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February 2007— Vol. 85, No. 1
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Health care reform must build on
employer-based system
By John R. Rathgeber
CBIA President and CEO
Health care reform has become one of the top issues at the State Capitol this year. Most of the proposals being discussed so far focus on health care cost, quality and access.
That’s encouraging, especially since there has been much talk in the news media about universal health care and a single-payer system, as advocated by some groups. Such proposals, however, would not fix what’s really wrong — and that is that rising costs are making health care and health insurance increasingly unaffordable for individuals and employers.
Simply adding more people to public insurance rolls, or mandating universal coverage, or creating a government-run system will not solve the problem. A single-payer system would not have incentives to contain costs and improve health care quality. Neither would putting more people into the state health plan — one of the most expensive plans in the country. Abandoning the current employer-sponsored system would be unaffordable and unsustainable.
Real reform must be a comprehensive plan that builds on the current system by controlling costs and driving quality and efficiency in the delivery of health care in order to provide more value. Reform must enable consumers to compare providers on outcomes and costs so they can make more-informed decisions about their care. Reform must also tackle the root causes of chronic illnesses, especially obesity, by promoting healthy lifestyles. And reform should allow for more-flexible and affordable benefit plans that meet the needs of small businesses and individuals who currently can’t afford insurance.
In addition, the state needs to increase Medicaid reimbursements paid to providers. That will reduce cost shifting to private-sector payers and encourage more doctors to accept Medicaid patients, reducing people’s unnecessary use of costly emergency room care.
Connecticut already has good private- and public-sector insurance systems in place. We need to improve them and help more people gain access to them.
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