Congress needs to finish job on health-care reform
With President Donald Trump’s reaffirmed commitment to passing healthcare reform, lawmakers have a fresh chance to overcome recent setbacks and modernize the American health-care system. The business community remains committed to helping our leaders expand access to coverage, improve quality of care and reverse the rise of health-care costs.
We applaud the members of the House who worked diligently to put together the American Health Care Act. The legislation takes an important first step toward addressing the failings of “Obamacare,” which has driven up the cost of health insurance, reduced private coverage options and heaped high costs and mandates on states, employers and individuals.
The AHCA continues to evolve, and it should. There are many improvements to be made and many differing opinions to be heard. But, as with any bill, we can’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. With the impending collapse of the individual insurance market, lawmakers must keep at it until a compromise is reached.
The business community is here to help. We have a significant stake in seeing our health-care system reformed. Not only do many companies operate in the different health-care sectors, but many more are providers of health-care coverage for employees and their families.
Under Obamacare, flexibility in benefit and plan design has been constrained, and the cost of complying with regulatory and administrative burdens is consuming resources. We are eager to help refine and enact legislation that will improve access to affordable coverage, prevent the dismantling of the employersponsored system, foster economic growth and reduce uncompensated care.
To achieve these goals, we must repeal Obamacare’s tax on health insurance, which merely drives up premiums. We should also repeal the prescriptive Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze plan limitations in the individual and smallgroup market to open the door to a wider range of coverage options.
Further, the expansion of Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts will make health care more affordable for millions of Americans and encourage individuals to seek the best value when spending their health-care dollars.
One of the most important tasks of all is preserving the employer-sponsored health-care system that more than 177 million American workers depend on for quality care.
Congress can do so by excluding those with employer-sponsored insurance from the new health-care tax credits and further delaying the so-called “Cadillac tax,” which penalizes businesses for offering robust coverage.
Finally, we believe reform should shape a health-care system that contributes to, rather than impedes, economic growth. Obamacare has proven to be a burden on our entire economy by hitting job creators with higher costs, taxes and mandates.
The AHCA seeks to lift this burden and promote faster, long-term economic growth by eliminating the employermandate penalty, making it easier for businesses to redirect resources to investments and growth.
As always, it’s important to remember that Washington doesn’t have all the answers. States like Arizona have devised solutions to reduce uncompensated care and strengthen their healthcare sectors.
A health-care reform bill at the federal level should acknowledge the need for state-level flexibility and each state’s unique needs. As Gov. Doug Ducey has said, we don’t want anyone to have the rug pulled out from under them.
These goals — affordable coverage, robust employer-sponsored care and a pro-growth system that encourages state-driven solutions — are important to every member of the business community. That’s why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to helping our leaders seize the opportunity before them to reform the American healthcare system.
It’s time to finish the job.
Thomas J. Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. Follow them on Twitter @USChamber and @azchamber, or email them at info@uschamber.com.