Affordability, Accessibility the Key to Providing Quality Health Care
In the midst of a global pandemic and with uncertainty still surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act, employers are most concerned with finding the proper balance of affordability, high quality and accessibility to health care coverage for themselves and their employees.
The PA Chamber believes that the private health care delivery system provides the best method of achieving this balance. The competition that exists in the private market place creates the most choice in plans – and this choice can be hindered by excessive government interference.
A recent poll we conducted shows that a majority – 60 percent – of the Commonwealth’s voters agree. Specifically, the 500 Pennsylvanians surveyed were opposed to the creation of a new “public option” government-run health care system, which would increase the number of individuals receiving health care benefits provided by the federal government, leaving taxpayers on the hook to pay for it.
The poll also showed that Pennsylvanians are satisfied overall with the coverage they currently have through employer-sponsored plans, Medicare or Medicaid. Of the likely voters surveyed, 88 percent report being satisfied with their coverage. Other studies have shown similar results. According to a recent study that was completed with support from the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, a public option program could increase the federal deficit by $700 billion and lead to a new 4.8 percent payroll tax on American families over the course of 30 years. Additionally, a study conducted in early 2020 by FTI Consulting found that a public option could increase hospital revenue losses by 60 percent, when compared to current levels. That level of a financial impact could force more than half of all U.S. hospitals into the red, threatening access to and quality of health care for tens of millions of Americans.