The plan emphasizes prevention and changing the behaviors of people at risk for illnesses. The plan's strategies seem to be working. Halvorson reported reductions in pre-term births, heart attacks, and diabetes among enrollees. But again, he said, persuasive data is needed to convince employers to buy health plans that focus on prevention, not just to settle for the least expensive plan. They must be shown, he said, that good health habits will benefit the company in terms of decreasing time lost to sick days and depression among employees.
Money plays another significant role in the discussion of the privatization of public health.
According to panelist Bruce Vladeck, director of the Institute of Medicare Practice, increased funding of political campaigns by special interest groups has resulted in widening disparities in health status among Americans. These disparities drive the debate of whether health services should be come less privatized. When inequities have arisen in the past, a group has emerged to fight for a return to balance. But the underwriting of political campaigns by special interest groups has undermined the voices of the universal franchise, disturbing the equilibrium. There have been no dramatic movements away from government-sponsored health care since World War II, said Vladeck.