Jobs Agenda: Health Care

Priorities

The U.S. Chamber works to lessen the burden of the new government health care law while promoting strategies and solutions to help businesses get costs under control, improve quality, and increase coverage of the uninsured.

The Facts

• The United States spends $2.5 trillion a year on health care.
• More than 170 million Americans receive health insurance through employer-sponsored plans. Unless we address rising health care costs, more companies and families will be forced to drop coverage, adding to the millions of Americans without health insurance.
• The new law expands coverage but allows costs to continue spiraling. The federal government alone was on the hook for $89 trillion in unfunded liabilities for Medicare in 2009, and now a huge new entitlement has been created.

The U.S. Chamber’s Plan to Control Costs, Improve Quality, and Increase Coverage

• Health Information Technology (HIT)—Widespread adoption of HIT—including electronic prescriptions and medical records—will improve quality, lower costs, and reduce medical errors. Consumer-Focused Health Care—Congress should make account-based plans more attractive to small businesses by increasing flexibility and improving the transparency of cost and quality data.
• Medical Liability Reform—The U.S. Chamber supports health courts, caps on punitive damages, and other medical liability reforms that ensure fair damage awards, eliminate frivolous lawsuits, and lower costs.
• Purchasing of Plans Across State Lines—Individuals and small businesses should be allowed to purchase health plans that are not subject to onerous state mandates. The CBO says that this will lower costs while improving choice.
• Small Business Health Plans—Allowing businesses to freely pool together and negotiate with health insurers will lower costs for government and businesses while improving choice and competition.
• Payment Reform—Congress should make it easier for employers and insurers to create insurance plans that pay for quality, not quantity, and reward doctors for keeping patients healthy.
• Fraud and Abuse—Medicare and Medicaid fraud is running rampant and costing the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year. A broad array of countermeasures should be enacted immediately.

To learn more, visit issues/healthcare