Time to get serious about health care costs: Editorial

Delaware leaders appear to be getting serious about slowing the relentless surge in health care costs.

On Thursday, Gov. John Carney signed legislation that begins the process of creating a health care spending benchmark. The basic idea is simple: set a reasonable rate at which health care costs should grow, like one tied to economic growth, and then work to prevent costs from rising faster than that rate.

It will take a few years to establish the benchmark, but the hope is that it will eventually drive those in the health care industry to be more cost-effective.

Read more:Gov. Carney and Secretary Walker explain their strategy on health care costs

This benchmark is a good idea, and Health and Social Services Secretary Kara Odom Walker deserves Delawareans' full support in implementing it.

Between 2010 and 2016, state government's health care costs grew by an utterly unsustainable 42 percent.

Soaring health care costs are a primary reason why lawmakers have struggled year after year to balance the government's budget. Health spending is making it harder for the state to invest in schools, battle the opioid epidemic and maintain safety in prisons, among other important government services.

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If we don't get health care costs under control, huge tax increases and more painful budget cuts are unavoidable.

This isn't just about government. The innovations and changes a benchmark would spur could help keep costs down for all of us.

Establishing this benchmark — and, more importantly, making it a reality — will be a long and difficult process. It will require tough conversations with the many players in the health care sector, and it will require those both inside and outside of government to do things differently.

This must not devolve into a political fight.

The bill empowering Walker to create the benchmark was sponsored by Democratic leaders in the General Assembly, but Republicans were calling for a benchmark before the bill was introduced. Only three lawmakers voted against the legislation.

We hope legislators can put aside other battles and give policymakers the solid footing they need to push for meaningful change. If Walker is successful, everybody will be better off.

That said, the benchmark alone may not fix our health care spending woes. Lawmakers need to prepare themselves to take further action — like asking state employees to pay more for their health insurance.

Bending the cost curve in health care will require some tough decisions. But if we fail, far harder choices in the future are inevitable.

The News Journal's editorial opinions are decided by its editorial board, which is separate from the news staff.