National Business Coalition on Health
Reform Position Statement
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Plan StatusPosition statement released September 2007.Number of People CoveredNot specified.Estimated CostNot specified.Payment Scheme Public-private partnerships that distribute the health care benefit premium cost equally between employers, individuals, and local/state or federal government resources. |
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Plan in Brief
- NBCH represents approx. 10,000 employers through health care coalitions.
- Helps small businesses to collectively purchase health insurance.
- Tax incentives for individuals to purchase insurance.
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Impact on Federal Government
- Improves tax incentives for employers and individuals who purchase private coverage.
- Extends public health insurance programs.
Impact on States
- Improves tax incentives for employers and individuals who purchase private coverage.
- Extends public health insurance programs.
Impact on Insurers
- Expanding the ability of small businesses to purchase insurance products widens insurers’ customer base.
Impact on Providers
- Supports a reimbursement system that rewards performance-focused activities.
Impact on Employers
- Recommends providing reforms that allow small businesses to collectively purchase health insurance.
- Provides reasonable exemptions from state mandates, particularly for small employer coverage.
- Supports enhanced tax incentives for employers offering health care benefits to employees.
- Supports making information transparently available to consumers to aid their decision making.
Impact on Individuals
- Improves state and federal tax incentives for individuals who purchase private health insurance coverage.
- Supports wider access to and flexibility of coverage.
- Supports making information transparently available to consumers to aid their decision making.
Proponents/Opponents
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Proponents say the employer-based insurance system is the best way to pool purchasing power and thereby keep costs down. It is also a benefit companies can use to attract employees, and a familiar system so would not require big changes.
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Critics argue that individuals, not employers, will make the best decisions about their own health care and that only when individuals are responsible for their own health insurance will the market become more efficient and cost-effective. Others believe that the only way to relieve employers of the cost burden of health care is to have a single-payor, government run system. |
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Key Targets for InvestmentHealth information technology.
Disease management (e.g., the Diabetes Seed Grant program funds initiatives to measurably improve diabetes outcomes).
Notable Feature
- NBCH sponsors the Bridges to Excellence program, which promotes pay-for-performance.
- The group is exploring the success of incentives designed to prompt individuals to make healthy choices, choose doctors with demonstrated quality outcomes, and manage their own health care.
Experts' Comments“Businesses are hard-pressed to maintain their health-insurance commitments to their employees and remain competitive, and the health of those privately insured is not what it should be, given the power of this nation, and the amount we pay.”
--Committee for Economic Development,
“Quality, Affordable Health Care for All: Moving Beyond the Employer-Based Health Insurance System,” 2007
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For Further Information
National Business Coalition on Health Position Statement
Ending Employer-Based Health Insurance Is a Good Idea
Protecting Employer-Based Health Plans
The Bridges to Excellence Program
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Interest Groups 
