U.S. Chamber of Commerce Health and Retirement Priorities for the 113th Congress

The Year in Review and the Year Ahead

Health Care Reform

Although the Chamber is committed to reforming the nation’s health care system to lower costs, improve quality and access, and build a more value-driven system, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) does not accomplish these goals. The Chamber opposes forcing employers to fund, or individuals to participate in, a flawed and unaffordable system. Rather than spend years debating how to reinvent the health care system, Congress should immediately take concrete steps, building on the strengths of the current market-based and employer-sponsored system, to help more Americans get better, more affordable health care coverage. Key pieces of the PPACA should be stricken and replaced with market-driven, consumer-based reforms that bolster the health care system and the economy.

Major pieces of PPACA that should be repealed or revised include the following:

• The draconian employer mandate and associated penalties.
• The $500 billion in new taxes on small businesses, medical industries, and more.
• The vast new bureaucracy of government programs and agencies, such as the CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program) long-term care takeover.
• New insurance rules that effectively outlaw limited benefit plans and hamper the ability of employers to significantly vary plan design.

Medical Liability Reform

The unpredictable medical tort system burdens our health care system with excessive costs by encouraging the litigation of baseless lawsuits which, in turn, force providers to practice defensive medicine. As a result, doctors are discouraged from entering high-risk specialties and medical malpractice insurance costs are skyrocketing. Consumers and employees suffer as access becomes a challenge and prices and services increase. The Chamber supports capping the amount of noneconomic damages that a jury can award in medical malpractice cases and is interested in proposals to remove medical malpractice cases from the tort system. One viable alternative would be to litigate medical cases in special administrative health courts, similar to bankruptcy courts. Other innovative approaches include reforming joint and several liability, capping trial attorney fees, prescreening cases by expert panels, and protecting providers that follow best practices.