Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Efficiency Act of 2006

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation which would deal in a small but, I hope, meaningful way, with the crisis of youth suicide in Indian Country. On the reservations of the Northern Great Plains, the rate of Indian youth suicide is 10 times higher than it is anywhere else in the country. This needless loss of young boys and girls whose whole lives lay ahead of them is a very serious problem.

I am pleased that last year, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held two hearings on the tragic issue of teen suicide and the urgent need for prevention, intervention and treatment services. We heard the testimony of youth and family members, representatives of the Indian Health Service and other agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Indian professionals who work with young people. We continue to sift through their recommendations to find possible solutions that could be proposed in legislation.

I believe it is urgent that solutions be put forward now to deal with this troubling problem. Following the Committee's second hearing on Indian youth suicide last summer, several more Indian young people attempted suicide on the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota. Thankfully, their lives were spared and their attempts not completed. But time is running out for addressing this tragic issue.

When the Indian Affairs Committee marked up legislation to amend and reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act last October, I offered, with Senators Conrad and Smith, an amendment which had three components, all of which were presented as ideas at the Committee's hearing in Washington, DC, on June 15, 2005, on Indian youth suicide. I am very pleased that my amendment was unanimously adopted.

The legislation which I introduce today parallels one part of that amendment to the Indian health reauthorization bill, and would authorize the Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project. The Secretary of Health and Human Services would award grants under this 4- year demonstration project to five Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations that have telehealth capabilities. Grantees would provide services through telemental health for such purposes as counseling of Indian youth for suicide prevention, intervention and treatment; providing medical advice and other assistance to frontline tribal health providers; training for tribal community members, elected officials, tribal educators and health workers and others who work with Indian youth; developing culturally-sensitive materials on suicide prevention and intervention; and data collection and reporting.

My proposal has been revised since it was adopted as an amendment to the Indian health reauthorization bill in response to Administration concerns about expanding new health care programs or services to Native Americans living in urban areas. I will leave the Federal Government's obligation to provide health care to urban Indians--most of whom are in urban areas because they or their parents or relatives were relocated from their reservations or Alaska Native communities under federal policy--to be discussed another day.

Many Indian reservations and Native villages in Alaska are in remote locations and quite isolated, and experience much more limited access to mental health services than in our nation's cities. The testimony received by the Indian Affairs Committee showed that it is particularly in these communities that there is a crisis among the youth. Accordingly, the bill I propose today is intended to provide services for counseling, medical advice and training and educational materials under this new demonstration project to Indian youth living on reservations and in Native villages.

I thank my colleagues who have joined me in this initiative and who have added thoughtful insights for ways to address this crisis that deprives many tribal communities of one of the richest resources, our youth. I look forward to continuing our efforts and developing a more comprehensive legislative proposal on this sensitive and very important issue. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill as introduced be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the American people are facing two, major health care crises--lack of health insurance and the soaring costs of medical care. Nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured, and the number one reason is because they can't afford it. Even those with health insurance are struggling to pay their medical bills. Family incomes can't keep up with rising health costs--health premiums alone have increased 73 percent over the past 5 years, while wages have only risen 15 percent. Unfortunately, we can't fix either of these crises without addressing the other. As health care costs rise, more employers will drop coverage for their employees. As the number of uninsured rise, the cost of their care is subsidized by those individuals that have insurance. It's a vicious cycle, and the longer we wait to act, the more difficult it will be to successfully intervene.

There are many drivers of health care costs, but perhaps the easiest one to tackle is the wasteful, administrative costs associated with health care. Health care is one of the least efficient industries in America. Processing a single transaction in health care can cost as much as $25, whereas banks and brokerages spend less than a penny per transaction. Indeed, administrative costs account for 31 percent of total health care spending, or roughly $465 billion each and every year.

Today, I am introducing a bill that would help to reduce health care administrative costs in the Nation's largest employer-sponsored health insurance program, the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. FEHBP serves over 8 million Federal Government employees, retirees, and their families, who can choose from over 200 health plan options. The FEHBP Efficiency Act of 2006 would require all health plans participating in FEHBP to develop systems for hospitals and doctors to submit their bills electronically within 4 years.

Ken Thorpe, a health economist at Emory University, has reported that if all FEHBP participating health plans switched to electronic systems for submission of bills, the program could save up to 2 percent of the $31 billion in

total premiums, or over $600 million every year. That is a tremendous amount of savings--money that could be used to expand FEHBP benefits, increase the number of eligible employees, or lower premiums for FEHBP beneficiaries. Using its tremendous purchasing power, the Federal Government could help spur the health care industry to move to a completely paperless system for processing transactions in all government health programs as well as the private sector.

I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Every American should have access to affordable health care, and this bill is one step towards making that a reality.

Mr. President, the American people are facing two, major health care crises--lack of health insurance and the soaring costs of medical care. Nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured, and the number one reason is because they can't afford it. Even those with health insurance are struggling to pay their medical bills. Family incomes can't keep up with rising health costs--health premiums alone have increased 73 percent over the past 5 years, while wages have only risen 15 percent. Unfortunately, we can't fix either of these crises without addressing the other. As health care costs rise, more employers will drop coverage for their employees. As the number of uninsured rise, the cost of their care is subsidized by those individuals that have insurance. It's a vicious cycle, and the longer we wait to act, the more difficult it will be to successfully intervene.

There are many drivers of health care costs, but perhaps the easiest one to tackle is the wasteful, administrative costs associated with health care. Health care is one of the least efficient industries in America. Processing a single transaction in health care can cost as much as $25, whereas banks and brokerages spend less than a penny per transaction. Indeed, administrative costs account for 31 percent of total health care spending, or roughly $465 billion each and every year.

Today, I am introducing a bill that would help to reduce health care administrative costs in the Nation's largest employer-sponsored health insurance program, the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. FEHBP serves over 8 million Federal Government employees, retirees, and their families, who can choose from over 200 health plan options. The FEHBP Efficiency Act of 2006 would require all health plans participating in FEHBP to develop systems for hospitals and doctors to submit their bills electronically within 4 years.

Ken Thorpe, a health economist at Emory University, has reported that if all FEHBP participating health plans switched to electronic systems for submission of bills, the program could save up to 2 percent of the $31 billion in

total premiums, or over $600 million every year. That is a tremendous amount of savings--money that could be used to expand FEHBP benefits, increase the number of eligible employees, or lower premiums for FEHBP beneficiaries. Using its tremendous purchasing power, the Federal Government could help spur the health care industry to move to a completely paperless system for processing transactions in all government health programs as well as the private sector.

I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Every American should have access to affordable health care, and this bill is one step towards making that a reality.