State health officials want to lower health care costs while improving health across the state.
The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services has submitted a progress report to the General Assembly detailing ways to create health care spending benchmarks.
Delaware spends about $10,000 per person for health care - the third highest in the country.
DHSS Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker says it’s challenging to understand how and why certain health care costs like copayments and deductibles come into play.
“When you really dive into it, it’s unclear why it might be more expensive for one person even in your family versus another person in your family or if it’s different between one place that you go versus another,” Walker said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to know how to best shop for health care.”
Walker wants the state to move away from a system where people pay for doctor visits and procedures, and move towards paying for better health outcomes.
“At some point, we want insurers to pay for things like having everyone receive the immunizations that they need, or getting their cancer screenings, or having a better result when they have a heart attack,” Walker said.
In her report, Walker says the department wants to look at what the state spends in health care costs, and how to curtail them. Health officials will also look more closely at integrating behavioral health care into primary care settings.
She says the next step is engaging with the legislature.
People can send their comments on the report to ourhealthde@state.de.us.
