Business Roundtable

Lead Health Care Messages

In many important respects, the American health care system is among the best in the world. When it comes to scientific advances, medical technology and the quality of our doctors and medical institutions, the United States is without peer.

But our country’s health care system also is becoming increasingly expensive, which is having a direct negative impact on American competitiveness.

Rising health care costs are one of the top cost pressures facing U.S. businesses today, inhibiting job creation and hurting America’s ability to compete in global markets.

This study helps demonstrate the relationship between spending, quality and competitiveness while enabling us to track progress as we push forward with health care reform.

Study Results

The study combines internationally reported measures covering both spending on, and the performance of, national health care systems to assign a value to the U.S. health care system compared with important global competitors.

These results show the U.S. is suffering from a significant health care value gap.

• U.S. workers and employers receive 23% less value from our health care system than the average of five leading economic competitors – Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France (the “G-5 group”).
• U.S. workers and employers receive 46% less value than the average of emerging competitors Brazil, India and China (the “BIC group”).
• The study also shows:
• As a group, G-5 countries spend about 63 cents for every dollar the U.S. spends on health care – yet the health of the U.S. workforce lags by 10% in a composite measure.
• The gap is even wider in relation to rising economic powers: the three BIC countries spend just 15% of what we spend on health care, yet the health of the U.S. workforce trails that of BIC countries by 5%.
• In terms of per capita spending, the United States spends $828 more per person than G-5 countries and $1,654 more per person than BIC countries.
• When you look just at employer spending, in 2006, American businesses paid 73 cents more per hour more for health benefits than those in the G-5 group – a disparity that grew by nearly 50% between 2004 and 2006.

The Path Forward

The CEOs of Business Roundtable believe true reform of the health care system must emerge from the uniquely American principles that drive our economy: competition, innovation, choice and a market that serves everyone.

Business Roundtable has created a health care reform plan rooted in these principles.

Designed to put the United States on the path to a competitive health care system, the plan rests on four pillars:

• Creating greater consumer value in the health care marketplace;
• Providing more affordable health insurance options for all Americans;
• Engaging all Americans in taking an active role in their health care; and
• Offering health coverage and assistance to low-income, uninsured Americans.