Health care debate needs sharper focus on real issue

(March 7, 2008) Debate about health care reform these days usually slides sideways into a discussion of who should pay for it, rather than trying to deal with the cost-drivers that are pushing health care beyond the affordability of more and more people in Connecticut.

For some time, however, Connecticut employers have been zeroing in on the root causes of the health care problem. About two-thirds of Connecticut residents have health insurance through their employers, and the vast majority are satisfied with this system. Still, much can be done to improve it and employers want to be able to keep offering competitive plans to their employees.

Among the positive proposals are those that would boost efforts to improve health care quality and make Connecticut’s hospitals more efficient and staffed with skilled workers; others would allow greater flexibility in health plan design to allow more choices of affordable coverage.

HB-5721 will improve health care quality and reduce costs by allowing for reduced-mandate plan plan design, making coverage more affordable and therefore more accessible.

HB-5710 will allow municipalities to better manage their health care and enable them to retain control over their health plan offerings.

On the other hand, some lawmakers are still looking at proposals that would do nothing to address the real cost-drivers.

One proposal attempts to push cities and towns into the state’s gold-plated employee health care plan – under the guise of saving them money. Many municipalities have done a much better job than the state in negotiating reasonably priced, good health care plans for their employees. Still, HB-5536 would undercut their efforts and might well increase municipal costs and property tax burdens.

And advocates of the proposal have clearly said its true aim is to help usher in a government-run, taxpayer-funded health care system in Connecticut.

Several other proposals would continue the march to require health plans to cover just about any kind of special treatment or procedure. These government mandates do help a few people, but push the costs up for everybody in the process.

Lawmakers should focus on the real question of health care — taming its cost drivers so that more people can afford it.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric George at 860-244-1921 or eric.george@cbia.com.