A report from the Business Roundtable finds that health care reform will be good for business. They support much of what is in the health care reform bills but disagree on some points . They do not support the public option and they want to go further than the current legislation does to attempt to have the government control health care decisions. The Wall Street Journal reports:
The Business Roundtable, which represents the chief executives of major U.S. companies, released a report that stated that without changes to the current U.S. health-care system, costs would rise to $28,530 per employee. But the “right legislative reforms” would reduce those costs by more than $3,000 per employee, according to the report…
President Barack Obama in a statement said the report “underscores what experts and businesspeople have told us all along–comprehensive health insurance reform is one of the most important investments we can make in American competitiveness.”
A statement from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D, Mont.) states that the report “adds to the evidence that the bottom line is on the line for businesses in health reform.”
The report points to a number of possible changes included in some form in House and Senate health-care bills to make health spending based more on quality than quantity and improve prevention and wellness efforts. One example is payment “bundling” to doctors and hospitals, which would provide a single payment for all services related to a treatment or condition.
Another bright spot cited by the report is a section in legislation approved by the Senate Finance Committee that would design a system of “value-based” payments from Medicare to doctors and hospitals. The proposed system would base some payment rates on quality measures.
Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman and chief executive of Verizon Communications Inc., in a statement cited a need to “make sure we improve, not erode, U.S. competitiveness.”
“We can do that by implementing the broad-based delivery system reforms approved by the Senate Finance Committee and avoiding ill-advised proposals such as the public option,” Mr. Seidenberg said.
But the report states that the current bills “are missing some ingredients” to permanently draw down future growth in health costs. The report commends the bills’ provisions on “comparative effectiveness research,” which evaluates the effectiveness of treatment and therapies, but states that “we must find ways” to encourage health-care providers to adhere to evidence-based guidelines on care.
The desire to regulate treatment decisions which is not in government regulation is consistent with current trends in health care. While conservatives worry about a government take over of health care, it is typically insurance companies and not government which interferes in the doctor-patient relationship. While it is desirable that results of comparative effectiveness research be voluntarily used by physicians, it is dangerous to write this into law. Decisions in the cases of individual patients who have multiple medical problems often legitimately vary from generic practice guidelines which are usually written based upon a single disease state. The physician, and not insurance companies, businessmen, or government bureaucrats must make the ultimate decisions. Fortunately the current health care legislation avoids any acts to place bureaucrats between doctors and patients, despite the claims from the right.
Even though health care reform might be good for business, some pro-business groups still plan to spend millions on ads opposing health care reform.
There is one business which benefits by preserving the status quo–the insurance industry. An analysis from Goldman Sachs found that the insurance companies would profit the most from preventing any form of reform. If health care reform does pass, they are projected to do better if there is no public option. No wonder the health insurance industry has been working so hard to provide all those bogus talking points for the right wing to use.
