HR Policy provided comments to the House GOP health care reform task force on ways to improve health care affordability by focusing on increased flexibility for employers to implement programs like value-based arrangements and expanded HSA/HRA eligibility. We also reiterated our support for strengthening ERISA preemption, increasing and improving price transparency, and prohibiting anti-competitive contracting provisions.
Formal health care proposal in the next year? In anticipation of gaining the House majority after the midterm elections, House Republicans are planning to introduce comprehensive health care reform. After failing to repeal and replace the ACA, Republicans are determined to introduce legislation that lowers health care costs while increasing choice and maintaining the employer-based health care system.
The GOP Healthy Future Task Force has requested information on three broad issue areas: affordability, modernization, and treatments.
Our comments on affordability include the following recommendations:
- Increase flexibility around eligibility so employers can offer health reimbursement/health savings accounts to additional employee populations like nontraditional or part-time workers;
- Enact significant penalties on those providers that do not comply with the price transparency rules;
- Increase consumer understanding of price data by requiring hospitals and insurers to include price information on all services bundled under an episode of care, rather than using hospital chargemaster lists (standard list prices for services);
- Integrate behavioral health care and primary care through patient centered programs like the Collaborative Care Model;
- Prohibit anti-competitive contract clauses like “all-or-nothing,” “anti-steering” “anti-tiering” and “most-favored-nation” provisions; and
- Strengthen ERISA preemption while providing states with greater Section 1332 waiver flexibility.
Outlook: HR Policy will stay engaged with the GOP Healthy Future Task Force and submit additional comments surrounding modernization in March. We expect a GOP health care reform proposal will be released sometime this fall.