Susan Dentzer

<ul><li><strong>Health Equity Opportunities and Challenges for Health System Leaders</strong></li><li>A focus on equity has risen to the fore in many U.S. health care systems in reaction to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and their repercussions, as well as the many racial and ethnic disparities highlighted anew by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both senior management and boards of directors of health care systems across the country have undertaken new efforts, or redoubled existing ones, to address equity: first in the context of provision of care and the fundamental operations of health systems, and second, in addressing the broad upstream drivers of social and economic inequity that are largely extrinsic to health care. Actions are being taken by health systems in five main categories: speaking out publicly against inequity; taking larger steps internally to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), combat racism, and advance empowerment; widening their traditional equity lens to encompass widespread discrimination against multiple population groups; ramping up efforts to address the safety and quality of care and reducing undesirable variation as a means to reducing inequity and disparities; and using their resources to address upstream health drivers, including in priority areas of the social and economic determinants of health. Dentzer describes how a growing number of U.S. health systems now recognize and accept that they must play a dominant role in a process of social and economic transformation to eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination and place the nation on the road to better health.</li><li><strong>Where We Are in the Journey to Value-Based Health Care</strong></li><li>Moving away from a health care system predominantly based on fee-for-service payment, and toward one in which physicians and other health care providers are accountable for both costs and quality, is increasingly urgent.  Drawing on the experiences of members of America’s Physician Groups and other organizations committed to the move to value, Ms. Dentzer can provide multiple examples of care that is of vastly better quality and is more affordable to patients as well as the nation.  She also outlines policies that will support this movement at the national level.</li><li><strong>Assessing Medicare For All and Related Reform</strong></li><li>“With the 2022 midterm elections already around the corner, Democratic candidates are proposing a range of health reforms aimed at providing universal health insurance coverage.  Some would build on and extend the reforms enacted in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 in the Affordable Care Act; others would go further to create Medicare for All, or a some other single-payer system that would abolish private health insurance.  There are also a variety of competing reforms in between. In her presentation, Dentzer can describe the origins of “Medicare for All” in longstanding calls for national health insurance; delineate the specific “Medicare for All” and related proposals; discuss the implications for hospitals, health systems, insurers, and individuals; and weigh the political prospects of all of these reforms.  She can also provide an update on Republican initiatives in support of expanding coverage that could continue to affect political and health reform landscapes.</li></ul>