In the early debates of health care reform, public support was overwhelming, but now the majority of Americans are doubtful that Congress will pass reform legislation this year, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.
Small business lobbyists think Congress should have zeroed in on reducing insurance premiums and restricting the ability of insurers to deny or modify price based on health status. Instead, they focused on an extremely expensive, unnecessary overhaul placing too much power in the government’s hands, according to the KSBJ.
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Although she believes political pressures will influence Congress to put some sort of reform on Obama’s desk, CEO of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council Karen Kerrigan told the KCBJ that “Congress blew it.” She doesn’t speculate on how the reform will affect the cost of insurance for employers.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association representing insurers, rejects the public option but advocates for reform. They vote for guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions, as long as individuals are required to buy insurance. If not, people could just wait until they are sick to buy coverage, which would increase premiums for everyone else, AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach told the KSBJ.
According to a new report released by the Business Roundtable, reform is mandatory to avoid tripling the per-employee healthcare cost to $28,530 a year in 10 years. At this rate, costs would be unsustainable and many employees would be at risk of losing coverage, reported the KSBJ.
Business lobbyists said they will continue to work at state and local levels on insurance market reforms if Congress fails to act. But, without help at the federal level, costs may be hard to contain, according the the KSBJ.
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At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
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