As the voice of Alaska business, representing employers who create jobs and when at all possible provide quality, affordable health insurance to thousands of Alaskans, we recognize the need for health care reform.
We support efforts at the federal level to reform our nation's health care system in a way that is sustainable, does not add to the deficit, or to the increasing burden to business owners.
Business owners play an important role in addressing health needs of their employees and their families. However all of us, employers and employees, must focus on our own health and wellness for any reform to succeed.
The Health Affairs Journal of the New England Journal of Medicine cites personal behavior (40 percent) as the main determinant of health and contributor to premature death. Only 10 percent is determined by access and quality of health care.
The ADN's coverage and the debate in Congress has focused almost exclusively on access to health care. If we were to first address the 40 percent (personal behaviors), the 10 percent (access and quality of health care) would take care of itself.
Without a strong reform component centering on prevention and wellness, costs will continue to rise and reform will fail.
Rising health care spending is the number one threat to the federal budget and the nation's financial well-being. As we already know, health care costs in 2007 accounted for 16.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The Congressional Budget Office projects that share will to grow to 25 percent in 2025 and to 49 percent in 2082 if we do not address the problem.
The State Chamber and business owners are committed to improvements that would lower health care costs, improve the quality of care, and make sure every citizen has access to affordable coverage.
Besides promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles, a successful reform will:
• Improve pooling mechanisms so that more businesses can share risk and administrative expenses and bargain with providers for the best prices.
• Provide health care consumers with meaningful comparisons on quality measures and prices.
• Reform the medical liability system to reduce the cost of unnecessary and defensive medicine.
• Eliminate exclusions for pre-existing conditions, guarantee issue of coverage, and ensure fairness in premium costs.
• Create a national, streamlined marketplace through a connector or exchange that makes shopping for health insurance simple.
Much of the current legislation being considered would not improve the system, but would jeopardize the parts that currently work.
The business community is especially concerned with a government-run plan that would increase costs and limit choice; an employer health care mandate that would kill jobs and lower wages; and a lack of any real effort to lower health care costs.
We believe that responsible, constructive, and sustainable health reform that we all can support can be enacted this year.
We encourage Congress and the Administration to build upon the current employer-based system in a way that increases competition from health care providers, stabilizes costs, improves access, and invests in proven efforts to promote wellness and prevent disease.
Wayne Stevens is president and CEO of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce in Juneau.
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