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ShareGoing by the Democrats' vision statement, the new dispensation will be a kind one
As Barack Obama occupies the White House, it's time to assess how Capitol Hill will play out policies that can impact the Indian healthcare industry. In the document 'Renewing America's Dream', released by the Democrats a few months ago, the emphasis has been clearly on affordable and quality healthcare coverage for all Americans.
That vision statement appears to be quite balanced for the Indian health industry as compared with the strident noises that have been made on the Indian IT outsourcing industry by Obama and his bunch of supporters. In fact, both Indian generic players and contract manufacturing companies should take heart as Democrats feel strongly about the spiralling healthcare costs in the US.
"We believe a strengthened, uniquely American system should provide the highest-quality, most cost-effective care. This should be advanced by aggressive efforts to cut costs and eliminate waste from our health system, which will save the typical family up to $2,500 per year," the statement says, showing a strong leaning towards the average middle class American.
In order to speed up health reforms, Obama may go for an overhaul of the healthcare system and put more regulatory mechanisms for ensuring quality control. Those efforts may include adoption of state-of-the-art health information technology systems, privacy-protected electronic medical records, reimbursement incentives, and an independent organisation that reviews drugs, devices, and procedures to ensure that people get the right care at the right time.
The Democrats' note says, "By working with the medical community to improve quality, these reforms will have the added benefit of reducing the prevalence of lawsuits related to medical errors. We should increase competition in the insurance and drug markets." Obviously, the administration sees a lot of time and energy wasted in patent and health litigations. That's no good news for lawyers.
There is a realisation that despite heavy spending on healthcare, the US population has not gained much.
The concern for better healthcare delivery in both chronic and preventive diseases shows in the same statement that says, "We (US) spend more on healthcare than any other country, but we're ranked 47th in life expectancy and 43rd in child mortality. Our nation faces epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases as well as new threats like pandemic flu and bioterrorism.
Yet despite all of this, less than four cents of every health care dollar is spent on prevention and public health." Does that mean pressure on MNCs to contain product pricing or cut research costs?
Obama may also look at expanding public funding on research for diseases such as HIV, cardiovasculars, cancer and Parkinson's and jumpstart the much politicised stem cell research. Making a dig at the current administration's inability to spur research, the Democrats' note states, "Healthcare reform must also provide adequate incentives for innovation to ensure that Americans have access to evidence-based and cost-effective healthcare. Research should be based on science, not ideology. For the millions of Americans and their families suffering from debilitating physical and emotional effects of disease, time is a precious commodity, and it is running out. Yet, over the past eight years, the current Administration has not only failed to promote biomedical and stem cell research, it has actively stood in the way of that research.
Renewing its commitment to research, the statement goes on to say, "We cannot tolerate any further inaction or obstruction. We need to invest in biomedical research and stem cell research, so that we are at the leading edge of prevention and treatment. This includes adequate funding for research into diseases and disorders both common and rare, such as those related to the heart, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, diabetes and autism. We will increase funding to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institutes."
If all of these measures take concrete shape with Obama at the top, Indian companies can see a future that promises more than just growing on the back of outsourcing or invading generics. They can take part in actively collaborating in new drug research and gain a reputation they have been longing for so many decades now.
Pillman is an executive closely linked to the global pharma industry.
