New Orleans Association of Health Underwriters

In This Issue…

• Louisiana Health Care System Focus of Redesign
• Medicare Posts Hospital Payment Information
• NAHU Applauds CMS for Creating More Health Care Choices for Seniors
• How to Become an Irresistible Sales Communicator with Integrity and Power

Louisiana Health Care System Focus of Redesign

The battered health care system of Louisiana is the focus of a comprehensive redesign effort by state and local stakeholders being formalized today. Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, and the members of the effort -- the Louisiana Healthcare Redesign Collaborative, chaired by Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Dr. Fred Cerise -- committed to the process at a Charter Signing ceremony today.

The collaborative, which will initially focus on the greater New Orleans area, is committed to developing a blueprint for the redesign of the state's health care system through a proposal for a large-scale Medicaid waiver and Medicare demonstration program, to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by October 20. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt encouraged establishment of the collaborative and agreed to support its efforts by removing impediments to progress and rapidly reviewing the proposals it develops.

"We are supporting the collaborative's work to build a system that meets the needs and embraces the challenges of the 21st Century; the opportunity to transform a storm-wrecked system into a shining model of care," Secretary Leavitt said. "None of us here will ever again have such an opportunity. As the charter recognizes, this is an opportunity to design and implement fundamental change in the financing and delivery of health care in Louisiana that could serve as a model for the nation."

The charter calls for the collaborative to adhere to guiding principles, outlines the work required and promises results. The end result should be a health care system with high-quality, accessible, patient-centered care, delivered by ambulatory and community-based centers. It should take advantage of opportunities for effectively sharing electronic health information through system-wide use of interoperable health information technology. It should reward quality outcomes and patients' involvement in their health care. The collaborative, made up of Louisiana public health officials, members of the state legislature and health care associations, and representatives of area hospitals and other health care organizations, was created by the Louisiana Legislature during its 2006 session.

The Federal Government has committed nearly $90 billion for relief, recovery and rebuilding in the Gulf Coast Region. HHS has provided help through the declaration of a public health emergency, Medicaid waivers of $2 billion through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, special provisions for short-term, non-recurrent cash benefits to low-income families through the temporary assistance for needy families program, $550 million in social service block grant funds and $90 million to cover the costs of replacing or repairing Head Start facilities damaged or destroyed by the hurricanes.

To learn more about the Louisiana Health Care Redesign Collaborative, please visit http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/?ID=288.

Medicare Posts Hospital Payment Information

Important Step Toward Transparency in Health Care Costs and Quality

To help consumers, providers, and payers make more informed health care decisions, the Department of Health and Human Services through its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today posted information on what Medicare pays for 30 common elective procedures and other hospital admissions. President Bush directed the data be made publicly available to all Americans as part of the Administration’s commitment to make health care more affordable and accessible.

“Once people gain better information, they become better consumers of health care and that helps get health care costs down and quality of care up,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. “The federal government is the biggest single purchaser of health care in America, and by taking steps to post prices and quality data, we hope to encourage more insurance companies, hospitals, clinics and doctors to do the same.”

The new information posted by CMS at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthCareConInit/01_Overview.asp#TopOfPage shows the range of payments by county and the number of cases treated at each hospital for a variety of treatments provided to seniors and people with disabilities in fiscal year 2005. These include 30 common elective procedures including heart operations and implanting cardiac defibrillators, hip and knee replacements, kidney and urinary tract operations, gallbladder operations and back and neck operations, and for common non-surgical admissions.

“The new information on how many patients a hospital treats and on payments for the most common kinds of hospital care adds to the information that people can use to make better decisions on their care,” said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. “In all areas of care -- hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, health plans, and prescription drugs -- we are supporting collaborative efforts that are providing unprecedented information to help people get the best quality care for the best price.”

The department is working closely with a number of national and local organizations to develop more comprehensive and personalized information on quality and cost. One major initiative involves six pilot projects supported by the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance, with funding from CMS and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to provide information to patients and health care providers via collaboratives in Massachusetts, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona and California.

Another example is the quality measures on hospitals across the nation currently being reported to the public at www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov, supported by the Hospital Quality Alliance (AQA). In addition to the 17 clinical quality measures available now, the hospital information will be expanded to include information on patient satisfaction and outcomes in the coming year. These and other quality alliances are taking further steps to increase the range of useful measures being reported to consumers, including measures of care efficiency as well as cost information, and to develop quality measures for continuity of care with the AQA and other partners.

“The steps we are taking to provide patients better information is part of a long-range vision that can transform our health care system and put value and quality at the center,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.

In addition to the information posted today, CMS will post payment information for common elective procedures for ambulatory surgery centers later this summer, and common hospital outpatient and physician services this fall.

“People need to know how much their health care costs. They need to know the quality of the care they receive. And they need to have a reason to care,” Secretary Leavitt said. “Right now, none of these things exist in our health care system, but today we are taking an important step toward transparency.

“As we give consumers better information on how their health care dollars are spent, they will demand more value for their money, and the result will be better treatment at lower costs.”

NAHU Applauds CMS for Creating More Health Care Choices for Seniors

The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) applauds the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for taking the initiative in providing consumer-directed health plans for Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage programs beginning next year.  The new program will also include a demonstration project that allows Medical Savings Account (MSA) coverage to be offered to Medicare beneficiaries.   MSAs are similar to the cost effective Health Savings Accounts (HSA) plans.

“Access to affordable health insurance for all segments of the population is our highest health care priority,” stated NAHU EVP and CEO Janet Trautwein.  “CMS proposes a sensible solution that would implement proven market-driven initiatives to restore competition to the health care market through savings accounts.  MSAs are a health insurance option that allow Medicare beneficiaries to contribute money to savings accounts to help pay for health insurance costs not covered by their insurance and to save for future medical expenses.  Even though Medicare’s total payments to the new plans will be the same, the additional improvements including coverage for preventive services and plan choices will makes these plans very attractive to seniors.       

