United Healthcare 2001 Annual Report Download - page 9

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The pages of this annual report document the depth, quality and diversification
of our performance, providing clear and comprehensive analysis, discussion
and disclosure. Accordingly, I will not delve further into that arena, but instead
will offer some views on our nation’s health care system. I come to this discus-
sion not just as the chairman and chief executive of one of our nation’s leading
health care companies, but as a former practicing physician, medical researcher,
a shareholder and, most importantly, a deeply concerned fellow citizen.
OUR NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM: CHALLENGES AND HOPE
This discussion is driven in part by personal disappointment and frustration
with aspects of our nation's health system that are today sub-optimal. But I am
more motivated by hope and determination, feelings that are magnified when
I consider the performance of UnitedHealth Group and its contributions to
advancing health and well-being in the past year and, in fact, over the past
decade. I firmly believe we at UnitedHealth Group can play a leadership role
in addressing the challenges facing our nation directly and advance them to
higher national prominence.
Make no mistake, these challenges are immense and are becoming more pressing
by the day. From a failure to build a medical system based on science and
efficiency, to vast and growing numbers of uninsured citizens, to the swelling
ranks of those in need of chronic disease management, to wide variations in
care delivery and inefficient use of resources: all of these problems suggest our
health care system is seriously troubled and faces expanding challenges.
At its best, ours is a system of truly great assets and resources, unparalleled
science and technology, and miraculous outcomes. But it is also an environment
characterized by fragmented health care “systems” and agendas, unsupportable
variation in clinical approaches to care, maldistribution of health services by
geography and population segment, loose definitions of essential care services,
no agreement on what constitutes quality or even safety, a general unwilling-
ness to make choices or give up on any chance for improvement no matter
how remote, and a very wealthy and hugely consumptive society.
Against that backdrop, our national health care expenditures will exceed
$1.5 trillion this year, roughly 14 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product,
and are projected to increase to more than $2.6 trillion, or 16 percent of
our GDP by 2010. Our fundamental problem is not that we spend too little,
nor is it that we fail to generally cover enough benefits or services. Instead,
we too often fail to spend wisely or appropriately, and we have not created a
coherent system built on science, efficiency and optimal value for each and
every one of our citizens.
In response to these issues, our nation’s efforts have for too long worked at the
edges of the problem. The opportunity to improve our health care system and,
UnitedHealth Group
can play a leadership
role in addressing the
challenges facing our
nation directly and
advance them to higher
national prominence.