Proposed Bipartisan Bill to Spur U.S. Health Care Reform Could ‘Cause Large-Scale Disruption,’ According to Business Coalition
A proposed bipartisan bill (S 344) that seeks to make "sweeping changes" to the existing U.S. system of employer-based health insurance could pose significant problems to other efforts to expand health care and make it more difficult to reduce the number of uninsured people in the country, members of the National Coalition on Benefits wrote in a letter sent on Monday to Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah), CQ HealthBeat reports. Wyden and Bennett co-sponsored the bill, known as the Healthy Americans Act, with a bipartisan group of 14 other senators in an effort to establish a universal health care system (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 7/8).
The legislation would effectively eliminate the employer-sponsored health care system and replace it with a system in which individuals would purchase private health coverage through state-run purchasing pools. All residents would be required to obtain coverage (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/22). Wyden in April modified the measure to allow employers to continue providing health coverage. State-based "Health Help Agencies" would provide employees with information and guidance on selecting the plans that would offer preventive care and chronic disease management benefits, CQ HealthBeat reports.
The coalition -- including America's Health Insurance Plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Business Roundtable, General Electric and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- wrote that the bill "would cause large-scale disruption in the source, financing and regulation of the employer-sponsored health coverage that now serves most Americans." The coalition also wrote it would hinder efforts by business owners to provide their employees with equal benefits plans that are portable across state and local lines under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
In addition, the coalition wrote that although the legislation allows businesses to continue providing health coverage to employees, "we expect that the source for most health coverage would soon be under the new system of state-sponsored health insurance choices, not through employers." In addition, employers who choose to continue to offer health insurance would not be able to offer uniform plans or administer them "under a consistent regulatory framework" because the measure would allow states to seek waivers of health care related federal laws or regulations. The coalition wrote, "This would lead to state-by-state, or even county or city, regulation of employer-sponsored plans," adding, "This is unworkable for employers with a nationwide or [multi-state] work force."
Wyden on Tuesday said that he had not seen the letter. In a statement Monday, Wyden said, "Providing a sensible and affordable market-driven health care plan for every American is no longer just an idea; it is a goal within our reach." The statement also named Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) as a new co-sponsor for the bill. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Wednesday is scheduled to reintroduce the modified version of the bill in the House (CQ HealthBeat, 7/8).
