[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 134 (Thursday, October 20, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H8987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REDUCING COSTS IN MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SPENDING

  (Mr. MURPHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, 80 percent of the Nation's total medical 
care costs, including Medicaid expenditures, are spent in the treatment 
of chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and cardiovascular 
disease. Chronic disease often involves multiple diagnoses, 
hospitalizations, tests, and treatments. All of this is expensive and 
complex, and as health care costs soar we can save lives and money 
using better patient management.
  Under patient care management plans, patients are monitored by nurses 
to coordinate their complex care, monitor prescription use, watch out 
for problems, and empower patients to get involved in their own care. 
Money spent up front dramatically lowers health care costs and, most 
importantly, improves patient outcome.
  A patient management program at the Washington Hospital in 
southwestern Pennsylvania taught patients to self-manage their disease 
through diet, lifestyle changes, medication monitoring, and depression 
screening. The result has been a remarkable 50 percent decrease in 
hospital readmission rates.
  I urge my colleagues to learn more about reducing costs in Federal 
Medicare and Medicaid spending through better patient care management 
programs by visiting my Web site at murphy.house.gov.

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