What will the rise of "value-based purchasing" of health services mean for reproductive health?

In theory, the “value-based purchasing” wave that is sweeping the country should enable women to get better quality reproductive health care at a lower cost to them and their health plans.  But to date, cost control has been the primary focus of these efforts and consumers (including women) have been largely left out of the decision-making. Worrisome for reproductive health is the fact that the CEO of a large Catholic health system is the chairman of a new health industry task force “dedicated to accelerating the transformation of the U.S. health system to value-based business and clinical models.”  The Task Force includes six of the nation’s largest health systems and four of the top health insurers, all committed to putting 75 percent of their business in value-based arrangements by 2020.  

This presentation will help reproductive health advocates learn about and begin to influence the design of value-based purchasing in their states. The authors will draw on their experiences tracking and influencing the introduction of value-based purchasing through a sweeping Medicaid redesign program in New York. The authors will discuss how women’s interactions with reproductive health providers could change with the introduction of financial incentives to control costs. They will outline concerns about potential introduction of religious restrictions on payment for reproductive health services in value-based systems led by Catholic hospitals. The authors will present model policies for ensuring transparency to the women whose providers are participating in these programs, and rewarding the provision of quality, comprehensive reproductive health access.