Although NSBA opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) due to its failure to truly address health care costs, we remain committed to the idea that broad health care reform can and must prioritize health care cost-reduction and containment while at the same time improving quality and empowering consumers.
With some 32 million people estimated to be newly insured by 2014, reigning-in the ever-growing cost of health care is an absolute must. This can be done by speeding up delivery and payment system reforms, comprehensive reform of medical malpractice laws, and providing economic incentives that encourage prudent consumer behavior.
Reforming how health care is delivered in the U.S. is critical to the success of small business — something NSBA has been saying for years. In fact, in 2004, and previously in 1993, NSBA poured enormous resources into developing a proposal for broad health care reform. Meeting with small-business owners, benefit managers, insurance providers, Congressional staff, think-tank experts and leaders of small-business organizations throughout the country for more than a year, NSBA arrived at a proposal for broad reform.
Although the recently-passed PPACA did incorporate some general ideas of NSBA’s reform proposal, it failed to do so in a manner which will truly help America’s small businesses. In response, NSBA has spent the last year pushing for a more aggressive adoption of quality provisions such as a value-based purchasing model and using IT to better coordinate care. We also have urged Congress to make comprehensive changes to medical malpractice laws including the use of health courts and setting limits on malpractice awards.
One of the key downfalls of PPACA is that it failed to include any measures to truly impact consumer behavior in a more responsible way. In response, NSBA is urging Congress to reshape tax incentives to match the cost of the essential benefits package, allow for broader use of health savings accounts, and increase price transparency. NSBA also has been outspoken in the importance of small-business input throughout the development of health insurance exchanges as well as the essential health benefits package.
According to NSBA’s 2010 Year-End Economic Report, there is significant confusion over PPACA with only 15 percent of small businesses saying they have a clear idea of how the new law will impact their business. That means 85 percent have little to no understanding whatsoever of how their business will be impacted.
Unfortunately, small business continues to report growing premiums. Since the passage of PPACA, 46 percent reported premium increases of more than 11 percent, and 18 percent have seen premium increases in excess of 20 percent. To deal with these rising costs, 55 percent increased their employees’ deductible, 45 percent held off on employee raises and 24 percent held off on hiring a new employee.
NSBA is committed to ensuring that the cost of health care doesn’t become an insurmountable hurdle to entrepreneurship. I am happy to welcome you to our site dedicated to making health care more affordable for small business, Health Reform Today and Tomorrow. I look forward to working with you as we do all we can in moving toward an affordable, high quality and sustainable health care system in the U.S.
Sincerely,
Todd McCracken
NSBA president
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