Top health industry issues of 2011

PWC has published a brief on what it thinks the health industry will focus on in 2011. http://tinyurl.com/2d2culn

Here are a few of the things that I found most interesting:

Consumers:
-Nearly 3/4 of consumers said they would trade employer-sponsored insurance for higher pay. Contrast that thought with the fact that .... Less than half (46%) of consumers know what a health insurance exchange is.
-Overall, consumers undervalued their family coverage (versus the actual cost) ... meaning that consumers do not know what the total cost of coverage is.
-50% of patients don’t take their drugs as prescribed, which results in an estimated $290 billion in avoidable healthcare services. (avoidable hospitalizations accounts for $100 billion)

Health Plans:
-Wisconsin’s department of insurance found that 80% of policies currently sold will have to be modified to meet the coverage and cost sharing requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and the pricing of those plans will have to be revamped to meet the 3:1 premium range.

What I believe this means for Health Plans:
-Insurance provided by employers is becoming less valued by consumers and employers will leave the insurance game, meaning Health Plans will need to be ready for the individual insurance purchaser.
-Creating policies that are acceptable under the new standards and eligible for the exchanges will be hard and take time to develop.
-During the purchasing decision, the better insurance carriers will have transparency that reveals the total cost of healthcare, not just the premium. This will increase trust in the carrier and higher retention rates.
-The ACO’s that can increase engagement (adherence to medication and clinical practice guidelines) for those with chronic conditions will realize lower MLR faster.