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Ron Bachman Published: 12:00 AM 03/11/2010 | Updated: 12:19 AM 03/11/2010
Ronald E. Bachman is president and CEO of Healthcare Visions, a thought leadership firm dedicated to advancing ideas and policy initiatives that are transforming the U.S. healthcare market. The major goals of Healthcare Visions are to advance consumer-based solutions to lower the number of uninsureds, improve mental health coverages, develop the concept of consumer-centric Medicare and Medicaid, and advance employer introductions of healthcare consumerism.
Mr. Bachman is also a Senior Fellow of the Center for Health Transformation (CHT), the Georgia Public Policy Foundation (GPPF), the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), and at the Wye River Group on Health. Mr. Bachman is an actuary with extensive experience in healthcare strategy for payers, providers and employers. Ron is a retired partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he consulted to a broad range of clients including: employers, HMOs, hospitals, physicians, indemnity carriers, BlueCross BlueShield plans, as well as State and Federal Agency clients.
In 2008 and 2009, Ron facilitated the Georgia Uninsured Work Group and the passage state health reform legislation to reach 500,000 uninsured in Georgia. That legislation has been praised as a new market-based approach to dealing with the uninsured in the United States. Ron is actively working with other states to pass similar reforms and create a coalition of like minded state desirous of market based solutions. As a Sr. Fellow since 2005, Ron has worked on special projects with CHT and Speaker Gingrich regarding the uninsureds, health policy issues, and market transformation ideas.
In 2008, Ron has testified before the U.S. Congress on “Engaging American Ingenuity to Solve the Uninsured Problem.” Ron worked closely with the Bush White House and Treasury on the language and principles of the 2002 Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) guidelines. In 2003 and 2004, Ron worked through the CHT to provide policy input on Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Ron has consulted with various government agencies on national health issues and legislative and regulatory proposals. He has served as a designated expert on actuarial issues to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Congressional Budget Office, the Department of Labor, the National Institute of Mental Health, and several members of Congress.
Ron was instrumental in providing technical and market advice on mental health that resulted in the passage of the 2008 Wellstone-Domenici Parity Act. Mr. Bachman was an expert resource on mental health policy to several members of Congress, including Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Pete Domenici. During the past two decades, Ron testified in over 30 states on the costs of mental health. He produced several financial studies and analyses of national and state proposals for mental health parity.
Ron is active in several American Academy of Actuaries Work Groups including: Mental Health, Individual Health Insurance, Consumer-Driven Healthcare, Genetic Testing, Mandated Coverages, High Risk Pools, The Uninsured, Small Group, and Healthcare & Tax Credits.
Mr. Bachman is the author of several publications, including “Consumer-Driven Healthcare – The Future in Now”, “Giving Patients More Control” published by the National Center for Policy Analysis. He has written numerous articles such as, “Boomers Will Revise an Aged, Ineffective System” and “Consumer-centric Medicare” both articles co-authored with Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation. As an advisor to the Wye River Group on Health (WRGH), Mr. Bachman was instrumental in three seminal reports entitled “An Employer’s Guide to Patient-Directed Healthcare Benefits”, “An Employer’s Guide to Health Care Consumerism”, and “An Employer’s Guide to Pharmaceutical Benefits.” Ron is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries Mental Health Parity Work Group that produced the 2005 report entitled, “Mental Health Parity: Often Separate, Usually Unequal.”
A sample listing of other articles and papers written by Mr. Bachman are: Healthcare Consumerism – the basis of a 21st Century Intelligent Health System; HSAs Myths and Facts –The Inconvenient Truths; Clinical Depression – A Bottom Line Issue, If CEOs Only Knew; A Legislator’s Guide to Creating an HSA State; Consumer-centric Medicare; A Roadmap for Legislators on Market Reform for Health Insurance; and Georgia Collaboration Succeeds in Market Reforms.
Ron is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a past Board member of the Southeastern Actuaries Club, and past President of the Atlanta Actuaries Club. Mr. Bachman is on the Board of Directors of the National Mental Health Association of Georgia, the Georgia Free Clinic Network, and Skyland Trail.
Ron holds a Masters in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is an active member of the Simpsonwood United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dueling polls are worded to asked and cast favor on one side or the other of our national debate on health reform. Public opinion polls and recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts tell us that the American public does not want massive national health reform. They are worried about the current costs, future deficits and government intrusion.
In a recent Rasmussen poll, 63 percent say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address specific problems. Twenty-seven percent believe passing a comprehensive bill that covers all aspects of the health care system is a better idea. Other polls claim that the public likes parts of the current Democrat proposals, but not the whole.
At the White House health summit, the strategy was clear. The president and the Democrats would let the Republicans speak. They then stated and restated that the Senate and/or the House reform bills included the Republican ideas and that therefore, they were not that far apart. It was a Democrat mantra, “We agree and that is already included in our legislation.”
The real analogy is that the Democrat proposals are like a house:
- built on a corrupt foundation. Bribes, extortion, and payoffs were required to get the votes for passage of the current bills.
- where the plumbing does not work. According the Congressional Budget Office, the average price for individual insurance will go up by an additional 10 to 13 percent in 2016 if Congress passes the Senate health care reform legislation.
- with faulty electric wiring. Among other accounting gimmicks, buried in the walls of the Senate bill is the “CLASS Act” is a new massive entitlement that has front-ended taxes but massive unfunded future costs and will create ballooning deficits.
Every time the Republicans said they wanted health reform with a new “kitchen” the Democrats proudly offered that their house has a “kitchen.” Every time the Republicans stated they want to build reform with a new “bathroom” the Democrats affirmed that their house already has a “bathroom.”
Americans want and need health reform. But they want more than a house of cards. They want a home that meets livable standards. They want a home that is safe from intruders and a home that protects and comforts their families.
The Democrat and ObamaCare process of legislating violated the American sense of honesty. They failed to convince the public of their sincerity to lower costs, improve access to providers, and create higher quality of medical care. You cannot start with a broken shack and build a livable home. No remodeling or new paint job will fix the underlying poor construction. It will become a money pit.
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