The current government in Washington, D.C. may be dysfunctional but they still get together on some things. H.R. 5183, the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) for Better Care Act of 2014,could improve the health of patients with chronic illness while reducing what they spend on the medicines and tests they need most.

The bill, introduced last week by U.S. Reps. Diane Black and Earl Blumenauer would allow Medicare Advantage plans to use innovative "value-based" insurance designs that could save both the federal government and patients money. For instance, Pitney Bowes, a Fortune 500 company, saved $1 million in employee health costs in one year, when complication rates for asthma and diabetes dropped after the company lowered the out-of-pocket cost of medications. In some states, public health plans have adopted V-BID principles.
The sponsors credit the University of Michigan V-BID Center for the policy work that underpins their proposal.

The V-BID Center's faculty and staff, based in the U-M School of Public Health and Medical School, have also worked with numerous private and public payers, employers, unions and business coalitions nationwide. Together, they've proven a central V-BID premise: that reducing out-of-pocket costs for selected high-value medical services for certain patients can improve health outcomes, reduce disparities and potentially slow the growth of health care costs.

For instance, Pitney Bowes, a Fortune 500 company, saved $1 million in employee health costs in one year, when complication rates for asthma and diabetes dropped after the company lowered the out-of-pocket cost of medications. In some states, public health plans have adopted V-BID principles.