On 4 February 2005 in Berlin, the first European Summit of the Global Medical Forum Foundation compared and contrasted the German and U.S. debate over consumer driven care to begin to formulate an agenda and design matrix for EU healthcare systems' drive to slow costs. Slide Presentations View Photos from the Summit Speaker & Panelist Biographies Takeaways

European healthcare systems are today challenged with increasing costs, as well as growing consumer demands for choice; these same systems are, at the same time, supposed to retain solidarity, and not diverge from longstanding delivery levels.

Germany, to take a core example which leaders throughout the EU are examining, is exploring strategies to redesign its healthcare system while retaining the basic principles of universal coverage and solidarity in financing care provision. The kind of risk adjustment as well as the means to introduce health efficient consumer behavior are therefore the subject of today's political debates.

Would transferring greater financial accountability to health consumers lead to better outcomes and greater consumer satisfaction in European healthcare systems? Are the consumer-directed health plans introduced in the U.S. a model for achieving those goals in European healthcare systems?

After a number of years of double-digit growth in health expenditures by employers in the U.S., in January 2004 a new law supporting consumerdirected health plans was introduced. The law allows employers and private individuals to invest pretax money in health savings accounts. Consumers can spend the money in these accounts on a number of health related services or save it for future health expenses.

As a result, for the first time, a large number of health consumers are today directly paying for the services chosen. The expectation is that this mechanism will create a more rational market, where health consumers evaluate and purchase health services with cost efficiency in mind.

The first EU Summit of the Global Medical Forum Foundation in Berlin compared and contrasted the German debate and the U.S. experience to begin to formulate an agenda and design matrix for EU healthcare systems' drive to slow costs.

Summit Speakers & Topics: February 4th, 2005

900 to 930 hrs.: Welcome & Introduction
Prof. Raphael H. Levey, MD; Chairman, Global Medical Forum Foundation
Dr. Catharina Maulbecker-Armstrong, Chair Europe, Global Medical Forum Foundation

930 to 1045 hrs.: Module I
Consumer-directed health plans: Do patients have the power to heal the healthcare system?

Moderator
Mr. William Boyles, Publisher, C-D Report

Presentations
Health Information Management and the Consumer Driven Care business models
Mr. F. Moore, Division President, Wausau Benefits, Inc., Avidyn Health, LLLP, Innoviant, Inc. and Innoviant Pharmacy, Inc.
Solidarity in U.S healthcare systems: A critical voice
Mr. B. Kimler, Senior Vice President, Fidelity Investments
Consumer driven care: International Health Insurance Group Perspective
Mrs. G. Marcus, Chief Operating Officer, United Healthcare Europe

1045 to 1115 hrs.: Coffee Break

1115 to 1230 hrs.: Module II
Are Europeans ready for consumer-directed health plans? Case Studies

Moderator
Mr. R. Matter, n-TV

Presentations
Experiences with consumer driven care in Europe: An overview
Prof. R. Busse, European Observatory for Healthcare Systems Berlin
The political perspective: Solidarity and choices: Design principles for European healthcare systems
Mr. F. Knieps; Senior Advisor to the German Health Minister
Employers’ Perspective in different EU systems
Mr. J. Bruner, Managing Partner Healthcare, Hewitt & Associates

Reaction Panel
The payer perspective
Mr. B. Knof, Director of International Affairs; DKV (Private German health insurer)
The provider perspective
Dr. von Stillfried, National Association of Physicians - KBV
EU patient organizations: The consumers perspective
Mr. S. McMahon, Chairman Irish Patients’ Association Member of International Alliance of Patients’ Organisations ( I.A.P.O.)

1230 to 1400 hrs.: Lunch

1400 to 1530 hrs.: Round Table Discussion
An agenda for European Healthcare embracing solidarity and choice?

Moderator
Mr. Robert Laszewski, Chairman North America & China, Global Medical
Forum Foundation

Panelists
Mr. L. Leisure, Senior Vice President, Kaiser Permanente
Prof. K. Okma, University of Leuven, fmr. Senior Policy Advisor to the Dutch Government
Dr. J. Hjertqvist, Senior Advisor to the Greater Stockholm Council on Health Care Reform, Timbro
Dr. F. Knieps, Senior Advisor to the German Health Minister
Ms. A. Haas, Senior Officer for Health Policy, AOK Bundesverband (German national insurer)
Dr. M. Mangen, VP Commercial Strategies, Janssen Cilag (JNJ)
Dr. A. Wyke, Managing Director, Health & Social Campaigners’ Network International
Dr. G. Leng, Implementation Systems Director, National Institute for Clinical Excellence

1530 to 1600 hrs.: Concluding Remarks & Discussion followed by Apéro