SAN DIEGO – Two protesters scrambled onstage Thursday at the start of a session at America’s Health Insurance Plans’ annual conference, momentarily upstaging moderator Susan Dentzer before she introduced three former governors slated for the opening keynote.

The annual AHIP event this year - even more than last year - is focused on healthcare reform and also on how information technology might help boost care and reduce costs. AHIP, the lobbying arm of the health insurance companies, opposes a public plan, but supports increased adoption of technology to achieve streamlining.

The protesters, as well as about 100 more who rallied outside the San Diego Convention Center, where the conference began on Wednesday, are urging the creation of a government-run insurance plan, something that President Obama has said he supports. More than 1,000 protestors greeted attendees of AHIP Institute 2008 in San Francisco last year to rally for the same cause.
 
The onstage protesters at Thursday’s event, who held up an oversized facsimile of a check, were quickly removed by security.

One of the protesters is a member of the California Nurses Association (CNA), which helped organize the demonstration. He was a paid registrant to the conference, said San Diego police officer Michael Tansey. Police warned the protester they would be arrested if they re-entered the convention center. The outside demonstrators stayed just long enough to greet attendees streaming in for the opening keynote and then left, Tansey said.

Meanwhile, inside Dentzer recovered to repeat what she’d said before she was interrupted – that the healthcare reform debate is “broad-gauged and multi-perspective.”

Howard Dean, MD, former governor of Vermont and one-time presidential candidate, thanked the protester for relieving him of being “the most liberal person in the room.”

Turning serious, Dean was adamant when he said, “Healthcare reform is not worth it unless there is a public plan option.” He stressed that a combination of private plans and a public plan would give Americans choice in healthcare coverage.

Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, said that there was too much focus on access and not enough on prevention and quality, which healthcare IT could help drive. He advocated for crossing state lines to purchase health insurance and less government regulation.

“Beware of too much intrusion of the federal government,” he cautioned.

John Kitzhaber, MD, former governor of Oregon, said that healthcare insurance is not a main driver of the crisis. Rather, it is a business model problem, he said. He suggested as first steps to reform agreeing upon a set of objectives, coming up with an accurate diagnosis of the problem and developing a clear description of design elements.

He cited that medical care only accounts for 10 percent of a person’s health status. Healthcare reform should focus on improving population health, reducing per capita cost and improving the patient experience, he said.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. Kitzhaber challenged the industry to stop arguing and focus on how to redesign the business model.
 

Photo by Steve Rhodes obtained under Creative Commons license.