Published:
Business Roundtable Statement on House Vote on Health Care Bill
WASHINGTON - (BUSINESS WIRE) - "We are disappointed by the passage of a House bill that we cannot
support. The House legislation contains many provisions that will
threaten the coverage that 177 million Americans currently have through
the employer-based system. Not only does it establish a government-run
health plan, but it includes a "play or pay" mandate for employers that
would limit the flexibility employers have to develop innovative plans
for our employees.
"In addition, the bill fails to meet the bipartisan goal of controlling
costs. To get health care reform right, we need to bend the cost curve
for all Americans. The government-run plan would just shift costs to
employers: first, by shrinking and unbalancing the pool of individuals
covered by private insurance and second, by reimbursing providers at a
sub-market rate. This won't just hurt businesses, it will hurt the
millions of workers who have coverage through their employers.
"We need to work together to preserve the best of America's health care
system - including employer-sponsored coverage - while expanding those
benefits to all Americans and reducing costs. We urge Congress to keep
this in mind as they reconcile the House and Senate bills, and ask them
to create an open, all-inclusive market for health insurance.
"We remain committed to working with Congress and the White House to get
health care reform done and get it done right," said John J. Castellani,
President of Business Roundtable.
Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of
leading U.S. companies with nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues and
more than 12 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third
of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay more than 60
percent of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government.
Annually, they return more than $167 billion in dividends to
shareholders and the economy.
Business Roundtable companies provide health care coverage to more
than 35 million employees, retirees, and their families.
Please visit us at www.businessroundtable.org,
check us out on Facebook
and LinkedIn,
and follow us on Twitter.
Business Roundtable
Kirk Monroe, 202-496-3269
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