Health Care Systems
“Health reform is a vital business issue. If we can’t get this cost under control, it will continue to undermine our competitiveness as a nation and state. This is one of the most important economic development?issues that we currently face.”
Jake Boyer
President, The Boyer Company
Statement of Principles:
- Reform Based on Market Principles – We support reform that applies market principles to contain costs, strengthen Utah’s economy and improve lives. Such reform includes increasing transparency regarding cost and quality, fostering competition and realigning incentives for patients, doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies.
- Accountability – We believe that Utah’s health reform must expand accountability at all levels of the health system—patients, providers, purchasers, payers and political leaders. By so doing, every Utahn will take more personal responsibility for their health and we can realign the system to be more consumer-driven.
- State Reform with Urgency – With very serious actions underway at the federal level, Utah must not be deterred or delayed in its state reform. With world- renowned health care experts and the best managed state in the nation, Utahns are in the best position to reform and improve Utah’s health care system.
2010 Public Policy Priorities:
- Continue implementation of the Health Reform Bill of Rights and Responsibilities – Entities representing over half Utah’s work force signed the Chamber’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, a document that lays out the pathway for Utah reform.
- Preserve State Reform Flexibility – We support state flexibility provisions in any potential federal policy, which will allow Utah to progress and reform more rapidly than the “lowest common denominator” that federal policy targets.
- Restore Funding to University of Utah School of Medicine – The School of Medicine reduced its class size by 20% (from 102 incoming students to 82) in response to the loss of $10 million in federal funds and state budget cuts in FY 2010. Utah faces a critical physician shortage that is worsening each year. We must adequately fund the education of new physicians to replace retiring physicians and to care for a rapidly growing population.
- Strengthen the Utah Health Exchange – The Chamber supports legislative action that addresses the disparity of pricing between businesses that join the Utah Health Exchange and those that remain outside of the exchange.
Recent Accomplishments:
Passage of HB 188, Health System Reform – Insurance: ?The Chamber enthusiastically supported this reform legislation sponsored by House Speaker David Clark. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support. Two of its most important provisions are:
Creation of a Defined Contribution Market – The legislation established the Utah Health Exchange—an internet portal opened to small group employers January 1, 2010 as a marketplace for health insurance products. The exchange is scheduled to be open to all by 2012. It features tools for comparison shopping to introduce more transparency on cost and quality issues in health care. It also allows households to aggregate contributions from multiple employers to put toward the purchase of a health?benefit plan.
Disclosure of Broker Commission – H.B. 188 requires brokers and producers to disclose their commission and compensation to their customers prior to the sale of a health benefit plan.
Passage of HB 165, Administrative Simplification – The Chamber supported this legislation sponsored by Representative Merlynn Newbold, which provides standards for the exchange of information between health care providers, insurers and patients. It is the first step to realigning incentives for providers, insurers and patients and improving the health of our community.
Participation in Community Working Groups Created by the Health System Reform Legislative Task Force – The Chamber was invited to participate on both the Transparency-Quality-Infrastructure and the Oversight and Implementation work groups. These work groups provide feedback and recommendations to the legislative task force.
2009 Utah Health Forum – The Chamber, along with United Way of Salt Lake and MediaOne, sponsored the 2009 Utah Health Forum held at the Salt Palace. Governor Herbert and Speaker Clark delivered keynote speeches and addressed Utah’s path to reform. Breakout sessions covering twelve of the most important health care topics and hosted by the state’s expert health care minds were provided for participants. The forum highlighted Utah’s reform work to this point as well as the urgent need for further reform. A 24-page newspaper insert on Utah health reform was distributed to 200,000 households.
Federal Health System Reform Statement - The Salt Lake Chamber supports health reform that applies market principles to contain costs, strengthen the economy and improve lives. Current health reform efforts by the U.S. Congress miss the mark by focusing primarily on expanding access rather than controlling costs. Employer mandates, tax increases and a government-run plan will increase the cost of doing business and jeopardize the competitiveness of Utah companies in the global marketplace. We do not support federal reform that fails to address the major controllable costs in our health system, most notably excessive utilization, unhealthy lifestyle choices, waste and medical liability.
We ask the U.S. Congress to allow states like Utah, which are actively engaged in fixing the broken health care system, to implement innovative reform tailored to their unique circumstances. Through purposeful state action, in partnership with the federal government, we can sustain a vibrant economy and enable people to live healthier, more productive lives.
Committee Membership:
Chair: Scott Hymas, RC Willey
Bob Baker, Café Rio
Deborah Bayle, United Way of Salt Lake
Tom Bingham, Utah Manufacturers Association
Candice Daly, National Federation of
Independent Businesses
Chip Everest, EnergySolutions
Christian Gardner, The Gardner Company
Paul Glauser, Staker Parson Companies
Kay Mickelson, City of Salt Lake
Johanna Nielsen, Grant Thornton
Jim Olsen, Utah Retail Merchant Association
Kevin R. Pinegar, Durham Jones & Pinegar, P.C.
Chris Redgrave, Utah Economy Can-Do Coalition
Jill Taylor, Key Bank
Nathan Wickizer, Cache Valley Electric Company
“The Chamber has been and continues to be a vital partner in Utah’s effort to?reform our health care system. The Chamber’s involvement has provided the Legislature with much needed support in addressing this complicated issue.”
David Clark, Speaker of the Utah State House of Representatives