It’s not a mystery as to how the United States can better control health care costs.

More than 133 million Americans currently have one or more chronic illnesses. Treating these conditions accounts for 75 cents of every health care dollar we spend, or about $1.5 trillion annually.

We can make better use of our health care dollars by better managing chronic disease.

WellPoint’s plans are exploring different avenues – and achieving success – to improve the lives of those with chronic illness and, at the same time, make our health system more cost-effective.

• Our diabetes management programs are helping control the symptoms that lead to hospitalizations and surgeries. In one program, participants saw emergency room visits drop by 27 percent.
• People with chronic disease take more medications and, thus, are more susceptible to harmful drug interactions. Our e-prescribing programs are helping plan members avoid this danger. Also, this technology helps link members with less expensive generic medicines that are just
  as effective as their name brand counterparts.

Attacking chronic disease is one of the greatest challenges facing our health care system. Diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other illnesses affect the lives of too many Americans and add hundreds of billions of dollars to our health care spending.

Congress needs to enact health reform that effectively manages chronic disease by allowing insurers the flexibility to establish real incentives to help members stay healthy. At WellPoint, we’re proving every day that this is an achievable goal.