Coalition Of Business Leaders Call For Greater Focus On Controlling Costs In Healthcare Reform Implementation

SACRAMENTO, CA: A coalition of large and small businesses led by Bay Area Council President and CEO Jim Wunderman today called for greater focus in Sacramento on incorporating meaningful cost control measures as part of implementing federal healthcare reform.

The promise of extending healthcare to all and making it affordable for consumers and businesses can only be achieved by wringing out the unsustainable costs that are sapping energy and resources from our economy, Wunderman said in remarks outside the state Capitol. The Bay Area Council believes the Affordable Care Act of 2009 established a good foundation on which to reform healthcare, but that represents only a first step. As California begins the difficult work of putting healthcare reform into practice we must keep the bull's eye on reducing costs through market-based solutions.

The Council released a set of Principles and Priorities on which it will focus over the next year to push for greater reliance on the open marketplace and on California's strength as a technological innovator to reduce rising healthcare costs and provide expanded access to quality, affordable healthcare. The Council expects later this year to develop a road map for translating its Principles and Priorities in actionable policy consistent with the aims of the federal law.

"Improving the actual health of Californians is the best way to control costs," said Micah Weinberg, the Council's Senior Policy Advisor for healthcare issues. "If the reform we create rewards healthcare providers for keeping people healthy and encouraging the development of healthy communities, then everyone wins."

The Council supports the creation of market-based programs like the California Health Benefit Exchange, through which health insurance companies compete fairly for consumers business. However, one piece of reform implementation legislation that was introduced this year threatened to reduce the competitive power of the exchange by shifting hundreds of thousands of consumers to a government-run program. The Council opposed the passage of the bill this year and is encouraged by recent signs that the state may be more cautious about passing legislation that could undermine the Exchange, which is the linchpin of the Affordable Care Act.

We are concerned that the considerable political and ideological controversy that has swirled around healthcare reform, not to mention the sheer complexity of the issue, could distract us from its effective implementation, or worse, lead to unintended consequences, Wunderman said. The Council is going to be playing a vocal and active role going forward to ensure we don't get distracted from the goal of reducing costs and providing greater affordability.

Wunderman was joined in today's announcement by a coalition of large and small businesses, all of whom support healthcare reform and want to see it enacted in such a way that delivers on its promise.

The Affordable Care Act will go a long way in helping small business owners and millions of self-employed Americans purchase affordable, quality health insurance, said John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority. "The law will significantly lower healthcare costs through provisions like tax credits, insurance exchanges and various cost containment measures, and usher in a new era of economic opportunity for small employers."