“CMS’ emphasis on making savings accounts more appealing to a broader number of individuals and employers is a vital part of reducing the number of uninsured Americans.  HSA-type plans have never been an option with Medicare until now.  Not only are HSAs helping more Americans afford health insurance, they are also addressing the issue of rising health care costs.  HSAs give consumers a reason to be value-conscience shoppers in the health care marketplace.  When patients are paying more attention to the cost of health care and demanding value for their dollars, total health care spending will decline. 

“We believe a better health care system can be realized through Americans having more choices and control over their health care decisions.   Choice and competition can work in the health care arena as they have in most sectors of our economy by: encouraging innovation, creating new ideas for controlNAHling costs and delivering health care in a more effective way.”

How to Become an Irresistible Sales Communicator with Integrity and Power

Would you like to learn the secrets of the most influential, powerful people of all time? Attract more sales and negotiate more win/win outcomes? Become a masterful communicator and a magnet for endless referrals?

Despite what most books and seminars teach, successful selling is not a set of strategies, techniques or tactics to get the prospect to buy.

Rather it is a state of mind -- yours and your customer's -- and set of behaviors that creates compelling win/win outcomes for everyone.

This special state of mind -- that few books or seminars address -- requires you to know how to:

• Change your state (and therefore your results) in any selling situation ... with volition;
• Get "inside" your prospect's head and gain instant credibility, rapport and trust;
• Communicate directly to your prospect's deepest, most significant desires;
• Ask the right questions that will uncover what prospects REALLY value and want.

Regardless of title or job, every person is in the business of selling, whether it be products, services, projects, ideas or negotiations.

These same top 7 principles apply for achieving your Magnetic Edge and becoming an irresistible sales communicator with integrity, influence and power.

ACHIEVING "INNER" SALES EXCELLENCE

1. The Power of Emotional State Mastery

The biggest difference between a marginal vs. top achiever is their state of mind. Marginal performers let outside circumstances dictate their state; top performers know how to take charge of their emotional state ... with volition. State mastery is critical in sales, leadership, customer service and every other aspect of business.

• What drives your state (and therefore your results) right now -- you or the world around you?
• What state are you conveying to your prospects now -- fear, insecurity, aggression? Or confidence, enthusiasm, service-oriented?
• How do you need to change your physiology and/or thinking to adopt a high performance state?

2. The Power of Personal Congruence & Integrity

Personal congruence is not a technique; rather the place "from which you come." It's that place where you have such deep rapport with yourself, that what you say comes powerfully from within and attracts others, even before a word is spoken. True authentic power comes from personal congruency. It's magnetic and you know when you are with someone who comes from that place.

• What incongruent "parts" of yourself get in your way of owning your true personal power?
• What are you saying or doing in marketing activities that is out of integrity with yourself and the values that are important to you?

3. The Power of Competence

Signing up a client or customer is not the end of the selling process, rather the beginning. Truly serving clients requires that we "deliver the goods" and create real value. The more competence you have, the more value you can deliver.

• In what ways can you increase your competence to deliver more value to your clients or customers?
• What hidden skills, capabilities or core competencies can you capitalize on for additional value and revenues?

ACHIEVING "OUTER" SALES EXCELLENCE

4. The Power of Instant Rapport & Trust

In NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), there is a saying, "Anything is possible in the presence of rapport; nothing is possible without it."
Rapport is not about getting people to like you. Rather it is the ability to "step inside their shoes" and see the world through their eyes. When you see the world through your prospect's eyes, you build trust. Then, and only then, will a prospect buy from you.

• If you were to "see the word through your prospect's eyes," how would you interact with them differently?
• Do you know what it will take for your prospects and clients to trust you?
• How do you know when you trust someone to buy from them? How can you use that information to build trust with your prospect?

5. The Power of Values & Motivation Criteria

People buy emotionally, not logically. The secret is knowing how to uncover a prospect's deepest desires, buying motivations and emotional criteria, and using that information to best serve them.

• Do you know how to consistently uncover your prospect's deepest buying motivations?
• What is it costing you in lost sales not to?
• How might your product or services help them realize their deepest desires, overcome their greatest fears or fix their greatest pain?

6. The Power of Imagination & Story-Telling

Magnetic marketing is about leading the prospect's imagination to a place where they are inspired to use your services. Anita Roddick, CEO, The Body Shop, has grown her company to a multi-billion dollar level, as she puts it, "not by marketing, but by telling stories." Bill Caskey -- CEO, Caskey Achievement Strategies -- suggests reducing your stories, examples and value to pictures. To do so, sinks your value in at the deepest levels of your prospect's mind. Use the power of pictures and story-telling to help your prospect imagine how their lives or businesses will be different from your products or services.

• To what extent are you using the power of imagination to inspire your prospects to use your services?
• What stories about your company or product/services can you tell that will ignite sales?
• What pictures, graphs or other visuals powerfully convey your value?

7. The Power of Synergistic Communications & Creating Win-Win Outcomes

Synergistic communications takes the sales process beyond building relationships to building partnerships. The goal is to create a "we" space -- where differences are valued and used as stepping stones to create true win-win outcomes.

• How can embracing the differences between you and your prospect win more clients and sales?
• What new ways must you communicate with prospects to shift from getting the sale to building partnership and win/win outcomes?

You don't need another closing technique. What you need are the right tools, mindset and principles to develop the magnetic edge ... to explode sales, win negotiations and create impact with persuasion, influence and power.