“We Must Prioritize Prevention as a Key to Reversing Trends in Heart Disease, Obesity and Diabetes.”
Highlights “Food as Medicine,” Childhood Obesity Crisis and Need for Hospitals to Lead on Prevention
WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, questioned leading hospital and health care system executives during a full committee hearing examining the state of America’s health care system, building on his ongoing work to shift the nation toward a prevention-focused model of care.
Witnesses included Sam N. Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare; Wright Lassiter III, President and CEO of CommonSpirit Health; Dr. Brian G. Donley, President and CEO of New York-Presbyterian; Dr. Michael Waldrum, CEO of ECU Health; and Brad Woodhouse, President of Protect Our Care.
During the hearing, Buchanan emphasized that the United States spends more than any other nation on health care yet continues to grow sicker, with chronic disease, obesity and ultra-processed foods driving rising costs and worse outcomes. He called on the country’s largest health systems to embrace prevention, nutrition and the “food as medicine” approach as the surest way to improve outcomes and bend the cost curve. He highlighted the Make Hospital Food Healthier pledge advanced by HHS, encouraging the witnesses to sign on and use their facilities to model healthier eating for the patients and communities they serve.
Click here to watch Congressman Buchanan’s remarks.
Here’s what Buchanan said about prevention, nutrition and the future of American health care:
On the cost of a reactive health care system
Buchanan: “I believe that prevention and eating real food is the key to making health care more affordable. The U.S. has spent $5.3 trillion on health care, yet we’re getting sicker as a nation. Six in ten Americans, 95% of Medicare beneficiaries, have at least one chronic disease.”
On the childhood obesity crisis
Buchanan: “Roughly half of the adult population is obese. … 20% of the … kids are obese, … I believe the problem stems from unhealthy and ultra-processed food. … We must prioritize prevention as a key to reversing trends in heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Hospitals not only treat people that are sick, but hospitals can and should take more time to make sure that what we’re doing is the right thing long term.”
On the Make Hospital Food Healthier pledge
Buchanan: “I want to applaud HHS and its efforts to create a new food pyramid which prioritizes real food and the Make Hospital Food Healthier pledge. … Have you taken a look at that pledge and whether that makes sense to you in terms of signing on? If you haven’t signed on, will you sign on?
Mr. Lassiter: “At Common Spirit Health, we follow the Make Hospital Food Healthier pledge that HHS has put forward. We certainly believe in food as medicine as part of what we do to serve communities. … Our facilities offer food pantries with fresh produce to provide those resources for those who don’t have access. We certainly support the notion of healthy food.”
Mr. Donley: “Thank you, Congressman, for your advocacy of living healthier lifestyles. It is one of the four things that we’re working on in order to develop more affordable care. … We work with our schools. We work with faith-based organizations. We work with nonprofit organizations around teaching healthier lifestyles. Around teaching proper nutrition, around teaching healthy exercise. We work with our schools so that we can reach people at a younger age because then the impact is longer lasting.”
Mr. Haven: “Well, I think anything, Congressman, that we can do to make people healthier will drive down costs for sure in the system. … One of the drivers we’ve seen in our organization over the last 10 years is the complexity of the patients we have to deal with have numerous complications, comorbidities, obesity, diabetes and so forth, and that forces more resource consumption.”
On the link between prevention and lower costs
Buchanan: “How about not having a heart attack in the first place? I think a lot of it’s diet-related. Obviously, movement, exercise as well. … We all have a responsibility. We’re spending $5.3 trillion, … and we’re getting sicker. That’s got to change and change now.”
In addition to being the Vice Chairman and most senior Republican on the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Buchanan is also the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, which has broad jurisdiction over traditional Medicare, the Medicare prescription drug benefit program and Medicare Advantage.
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