care costs by increasing the availability of high quality, cost-efficient health insurance products with stable, predictable, and affordable rates,” and charged the office with three tasks:

1. Establish Affordability Standards for health insurance premiums based on recommendations from the Primary Care Reform Collaborative and annually monitor and evaluate these standards;
2. Establish targets for carrier investment in primary care to support a robust system of primary care by January 1, 2025; and
3. Collect data and develop annual reports regarding carrier investments in health care, including commercial reimbursement rates for primary and chronic care services.

The Office is meeting these directives by conducting extensive research on Delaware’s healthcare market, and used that research to inform the development of the interim Affordability Standards, including targets for increased investment in primary care.

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  , , , , , , , , , ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.

New Report Outlines Plan for Strengthening Primary Care in Delaware

Captive | Captive Insurance | Insurance Commissioner | Date Posted: Monday, December 21, 2020


Official Seal of the Insurance Commissioner of Delaware

Provisional Affordability Standards aim to strengthen primary care in Delaware through increased investment

Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro announced the release of the Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery’s initial provisional Affordability Standards as part of a new report, Delaware Health Care Affordability Standards: An Integrated Approach to Improve Access, Quality and Value, which includes plans to more than double primary care spending in the commercial fully-insured market by 2025.

The Affordability Standards announced today also include decreasing price growth for certain healthcare services and expanding the use of payment models that aim to improve healthcare value. The Affordability Standards and targets were informed by data from Delaware health insurers, the Delaware Health Information Network Health Care Claims Database, publicly available sources, and the perspectives shared during more than two dozen stakeholder interviews.

“An effective healthcare environment requires a strong primary care system, but it also requires shared standards that define success and progress. The multi-pronged approach announced today aims to increase primary care investment without increasing the total cost of healthcare or health insurance premiums,” Commissioner Navarro said. “We are grateful to our many partners who shared their data and experience during the process of building these guidelines. Now we ask the public as a whole to share their feedback on this report.”

The department will be accepting public comment on the report until January 25, 2021. Anyone may submit comments via email to DOI-legal@delaware.gov.

The Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery was created through the passage of Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 116 in 2019. The General Assembly recognized the importance of a strong system of primary care and the need to help bend the healthcare cost growth curve, directing the department to establish the office in order to “reduce health-care costs by increasing the availability of high quality, cost-efficient health insurance products with stable, predictable, and affordable rates,” and charged the office with three tasks:

1. Establish Affordability Standards for health insurance premiums based on recommendations from the Primary Care Reform Collaborative and annually monitor and evaluate these standards;
2. Establish targets for carrier investment in primary care to support a robust system of primary care by January 1, 2025; and
3. Collect data and develop annual reports regarding carrier investments in health care, including commercial reimbursement rates for primary and chronic care services.

The Office is meeting these directives by conducting extensive research on Delaware’s healthcare market, and used that research to inform the development of the interim Affordability Standards, including targets for increased investment in primary care.

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  , , , , , , , , , ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.