Business Roundtable

June 05, 2007

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Clinton:

On behalf of Business Roundtable, I write to applaud your introduction of the “Medicare Quality Enhancement Act.” This bill marks an important step forward to provide consumers, providers, plans and purchasers with actionable information on the cost and quality of health care services in their communities. Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with over $4.5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 10 million employees. Counting employees and their families, Business Roundtable companies provide health care coverage for approximately 35 million Americans.

Health care is the leading cost pressure for Business Roundtable companies. In order to lower costs and improve quality, we need greater and more accurate information. Today’s consumers are unable to make informed decisions about their health care because they lack access to information on the cost and quality of health care services. Many employers around the country have begun innovative efforts to give consumers access to information. However, in order to make the information truly effective and actuarially sound, more data, specifically the Medicare claims data, is needed.

We also believe the Medicare Quality Enhancement Act complements the efforts of the Bush Administration to provide information to consumers. The President’s support of the principles of cost and quality transparency, effective health information technology standards, and incentives for consumers and providers will increase the momentum for greater health care transparency.

Improving the transparency of cost and quality information are top health care priorities for Business Roundtable. We look forward to continuing to work with you and your colleagues to seriously reform and improve our nation’s health care system. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Maria Ghazal at (202) 872-1260 or mghazal@businessroundtable.org.

Sincerely yours,

John J. Castellani