Highlights Benefits of Shifting to Value-Based Care Model, Importance of Preventive Care
WASHINGTON — Yesterday, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chair of the Health Subcommittee, lead a Health Subcommittee hearing on how modernizing coordinated care can improve the health of Americans with chronic diseases.
Witnesses included Dr. Michael Hoben, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Population Health Services at Novant Health; Dr. Allison Reichert, PharmD, Pharmacist at Bode Drug; Dr. Ashish Parikh, M.D., Chief Population Health Officer at Summit Health; and Brian Connell, Vice President of Federal Affairs at Blood Cancer United (formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society).
Click here to watch the hearing.
View Buchanan’s opening remarks.
Here’s what Buchanan said about how focusing on preventive care can positively impact chronic disease management:
On the cost of America’s broken health care system:
Buchanan: “It’s almost $5 trillion we’re spending on healthcare. And you can make the argument—there’s a lot of sites out there you can look at—our health’s getting worse. Kids: 20 percent obesity. Young adults 31-and-under, in terms of serving in the military, 31 percent. Adults in general: 40 to 50 percent obesity, and all the things that kind of come with that.”
On shifting from fee-for-service to a value-based care model:
Buchanan: “I had 1,200 employees before I came here. The pay plan is the most important thing or one of the most important things you’ve got. ... The whole thing on fee-for-service, is that the way we should go, or should we be looking at alternatives? Because the tendency, whether you like it or not, the propensity is to move you in that direction to do more, to make more money. I’m not saying anybody’s taking advantage of it, but my point is, I do really think that there should be some consideration.
“Some firms—I know, I’ve got a doctor I work with, and he says ... I want to see you less. That’s the right incentive: treat people, treat their health, their conditions, get them better, so they don’t need to be running to the doctor every couple of weeks. So, Doc, what do you think?”
Dr. Michael Hoben, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Population Health Services at Novant Health: “Thank you for the question. I think you’re right. I think there will likely always be a fee-for-service component and a value component. There are certain things in the health care that are transactional and they will probably stay transactional, whether that’s cataracts or ear tubes or things like that.
“I think when you look at the major cost in health care, it’s really around this chronic disease management and the way we can approach that and be successful is using comprehensive care teams, top-of-license work, reducing some of that regulatory burden to make it easier, offload the providers, allow them to do their job, and create the right access points. And if we can get—irregardless of what the payment model looks like—if we can get patients to the right level of care at the right time, we will see cost reductions in maintaining quality. And we’ve shown that in many programs over the years that we’ve been involved with and others here have been involved with.”
On how preventive care can save lives and reduce costs:
Buchanan: “Yeah, someone said like heart disease and cancer and some of these things, if you can catch it early, good chance you’ll be able to deal with it and to work out. Is that your sense or is that what you’ve seen? Is that the case?
“I feel bad for my mother. She passed, but by the time she went in and got it addressed, it was Stage 4 colon cancer, and she never knew she was in that situation. She thought she had the flu. So, just in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, and I had another friend, a young person at 40 years old, had the same scenario. It just seems if you catch things early, there’s a good chance, between diet and exercise.
“So, what do you do with your employees, for example, to educate them or your patients? ... Because one thing I do see a lot more than it was 20 years ago—I’ve got 10 grandkids and two sons. My daughter-in-laws, they’re into health. ... It seems like the younger generation, because they’ve got access to so much good information, they’re watching it, listening to it and a lot of it, they’re not bringing it into the house. They’re making a lot better decisions than even we did when we had kids many years ago, my wife and myself. Any other thought, Mrs. Reichert?”
Dr. Allison Reichert, PharmD, Pharmacist at Bode Drug: “Yes. So I agree. Preventive medicine saves lives and it reduces cost. And just like with [Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act], ECAPS is earlier testing and treatment of disease. And so I think by really implementing pharmacists into those care teams, we can help to produce those better outcomes.”
Buchanan has been a leading advocate in Congress for combating obesity and ending the chronic disease epidemic. In March 2025, Buchanan’s Chronic Disease Flexible Coverage Act (H.R. 919), which expands treatment options provided through employers’ healthcare coverage for Americans living with chronic diseases, passed the House with a unanimous bipartisan vote. In February 2025, Buchanan introduced two bills to promote preventive health: the Permanent Telehealth from Home Act (H.R. 1407) to remove obstructive geographic limitations to telehealth services and the Lung Cancer Screening and Prevention Act (H.R. 1406) to help ensure timely access to advanced screenings for lung cancer.
