Coverage, Cost & Quality

The Chamber's belief is that the best way to provide coverage is to support meaningful reforms that make coverage accessible through the private sector without increasing membership in existing government programs. Allowing the market the freedom and flexibility to find creative ways to provide coverage to all Georgians will also produce significant savings for business.

Specifically, the Chamber supports:

• enhancing consumer-driven health plans (HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, etc.), making them more flexible and appealing to consumers and plan sponsors;
• incentives that reward health care providers based on outcomes and overall care, and that reward consumers based on prevention and wellness, with appropriate consideration for cost effectiveness;
• modernizing the civil justice system and preserving pro-business civil justice laws and reforms to reduce the rapid growth of medical liability awards and insurance costs;
• eliminating fraud and waste in existing government plans such as Medicare, Medicaid or PeachCare and enabling enrollees in those programs to instead enroll in private plans;
• ensuring reimbursement when providing services financed by Medicare, Medicaid or PeachCare in order to reduce the shifting of these costs to other parties, thus reducing the cost of insurance for all Georgians; and
• full tax deductibility of health plan premiums for individuals and small businesses.

As an advocate for the business community of Georgia, the Chamber opposes:

• a new government-run insurance plan or exchange, which may result in millions of Georgians moving from private insurance and shift costs to employers;
• unwarranted expansion of existing government plans such as Medicare, Medicaid or PeachCare;
• new direct or indirect health care taxes on employers and employees -- including taxes on insurers, on small businesses, or on employers that do not provide coverage;
• mandatory fees on private health plans and health care providers to supplement Medicare, Medicaid or PeachCare funding; and
• reducing the tax deduction for employer-sponsored health plans.

In this vital issue, the Chamber is making sure the voice of Georgia business owners of all sizes and from all areas of the state are heard.